C S R ?

[Lucasind]

....So after the 25th annual AVA rally .... I was so filled with KAWASAKI testosterone (I apparently have had this, since the 70's) ... that I went and got this 33 year old CSR 650, and a spare parts bike to go with it
Ain't she sweet ! .... The exhaust was blued,and rusted, and pitted,...
so I pulled the exhaust, and made it look as you see it here. Flat Black,works for me ! So a buddy comes by the house and asks me, "what does CSR stand for" ?
This question takes me back to the first time I took a CSR out of the crate,working at the shop, I asked the service manager the same question. He responded to me by saying....."custom spoked rims"....... later ....to tell me "it meant CRUISER"





Before everyone gets too excited .... I better tell ya, that it don't run
I knew that when I bought it, but for 7 hun.$,4 2 bikes, it's o.k., I know a guy.

more on this later.......................tony

[Tonyvdb]

LOL, your gonna run out of room for all those bikes

[chevyman1]

Your going to have to make the deck bigger to get all those bikes on there for the photo opps.

[Lucasind]

....L.O.L. , Kevin , I'm not thinking on TOP of the deck..... I enclosed the entire 24x24 structure.... thinking of UNDER it ! Why build JUST a deck.... when you can have a HUGE storage shed under it as well That area might hold a bike or two......tony

[grumpin]

Sweet!

[Scott-(Altoona, PA)]

There's a fellow up the road from me that hired a roofer to install rubber roofing on the underside of his deck so any debris/spills wouldn't fall through onto his car which is parked underneath. I believe each 16" section has a fall to it and it all dumps out at the far end.
Food for thought!

[Lucasind]

.....So I spent some time with the csr 650 investigating the running issues with it.
I pulled the carbs and went thru them, as most bikes with this advanced age and low miles,usually means that old fuel has been left in the bike and done it's all to often damage.By the way ,she only has 14k ,on the clock.
The previous owner spent alot of time and money on the bike to no avail, in the wrong direction. Now that I have figured it out ,and have the bike running perfectly, I know this.

This bike had the p.o. stumped, and just gave up on it and bought a goldwing.He went so far as to re-build the top end ,from the base gasket up. On a bike with no miles on it ,I doubt ANY of this was needed,but I know that he did it,and here is a shot of the cylinder section showing a new bright green base gasket.I found a few of the valve clearances to be off spec and corrected that.




After reassembly ,I tried to start the bike with no luck. I pulled the plugs, and put them in the plug boots and grounded them to the head ,to verify the presence of spark. I cranked the engine over and saw NO spark ,UNTIL I let off on the starter button. BIG clue .......more on this later....tony

[Lucasind]

.....To pick back up on the story...... ..... No spark as long as the thumb
is depressing the start button,but as soon as it,s released.... spark to the plugs.
After seeing this (and to create a new term) I began "blipping" the start button.
With full on choke, she began acting like it was gonna start ! ....So I kept doing this and she started up ,and ran good. so ,I thru a leg over the seat and took her for a ride.....the bike ran well ,no problems ! upon returning home , nothing changed after stopping the engine, but if the start button was just "blipped". she would re-start , and run fine. ... so I opened up the right side engine ,and replaced the set of pulse coils,since I had a spare set available ,and it only took minutes to accomplish.... NO change.At this time ,I suspected "I.C.Igniter" problems and not having one on hand, and knowing what they cost.... I decided to go a different route..... and here it is.



After going thru my cabinets of MC stuff, I came up with a 77' kz 650 point and condensor plate and the old point cam/advancer unit.... installed that... and pulled and grounded all the plugs against the head again, and hit the start button,and spun the engine over and was pleased to see ALL the correct things happening ! Continuous spark across all the plugs, as long as I held down the start button
So this bike went backwards a bit in technology.... but personally, I always liked
"old school" and as long as it was maintained... works great ! AND you are in total control of it, with no sealed units ,that you have no control over

So this 33 year old bike is starting, and running great , and it also is the model with factory accelerator pumps on the carbs ,and when you hit the throttle she is quite impressive. I don't know what I will do with this one... but for now , I just like looking at it, and know with a touch of the start button... she comes to life , and runs great.............more later...as I put some miles on it.......tony

[grumpin]

Good troubleshooting and repair! Thanks for sharing, always good to know. Someday my feeble memory may recall this and help me along!

[Lucasind]

L.O.L.....Dane, that's funny. by the way was wondering about your username ....what is the story behind grumpin ?

[Mr Jensee]

You want old school? Try doing it with points. I had the same problems with a 79 Suzuki, which wanted to run but wouldn't, till I installed a CDI unit in it.

[grumpin]

L.O.L.....Dane, that's funny. by the way was wondering about your username ....what is the story behind grumpin ?

I've been known to be grumpy. Like today when I didn't get my truck fixed. When I first started to get going on computers, grumpy was taken, so I stuck with grumpin. I think I'm getting better about being grumpy, the good Lord is working on me!

[Littlebeaver]

Wow, I had a CRS 750 back when I was 24 years old, 54 now almost 55 in Nov. I had a CSR 750 LTD and then I got a 4 cylinder LTD later...Loved both of them.. Hey the girls loved that bike too..ha ha ha I had been riding for some time before this photo as I learned to ride my oldest brother 900 Kawa...and his 360 Yamaha back in 1973...

[Lucasind]

WOW BEAVE ! ....now thats takin a walk down "memory lane" I remember our Kaw
dealership back then, had a "special on those 750 twins......we had alot left over from the previous year ...so I got out the tall ladder , and the shop manager told me to put the ol' plastic letters up, sayin 750 CSR twin $1399.
They all sold quickly.....as I recall,about those bikes.... I did alot of starter clutch replacement on them, cause they got chewed up quickly ... to put it bluntly
Heres a moldy oldy for ya ......



This is a pic of my wife and I, 35 years ago in Deltonna FLA.
Check out the 73'yam TX 500. .funny I know...but back in the day , we thought it was bad A$$ too ....ran the wheels off that ol girl(the bike) and never had so much as a flat tire out of it !...................tony

[Littlebeaver]

Awesome man,,,, On sundays all the young people would go party down at the park, brackenridge park in San Antonio, Texas we would cruise the park [huge park] the girls were in search for guys and it was too easy for one to ask for a ride...Oh I loved those day's....there were pretty girls everywhere, OMG,,, ....My wife and I have our 27 anniversary on the 28th....

[grumpin]

Great pics you guys!

[OldKawDrvr]

.....To pick back up on the story...... ..... No spark as long as the thumb
is depressing the start button,but as soon as it,s released.... spark to the plugs.
After seeing this (and to create a new term) I began "blipping" the start button.
With full on choke, she began acting like it was gonna start ! ....So I kept doing this and she started up ,and ran good. so ,I thru a leg over the seat and took her for a ride.....the bike ran well ,no problems ! upon returning home , nothing changed after stopping the engine, but if the start button was just "blipped". she would re-start , and run fine. ... so I opened up the right side engine ,and replaced the set of pulse coils,since I had a spare set available ,and it only took minutes to accomplish.... NO change.At this time ,I suspected "I.C.Igniter" problems and not having one on hand, and knowing what they cost.... I decided to go a different route..... and here it is.



After going thru my cabinets of MC stuff, I came up with a 77' kz 650 point and condensor plate and the old point cam/advancer unit.... installed that... and pulled and grounded all the plugs against the head again, and hit the start button,and spun the engine over and was pleased to see ALL the correct things happening ! Continuous spark across all the plugs, as long as I held down the start button
So this bike went backwards a bit in technology.... but personally, I always liked
"old school" and as long as it was maintained... works great ! AND you are in total control of it, with no sealed units ,that you have no control over

So this 33 year old bike is starting, and running great , and it also is the model with factory accelerator pumps on the carbs ,and when you hit the throttle she is quite impressive. I don't know what I will do with this one... but for now , I just like looking at it, and know with a touch of the start button... she comes to life , and runs great.............more later...as I put some miles on it.......tony

Be advised, old Kaws with electronic ignition used 2 ohm coils. Points bikes had 3 ohm coils. Your 2 ohm coils will be drawing excessive current with points and probably wont last long. I would look for a pair of 3 ohm coils to replace what you have. Look to Z! Enterprizes for old Kaw parts. No connection, just a satisfied customer. They've kept my '78 KZ1000 running for a number of years.

[Lucasind]

....Thanks 4 that heads up on the coil issues, I already knew that, and am monitoring the situation, until I get my hands on the proper coils. so far over 200
miles on the old girl, and am happy to report all is well,and running great !...
...oh yeah ,I too have been using Z-1 enterprizes for years also....
...I love that company... the folks there are very knowledgeable , and just plain nice folks to talk to ! thanks again......tony

[Lucasind]

.....Yes....as it turns out, I couldn't even pass up this train wreck.
last month after I got the 650 done...... I went and got this ...........



Here you see this CSR 1000 in what I'm calling it "done" but the last 3 weeks of working out in the shop , nights and weekends have been quite challenging.....
but a very interesting story to share.........more later.................tony

[cushman eagle]

Nice bike Tony,are you getting up to the point you need me to store your 1300?