1980 Z500 UK. Owned from new 78260 mile overhaul

Hello all, have read many a great thread here and seen some great work and bikes, Here finally is my project. Started last year and hope to finish it all by next summer for the bike 40th birthday

Now that's out of the way here is a potted history of the bike.

Kawasaki Z500 B2 (Firecracker Red) bought new from Bob Fortune M/C Darlington for £1256.00

Out of the crate and rode home on trade plates by me.

First registered August 1st 1980 JAJ601W

Used For general transport and occasional blasts around Croft circuit till my Terry Beckett tuned RD400C took over.

On holiday Aug 1981 hit by White Escort in London. Damaged but rideable. Fixed on return.

Nov 1982-April 1983 Had now covered 44000 miles, winter strip. Frame paint, bolts Cadmium plated. New Wheel bearings, new rings and valve stem seals, new clutch plates. Second hand GPZ550H Unitrack STD pipes replaced the now well rotten STD pipes. New Rickman front crashbars. Looked brand new again.

July 1983 Hit by Honda Prelude, Major Damage. Wrote off, bought back. Forks and frame straightened, new yokes, new mudguard. New GPZ550H Unitrack STD exhausts. Second set of Rickman front crashbars. Worth their weight these things.

Things settled down a bit after this only new chain, sprocket etc and a Motad exhaust changed till now at 78260 miles. This bike has been with me man and boy, done everything asked of it and only let me down once when it kept blowing fuses thanks to me washing it far too often and putting it away with water in the switchgear.

I would have loved to show this bike at various events but even now my semi retired part time employment gets in the way at weekends. So I have started the refurb, not a restore as I will keep as much of the original bike as i can and still intend to ride it as much as possible. My plan is to get to 100,000 miles before the bike or I expire. Holidays will be booked in for next years events.

Enclosed to start this thread are the only shots I have when I got it home from the dealer before stripping it down to regrease shafts etc, I learned a lot with my SS50, CD175 and 400/4's about Japanese builds.

For comparison pics from when it turned 77777 miles in OCT 2015.

Will get some before and after shots and text as the jobs get done. Hope you all enjoy this journey as much as I will.This thread may become a bit picture heavy so will post smallish pics.

This is a duplicate post, the whole thread is also on the VJMC forum and themotorbike forum

Regards

Rob B
Darlington

Great story.
Bike looks really good - well looked after, in the 2015 pics.
Keep the pics coming

Gave the engine a good washdown and degrease. Drained oil and removed filter.

To stop any damage to the Motad exhaust some padding was needed, a bit over the top but did the job

With the engine brackets on right side, carbs, coils chain and electrics removed a jack was placed under the sump padded with wood and timber placed at the height just above the frame on a trolly. Lift motor up a few inches to clear the brackets tilt to thr left to clear sump and pull out to the right onto the trolly. Reverse to install. Piece of cake with 2 people.



Rob

Long time since I updated this.

Engine Stand
It has always been a pain to support any engine I have worked on out of a frame so…

I set about making something to steady the motor, the obvious answer was to make a framework around it. Not having any metal or welding kit. I had a wander round the back of the potting shed where all the odd bits end up. Found 2 nice pieces of 1 1/2” X 3” treated timber.

After measuring the motor front and rear mounts set about cutting and test fitting the bits. Needed to shave a few bits to clear the sump, removable gear selector cover and clutch cover.

Finally glued and screwed together with suitable holes drilled for the STD mount bolts to suspend the engine in the wood. Had to turn the engine on its back to fit the framework and push the bolts in then lift it all upright. Perfect fit. Removed the stand and gave it a coat of paint.

Nice use of materials at hand.

Took a lot of pics before the stripdown

Drained oil and removed filter. To stop any damage to the Motad exhaust some padding was needed, a bit over the top but did the job

With the engine brackets on right side, carburettors, coils, chain and electrical connections removed a jack placed under the sump padded with wood, more timber was placed at the height just above the frame on a trolley. Lift motor up a few inches to clear the brackets tilt to the left to clear sump and pull out to the right onto the trolley. Reverse to install. Piece of cake with 2 people.

Above is a duplicate post, please delete

thanks

Been a long time since i updated this thread.bike now done and covered over 2000 miles and running great. So more of the story.Engine StandIt has always been a pain to support any engine I have worked on out of the frame so…I set about making something to steady the motor, the obvious answer was to make a framework around it. Not having any metal or welding kit, I had a wander round the back of the potting shed where all the odd and ends go. Found 2 nice pieces of 11/2” X 3” treated timber.After measuring the motors front and rear mount dimensions set about cutting and test fitting the bits and held together with clamps. I needed to shave some wood off to enable the removal / refitting of sump, primary drive and clutch covers. When I was happy I glued and screwed it together. Holes were enlarged slightly for the original mounting nuts and bolts to suspend the engine in the wooden cradle. Had to turn the engine on its back to fit the framework and secure it with the bolts then lift it all upright. A perfect fit. Removed the engine in the reverse way I fitted it, as they say in all good manuals. Gave the frameworks a sand down and a good thick coat of paint.I found that engine could be lifted a lot easier in the framework the and finally placed onto the workbench. If I can find 4 small castors with brakes that can share the 60 Kg or so it would make the shifting round and back on the bench a lot less effort as well as stopping my oil cloth on the bench rucking up and possibly ripping.