Better Than Nothing---The rebirth of a Superbike.

I watched a old Morris mag come apart at The Springfield Mile about 10 years ago or so. Sent that rider into the fence pretty hard. Thats why I wanted to X Ray the wheels. It can't cost that much to have them X Rayed. 30 or 40 bucks a wheel?? I really didn't want to end up with me on the ground, and a totaled superbike because a 34 year old wheel disintegrated into little itty bitty pieces. Do all the vintage racers run 34 year old mag wheels without any type of problems??? Thats one of the many questions I need answered!!

It took me about two years to dial in my chassis back in 80's. My notebooks with my notes on setup were stolen back in the mid 80's. So its going to be trial and error on setup. I was running KZ650 triple trees with Kayaba fork legs with a modified frame with a different fork angle. I would kill to have my notebooks back. Everything I changed, no matter how tiny it was, I wrote it down.

Its going to take me about a year just to piece my bike back together. Its going to be some time before it hits the track again. I am hurting for extra cash to spend on my toys right now too. Got to get me one of those cushy government jobs that pays you just to sit there and do nothing!!!

That would be a good reason not to use old Morris mags. I run 17 inch mags when I built it. Zephyr 550 front end whole and a suzuki katana rear. My big bike has zx6 wheels with concour forks.

The rims on the new bikes are so good. They have to be, the liability today is astronomical for the factories. Unless you are Suzuki. They let a run of wheels on a few years ago that had porosity problems on their Katana's. There were some huge lawsuits that happened. I have all the pieces to build a new HWSB, just no time, and not as much desire. Take my word for it, the guys that run up front are fast and you never know when some old pro gets a ride. They are always fast, no matter how old.

Dr. Gamma wrote: I watched a old Morris mag come apart at The Springfield Mile about 10 years ago or so. Sent that rider into the fence pretty hard. Thats why I wanted to X Ray the wheels. It can't cost that much to have them X Rayed. 30 or 40 bucks a wheel??

I am not sure where you live, but if you post the city and place you live, I bet I can find you a place to x-ray or non-destructive test your wheels. I went to school to be a welding inspector and got my NRC license, and still have a list of various businesses that do industrial radiography.

Just saw you are in or near Phoenix- here ya go:

TEAM INDUSTRIAL SERVICES PHOENIX
Inspection Services
2514 N. 33rd Avenue
Phoenix, Arizona 85009
UNITED STATES

Phone: 602-269-7868
Fax: 602-269-9784

Services Offered: NDE/NDT Inspection, Liquid Penetrant Inspection, Magnetic Particle Inspection, Radiographic Testing, Ultrasonic Testing, Remote Visual Inspection, Electromagnetic Testing, Ground Penetrating RADAR (GPR), Materials Testing/Evaluation, Heat Treating, Electrical Resistance Heat Treating, Combustion Heat Treating, Induction Heat Treating, Tank Inspection and Repair, Mechanical Integrity

Dr. Gamma wrote:

Hollywoodmx wrote: I don't want to sound like a jerk but what money would your really need to put this back together if you have all the parts?

Tires would be the most expensive, chain, various seals, fluids?

Well I wish it was that easy..

Got to put a motor together. That means the head I plan on using needs 8 fresh valves, and a good valve job. Just to be safe, I will put in new camchain, replace the valve springs. My old Yosh pistons need new rings. I would not mind finding a new set of 1015cc Slipper pistons it I could!!! Then hope the block is in spec, and no egg or taper. I NEVER put a fresh head together with used cam bearings either. Gaskits.

Now the chassis needs the S1 rearsets to be finished up. I hope they clear my tuck up Bassani pipe. If not I will have to build another style of rearsets then. I was putting Suzuki handlebar switches on both sides on bike when I parked it. I would like to get a set of Ohlins rear shocks if I could. Now if my Morris mags fail Xray test, I need like 2 grand in new wheels then!! And it goes on and on. In my book there is no skimping on the old family recipe in my book!!

Ahh, gotcha. Ya quite of bit of spending there for sure.

Dr. Gamma wrote:

Hollywoodmx wrote: I don't want to sound like a jerk but what money would your really need to put this back together if you have all the parts?

Tires would be the most expensive, chain, various seals, fluids?

Well I wish it was that easy..

Got to put a motor together. That means the head I plan on using needs 8 fresh valves, and a good valve job. Just to be safe, I will put in new camchain, replace the valve springs. My old Yosh pistons need new rings. I would not mind finding a new set of 1015cc Slipper pistons it I could!!! Then hope the block is in spec, and no egg or taper. I NEVER put a fresh head together with used cam bearings either. Gaskits.

Now the chassis needs the S1 rearsets to be finished up. I hope they clear my tuck up Bassani pipe. If not I will have to build another style of rearsets then. I was putting Suzuki handlebar switches on both sides on bike when I parked it. I would like to get a set of Ohlins rear shocks if I could. Now if my Morris mags fail Xray test, I need like 2 grand in new wheels then!! And it goes on and on. In my book there is no skimping on the old family recipe in my book!!

If you didn't want to spring for mag wheels right away, you could find a set of Z1R 18" wheels for significantly less than the cost of mags.

Been going through my boxes of motor parts for my old KZ1000. I packed all this stuff away back in 1985 or so. Trying to see what I have on hand to put a streetable motor together. Everything I owned back then ran on Unocal 108, or CP12 track gas. Going have to cut back on the squeeze a bunch to run on pump gas.

Found my 73mm Moriwaki two ring piston set and barrel. Might use these over my 70mm Yoshimura slipper pistons because the Moriwaki pistons have a bit less dome height. Got to cc the two good heads I have to give me an idea on what I have for compression ratio. Too bad someone stole all my notebooks years ago. I kinda remember about 220 or 230 pounds of compression after about 10 kicks or so. Never had anything but a kickstarter on my KZ1000.


I have three sets of cams. They are marked, Big, Bigger, and Biggest!!! The box marked Big are what I think are Yoshimura Bonneville cams. The Bigger set are Moriwaki with the words "Super Bonneville" in dry marker on the boxes. The ones marked Biggest I know are Norris 440SC's with .437 lift, and 284 duration marked on the box. I started using Moriwaki Engineering parts after Yoshimura started racing Suzuki GS1000's. The quality of Yoshimura's Kawasaki parts went way down hill after about 1980 or so. I got a set of cams from Yosh, and I had FOUR DIFFERENT lift measurements on just the intake cam!!! I'm talking over .040ths difference in four lobes. Thats when I found Moriwaki Engineering cam and pistons from Champion Kawasaki in California. They were exactly like what Yoshimura made but of a higher quality. Just like Yoshimura made before they went over to Suzuki. I believe Mr. Moriwaki was Pops Yoshimura's son in law.

So What I really need from someone is the lift and duration specs on the Yoshimura "Bonneville Special" cams. and the Yoshimura or Moriwaki Eng. "Super Bonneville" cams.

I think the 440SC's are a tad too much for the street!! I got to find out what I have in the other two camshafts to see what ones I will start out with. At the rate I am going I might have a running bike in about 18 or so months from now!!!

Dr.Gamma I am thrilled that you are member of KZR forum,I appreciate your knowledge on these bikes, I read all of your threads, and all I can say to you as a rookie, is that Rome was not biult in one day, have patience and you will biuld your dream bike before you know it, in the meantime enjoy everyday as much as you can.

Mopguy, back when I originally built this bike I had the cash and the patience to put it together the right way. Now I only have the patience to put it back together the way it was. I can't believe how much all the internal Kawasaki motor parts and everything else have skyrocketed in price since I left the ranks of working at a motorcycle dealership 12 years ago!!!

I am going have to start dealing in illegal substances just to pay for the parts that I need just to put a motor together. My local Kawasaki dealership thinks they are selling diamonds not motorcycle parts. 70 bucks for a cam chain idler wheel. They are on drugs for sure!!!

Dr. Gamma
Kawasaki dealer will stuck you dry. Have you visited www.z1enterprises.com/ ? You may find some NOS parts you looking for for cheaper there. I have also found NOS parts on eBay, some are cheaper there some are not. Really looking forward to your build. I may be moving to the Phoenix area myself by September 1st. If so I some really like to meet you and check out the bike in person.

kaw-a-holic wrote: Dr. Gamma
Kawasaki dealer will stuck you dry. Have you visited www.z1enterprises.com/ ? You may find some NOS parts you looking for for cheaper there. I have also found NOS parts on eBay, some are cheaper there some are not. Really looking forward to your build. I may be moving to the Phoenix area myself by September 1st. If so I some really like to meet you and check out the bike in person.

Hope you like the heat?? I moved down here from up near Sedona, and I can't believe how much hotter it is here in the valley. I want to move back to near Prescott,or Sedona because its alot cooler up there. Plus it gets down in the 40's up there in the winter. Flagstaff is like living in a midwest city. It gets really cold up there in the winter and it snows alot. They even have two ski resorts near Flagstaff. BIG DIFFERENCE FROM 100 DEGREES TO 115 DEGREES WHEN YOU ARE OUTSIDE!!!

September the temps are a little cooler in Phoenix by then. The winters are great. But then you have to dodge all the 90 year old snowbirds in their big old '90's vintage Grand Marquis' You can spot them by their Illinois, Indiana, or a plate from anyplace it snows hard in the winter!!

Hey Dr. Gamma - digging up an old thread, but I'm curious if you made any progress on this?

Cheers man!