Kawasaki Z400 - cafe racer build

welcome to the forum.. that is saying alot to me, your ability in rebuilding saxaphones ..
and that you havent as yet torn the kawa apart in haste..

first take lots of pictures, they are your friend as you can refer to them when putting it back together later on..
find the factory service manual and if at all possible (and its not in the service manual) the assembly guide the techs use when they first assembled this

as to pods.....
read the threads concerning their use,especially find info on what your particular model may run best with in reguards to jetting, shimming and needle settings required.. top of the line pods can be made to work well , yet will affect your driveability in daily street useage.. pods are prob best left for true race bikes as the carb is set up for running in a much narrower power band requirement.

know that your going to experimenting with jets, needle's and shims until you find the overall sweet spot .

the pipe .. it is there to channel unburnt gasses back into the combustion process that the rings did not seal against during compression. this pipe also enables moisture to escape ( be burnt) that the oil would otherwise have to suspend in-between changes ... its good to have some sort of vent as reburning makes it more enviromentaly clean and getting condensation and contaminents out of the case is better for the engine itself..( rust and corrosion internally)

You are going to have so much fun with the build...
perhaps i can provide some insights about the KZ400 and "cafe"ing it, as i am in the finishing stages of building one.

Brakes - the front caliper will provide good braking, but you should consider replacing the brake line to a braided one, also consider replacing the master cylinder.
i have mine set up with a 14mm MC and a stainless steel braided line, new brake pads - it is great, don't need to squeeze the lever, two fingers on the brake lever provides more than adequate braking power.

Rear suspensions - look into some HAGONs or some thing like that, i replaced mine with a set of HAGONs and the ride improved dramatically, it feels much better when cornering.
Front suspension - replace the old springs with progressive springs (look for 11-1109, amazon have a good pricing on these), i got these on my bike along with front fork oil replacement and i can truly say that now, with the combination of the rear suspension, the bike handles fantastic, cornering in low speeds feels so safe that you actually looking into leaning the bike even further.
and high speeds (if you can get there on a stock KZ400 ) turns, pure fun... no front nor rear wobbling, no unexpected movements, the bike gives you a very comfortable feeling that makes you want to go back and take the turn again, leaning id down.

Rearsets - i built mine from scratch, moving the pegs location approx 25cm to the back, along with a lower clip-on handlebars, it is much more comfortable to ride, the seating position feels more natural.

bearings - if possible, try to replace all of them, front and rear wheel bearings, swingarm bearings, tapered steering bearings (you can get the "all balls" set, look into 22-1012, these fits perfectly).

engine - if you are good with your hands, you can port and polish the heads, should provide a few more ponies out of this engine.
also, look into a bigger bore, i just got a set of 67.5mm pistons and rings and going to bore my (almost new) engine to 440cc... as the 400 is a bit on the weak and slow side... the 400 will run out of steam at approx 130-135kph.

Pods and carbs - if you have access to other carbs, try it... pods and carbs is all a matter of trial and error, if you have enough time and patience , you should get it running properly.
i got a set of carbs out of a Kawasaki ER-5 (Keihing CVK), re-jetted them and got it to run with an oiled pods (on a short, 6cm extension) mounted onto the carbs. still needs a bit of a tweaking, but it can be made to run.

when you're done with all of that, it is time to start thinking about seat, paint, lights (flawless electric system is a must, IMHO) and other stuff you like to have (or dont have) on your bike.

Ravivos.