Trying to Avoid Restoration Gotcha's!

Although my KZ900LTD restoration project has been going on for a little over a year. This month it has really kicked into gear. As I began the chassis assembly, equipped with all my service manuals, (Kawasaki, Clymer), Kawasaki.com parts diagrams and printed sheets of tips from the KZ forum. I began to notice little dumb mistakes I was making, like mounting a front wheel before the front fender. And trying to install exhaust mount dampers after the shocks and swingarm were in. No Room! Had to dissassemble and go a different order! Wow! And I'm just getting started! My question is this. What are some typical "Gotcha's" to avoid in piecing a bike back together so as to minimize having to disassemble and redo the order in various things. What has been some of your experiences I can learn from and look for?

just take your time and picture what the bike looks like put together,think about what will be behind what when your done,make sense?post some pictures maybe we can guide you in!goodluck,happy wrenching;)

Not having issues at the moment. Just wanted to avoid future mistakes and see if anyone had some stories they wanted to share of any particular assembly problems they encountered on past or present projects.

I have some before and after pics that I will be continually updating at this link: skippr76kz.home.mchsi.com

Thanks! :laugh:

skippr76KZ wrote:

...like mounting a front wheel before the front fender...

Hmm. I always mount the fender after the front wheel is on.

Anyway, I followed your link, read the story and looked at the pics. Very cool. I look forward to the updates....

Post edited by: biquetoast, at: 2006/02/06 15:48

i drive by the kaw plant in lincoln once in a while,i allways wanted a 30 minute shopping spree in there when i was a kid!bwaha aint nothing rolling out of there anymore that really gets my attention!i guess thats what makes these old bikes so neat,they aint making anymore of emB)

Aye Skipper! Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things....You will come up with your own list of little snafus. Keep a catalogue of 'em so you can look back years from now and chuckle. I tell people that I restored 3 old K bikes last winter...'cause I made so many little mistakes that I had to do the job three times to get it right. Just remember the last thing you will put on you bike is your rear end when you fire it up for the first time. This will make all of your efforts worthwhile.
Cheers-Colin Firth-Ontario Canada
1977 Kz650 Custom-Undergoing major motor sugery this winter.

is the old plant in use or empty?
what part of linclon is it in?
thanks,
-duck

I pretty much follow the manual steps for reassembly. That way when I get it wrong I can blame someone else. "Wasn't my fault. The instructions said to do it that way. That's my story and I'm sticking to it."

plant is still there i guess youd call it northeast lincoln ,probably building ZX14s or some other plastic bodied missiles that dont excite me,i had a hotrodded ZX11 once looked just like every other plastic bike,blaah!now an old Z1 on the other hand:woohoo:

Yeah! I've had a few of those "gotcha's". My worst was splitting the crank cases and forgetting to put the timing chain in before I buttoned it all up.

Another one was fogetting to put the barrel dowels in before the camshafts etc.

One that drives me mad, if you have had the frame powder-coated and you can't get a tap in to clear the 8mm horn bracket hole.

Oh! another I nearly forgot... The bike was nearing completion, I was fitting the cam-chain adjustor. I thought I would just put my finger in the hole and feel the tensioner assembly (that's the swinging mounted fibre pulley that the chain-tensioner pushes on), it weren't there!

Last, and I still have trouble with this on the Z1 series, The order to assemble.

Airbox

,

battery-box,

inner guard,

seat locking mechanism

(including that little 6mm nut tab-washer).

Rear wheel,

rear fender,

chain guard.

Anyone like to have a stab at the correct order?

There is probably more of these "Gotcha's", I'll think as soon as I submit this!

RegardZ.

1 innergaurd,do you you mean plastic lower piece of rear fender?2 id say airbox,needs wiggle room 3 battery box 4 seat lock 5 rear fender 6 rear wheel 7 chain gaurd ive put together more kzs than z1s on the kzs i usually lay complete motor on its side and lay the frame over it to install.once i get it sitting on my patent pending kawasaki assembly stand 3 milk crates 2 side by side one centered directly behind with throw rugs to protect paint patent pending for about 27 years now!bwaha i finish mounting motor then carbs then plastic inner fender,battery box,coils, wiring,triple trees,swingarm,forklegs,fenders,headlight,taillight,handlebars,wheels and brakes and kickstand get instaled last before its removed from stand ,bodywork,and header get installed last along with oil and that kind of stuff,sequence may vary depending on parts coming from plating shop etc,ive don this so many times i could do it in my sleep!bwaha:whistle:

Gotcha's are all part of the fun! Sort of a "get to know your bike" exercise.
Digital cameras come onto there own here. I took pictures of anything that might be confusing 12 months down the track. I found the wiring harness routing a PITA.