'78 KZ1000 makeover

I was wondering if that little match I struck was going to get a fire going under your ass. :evil: Good to see you back at it. I think we all want to see this one get back on the road.

Indeed you did Josh Thanks to Blackbanshee, I remembered I still needed to work out the rear shock nitrogen reservior mount. I contemplated doing the same thing Testerossa did, and mount it to the subframe, but my hose is shorter and it wasn't really working out like I wanted. I figured I'd measure the reserviours diameter (1.806") and get a piece of tubing that I could cut in half to serve as a mount. I scrounged up some 2" .60" wall stainless tubing, cut a 3.5" piece and then cut it in half lengthwise. It fit almost perfectly around the reservior.... but with a little bit of play. Then I wondered if I should have some isolater or dampner so the reserviour isn't rubbing/vibrating against the stainless tubing. I grabbed a chunk of 1/16" EPDM rubber mat I had laying there and presto! It was a perfect interference fit. I don't get lucky like that very often, but I'll take it.
So now, where to mount it? Well, how about the hollow area under the upper shock mount bracing? Its close enough, the hose isn't kinked in some weird way, it looks clean, and it sits back behind the main frame down tubes so i shoudn't have any air filter clearance issues. Whadya think, weld it up?

I really don't see what your hose length has to do with where you mount your reservoir? LOL :silly: :laugh: :woohoo: I say Tack it for now and see where the rest of the build takes you. It looks good so far.

While elfmagic was busy coming up with a wity comment about my hose :ohmy: :laugh: , I was outside tacking the tube section to the frame:

Nice work on the jigsaw puzzle pieces on the side of frame. I'm impressed with your patience. I woulda done the easy thing and gooped it up with body filler. But maybe you plan on powder coating, dunno.

Perhaps the reservoir should be as low and forward as possible for weight reasons. Of course you won't feel the diff, but what the heck, every little bit helps. Or if the reservoir looks cool, hang it on the side of frame somewhere and bling it out!

porchev914 wrote: While elfmagic was busy coming up with a wity comment about my hose :ohmy: :laugh: , I was outside tacking the tube section to the frame:

:blush: Oh Snap!! LOL

No Nelson, I'm not powdercoating (they couldn't do the color I wanted), I wanted to afford the frame as much strength as I could. Those being the rear motor mount points, the least I could do was replace what was originally there.

elfmagic...just bustin your cherries

I was in HF the other day picking around, and came across a digital angle finder. It was kinda expensive (for HF) at $28, but I had this nagging little doubt in my mind about how flat everything was, so I picked it up. Tonight after tacking the reservior mount, I got the bike jig/stand down and leveled it. After getting the bike on it, I put a level across the twin top frame tubes with the angle finder. It was 0. Whew! then I put it on a machined flat spot on top of the swingarm....0 Double whew! I stuck it to the sprocket, and it said 90, and I stuck it to the front rotor, also 90. OK, I guess I didn't have to sweat that afterall. Then I decided to put the subframe back on and check it...ARGH! It was .3 degrees low on the left side. I can be kinda weird about symetry, but I'm gonna let this one slide and never think about it again.

While I was standing there being happy about the frame and suspension elements being perfectly level with each other, I noticed two nicely turned, drilled and threaded lugs with cap screws sittin on the bench next to the bike. Hmmmm, those were nicely made.....I would remember making something that nice on my crappy lathe. Then it dawned on me that I didn't make them, irishwill did. They are the lugs for the outboard bearing support frame mounts! I was a little disappointed that I still had a bit of welding left to do, and that it was going to require the engine to accurately locate the lugs.

Well, I suppose a call to Z1E is in order to get the rest of the odds and ends I need to assemble the engine.
Looks like your wish is coming true Leon.......

you actually said "but my hose is shorter" :pinch: .

i mean YOU said "but my hose is shorter" :woohoo: .

certain things you just should not talk about on the interent adam,dang .

word gets around ya know :laugh: .

i'm sorry i'm just a weak weak man.

shoot man from your post count in the last couple days i would say that you may already have the engine in the frame and the lugs welded back on and the engine back out ready to finish.

i mean it's been almost 7 hours from your last post. :huh:

glad to see you making some good progress man i can't come over and help so i will just try to keep you motivated from this side :evil: .

keep stickin and movin.

leon

My hose is so long, I have to tie it up to my taillight to keep it from dragging the ground when I ride. You know how I roll. :silly:

i tuck my hose in my sock! :woohoo:

keeps it outta the mud! :silly:


leon

I have a different place altogether I tuck my hose Leon, but im not one to judge. To each his own! :woohoo:

Any rough ETA on a test ride?

Keep it up Adam!