78 KZ650 Mono Rear Shock Cafe/Brat Style

good luck!

leon

Quick pre MOT update and mudguard pics.

I managed to create a mount for the triumph mudguard using aluminium pipe bent to shape and attached with P-clips. I had no idea whether it would work or not when I started. First I used the rear tire as a bending guide as it's about the width that I needed. This gave me the front bracket which I attached to the mudguard as a test.





That worked really well so I set about making the second bracket for the rear.



What I had failed to think about was how to get the brackets and mudguard into place. I had hoped to leave the brackets attached to the mudguard and slide them on, but that was never going to work. So i had a very fiddly time trying to mount the brackets to the mudguard once they were in place. With a lot of swearing and dropping nuts I got there.







I am so delighted in how it turned out. I never expected it to work so well.

Next it was time to refuel the tank and fire it up. This is where the headache started. The bike started ok, but sounded odd, I realised that it was pissing fuel out from somewhere. Not good. I also realised that one of the exhaust headers was cold not hot. Also not good.

I rapidly realised that there was probably a carb issue. I've avoided touching these so far as I don't want to cause more issues than I fix, but needs must. I took them off the bike which was much easier than I was expecting. Thankfully I didn't need to remove the tank either.





I found some blockages in the carb that I thought was the problem and managed to clean them out. I've just put them back in and it seems to have sorted the issue out. Certainly it sounds better and is no longer pissing out fuel which is nice!

A job for this winter is a proper carb clean inside and out.

Hey Gordy,The May2015 issue of'Classic motorcycle mechanics' (no331) has a pretty good write up on MOTs. How to get through them,common fail points,tip&tricks etc
Also got a nice Lawson rep on the cover.
If youre interested but cant find a copy let me know and Ill scan the article for you

davido wrote: Hey Gordy,The May2015 issue of'Classic motorcycle mechanics' (no331) has a pretty good write up on MOTs. How to get through them,common fail points,tip&tricks etc
Also got a nice Lawson rep on the cover.
If youre interested but cant find a copy let me know and Ill scan the article for you

I'll have a look for a copy thanks. Though after all the fails I've had I'm pretty versed in all the ways to fail!

She passed!!!!

I'm so relieved, I got to finally have a couple of short rides on her. It was awesome, I will be taking a longer ride today.

There are some more things to do, but at least the major hurdle is over.

Way hay. Congratulations Gordy. About time. Perfect weather for getting back on the road. Scorchio!!!

congrats on getting that 100+ mph jigsaw puzzle through inspection sir !


happy dance

leon

WooHooo! Congrats Gordy! :woohoo:

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.