TOPIC:

Nice mod. I don't mean to rain on your parade but I'm uneasy about the key being under the tank. The old Honda's had a nasty habit of losing the key while riding. Maybe a Lanyard just to keep it with the bike?
Steve

Thanks everyone

Well today didn't go as planned. I got the bike started fine, but as soon as I set off it died and wouldn't stay on. I think the carbs need to come back off and have a proper clean out. On the plus side it poured with rain so it saved me from getting very very wet!

swest wrote: Nice mod. I don't mean to rain on your parade but I'm uneasy about the key being under the tank. The old Honda's had a nasty habit of losing the key while riding. Maybe a Lanyard just to keep it with the bike?
Steve

Steve, thanks for the info, I will keep an eye on it for sure. The long term plan is a motogadget keyless system, but I need to get the rest of the bike fully sorted before that.

I had a keyless system on an old Honda. It was called a screwdriver! (very cheap and easy to install)

davido wrote: I had a keyless system on an old Honda. It was called a screwdriver! (very cheap and easy to install)

Haha, having seen how easy it would be to bypass the key on this bike, I'm not sure that a screwdriver would be much worse.

I check how secure the key was in place this evening and it didn't budge when I tried to pull it out whilst on. I'm hoping it will stay in place whilst on the road too.

I did also manage to get the bike started. No idea what is going on with it. A bloody good carb clean is required, I've started researching ultrasonic cleaners to see if they are worth buying.

Gordy, how is your pony's progress?

RickKZ wrote: Gordy, how is your pony's progress?

Not much, I've got it booked into a specialist to take a look at the carbs to try to get it happier. That's happening on tuesday next week so hopefully it will be sorted for a nice week of riding next week.

Nice! Almost there lol....

Gordy, I know it's not cheap but you can put a Motogadget M-lock in without buying anything else.
motogadget.com/en/electrics/rfid-ignitio...fid-zundschloss.html

For what it is worth I had relocated my key before I started the Retro-Mod build. I was running pods so I put a piece of aluminum where the airbox opening was in the frame. That's where I put my key. It never fell out. All I ever had was the ignition key with a cloth Kawasaki key ring. I was always told that a heavy keyring is hard on ignition tumblers.

This is a pic of the plate installed prior to moving the ignition.

kaw-a-holic wrote: Gordy, I know it's not cheap but you can put a Motogadget M-lock in without buying anything else.
motogadget.com/en/electrics/rfid-ignitio...fid-zundschloss.html

For what it is worth I had relocated my key before I started the Retro-Mod build. I was running pods so I put a piece of aluminum where the airbox opening was in the frame. That's where I put my key. It never fell out. All I ever had was the ignition key with a cloth Kawasaki key ring. I was always told that a heavy keyring is hard on ignition tumblers.

This is a pic of the plate installed prior to moving the ignition.

Yeah, i knew the m-lock is available on it's own, but it's hard to justify the cost when my quick move works. When the bikes been on the road a while I will maybe re-look into it. I don't intend to have anything other than the bike key on the ignition so that should lessen the load.

Well I've dropped the bike off at Tim Blakemore racing www.timblakemoreracing.co.uk/ for them to look at it. The ride there was fun if worrying. As I was concerned at every noise and couldn't relax. Their shop was heaven as it was full of old z's waiting to be restored. I had to force myself to leave!

So I promised an update. Well Tim worked his magic on the carbs and timing. He got it so the bike stopped surging at mid revs and re-jetted so that the power was actually smooth line as the revs increased. Test riding it round the lanes and it was transformed into an amazing ride.

However as with this whole project my luck sucks, I rode in the center of town feeling very happy however on my trip the bike completely cut out with no warning. I managed to get it restarted, but the same thing happened three more times in less than a mile. I managed to get to my destination, but I was pissed off. Interestingly when I started the bike to go home it worked fine all the way home.

Once home I checked things through and with discussions with Tim, I think there is a dodgy connection to the coils. I will be checking the wiring through and changing old dodgy connectors.

I took a couple of pics of the shop
My bike hiding amongst many others. So many spares in this corner.


Some drag bikes

Another job I did before the trip to Tim's was to sort two things on the rear of the bike.

1. A slow puncture
2. Replace the rear disc.

I managed to do both of these at the same time.



Old disc


New Disc


New disc and wheel back on


Now I'm back from holiday I can attack the wiring. I saw a camo Z650 when I was in the Lake District too.

Nice shop, and new rotor.

Thanks for sharing.