Z250 Single

welcome to z-jungle!

Lol if the z-jungle refers to the frustration rather than the forum then thanks but no thanks
But yes, kind of exciting thinking of how it might all come together after so many months...

that means welcome to z-forum! :laugh:
your doing alright,we all started somewhere.old man rock tought me everything i know! :woohoo:

Lol. I'll agree with you when this thing actually starts. I'm trying to arrange for the ignitor to be sent to a friend in Germany. Hopefully that will go through. Even with postage I'll be saving about $200.

Woohoo - it sparks.

The ignition unit that the eBay seller sold works a treat. Well - at least it sparks consistently when I hit the starter now. It is a small spark - not the super noticeable one I was told I should be expecting - its more a little fizz at the end of the spark plug, but hey, its there.

So I'm looking forward - need to actually hook it up to the wires correctly - missing a terminal after I wasted it with a bad crimp job, and split the rubber on the one of the wires, so will need to electric tape that, but that's about it.

Looking at getting a new air filter as the sponge on mine is non existent, but it seems cheaper (and I want this in the future anyways) to get a pod filter - only 9 pounds, though I'm not sure about postage.

So I realise I'll need to rejet the carb if I get the pods, and I know a lot of people don't recommend this route, but it looks like its been done before and the results were ok? Seems like I only need to replace the 98 jet with a 130...not that I know if I'm running the same jets.

kzrider.com/forum/3-carburetor/195591-je...-kz250-single#198946

Anyways, content for now. Will worry about that and the smallness of the spark later...

Oh btw, is it ok to use a 35V 20A fuse? The manual doesn't say, but I think the 10A ones are 250V.

So, haven't done that much, though trying to plug away at it every once in a while.
Had a problem with the float level a while back, and after that, have rebuilt the carb and rejetted for pod filter (k&n installed).
Made a temporary "gas tank" to help test the float levels of the new set up, and hopefully will finally get it started.





Haven't used a hot glue gun in years - glue gun'd a barbed off take used for sprinkler systems to a random bottle - temporary gas tank to go for less than $3

Hey Sham,

Welcome to KZ, and the wonderful world of wrenching at old bikes. Sure to be a headache, heartache, and also some of the best fun you can have at the same time. Tho it seems like you've already been through a bit of this already. Good on ya for sticking with when problematic or expensive things came along. ($400 AUD for an old CDI?!)

I just finished up working a few months out in Margaret River, and the whole time I was there kept thinking how much I would have loved to have a bike, or rather, my bike to get around. You are incredibly lucky to be in a place with such amazing places to ride and a climate that lets you do it pretty much year round. I'll actually be passing through Sydney for a little while after working here in NZ. Looking forward to it!

You've already answered some of your own questions along the way, and having a manual is gonna help out huge. Almost anyone here will be better qualified to answer most of your questions, and for sure they will chime in at some point, but I can say something about your question about getting the carbs cleaned. Soaking in cleaner is not gonna make them shiny unfortunately. If you've been able to confirm that the inner passages aren't blocked in any way, then the cleaner did its job there. (compressed air is a good way to check the tiny passages) But, it will take LOTS of cleaning with polishing compound or some equivalent to get the aluminum bodies of those carbs looking shiny. On the plus side, if you aren't too fussed at present about cosmetics, the aluminum oxide that forms on the surface of them over time is an extremely hard substance, and is more durable than a nice glossy finish anyway! :laugh:

Looking forward to where your restore/build goes. Makes me wish I hadn't given up on the KZ400 I got years ago, although it was in aweful shape. (I really hope nobody remember the pics of that from the old forum... I had even more to learn then than I do now, tho only by a slight margin.)

Good luck with it. I'll keep my eyes peeled for that blue 250 single while i am in Sydney. :laugh:

Jon

Hey Jon,

Thanks for the encouragement.

Its a bit of a journey this bike business, and the highs and lows were not what I expected. Its been great learning about new things, which I'm sure to many others appear irrelevant, yet everything is new to me.

In terms of riding, the only riding I've done is still restricted to the two day compulsory course we had to take, but the sensation of doing it is definitely keeping me going.

The engine has no compression at the moment, or more accurately, only has a reading of 30 PSI, so I guess I have a long road ahead.

Looking to get some new gaskets from eBay and will see how it all goes.

Hopefully by the time you visit, the bike will be roadworthy again and I'll be able to scoot around to maximize your chances of seeing it

ah yes i see ur first Z1 enterprises sticker, u will have many of those in the future, I got em stuck everywhere :lol:

Yeh I've only got the one so far. I'd love to make it more, but they don't have much of the z250 specific stuff - my bike's not really the type their customers are after I guess lol.

But they have been super helpful.

Anyways, I undid the alternator and valve covers tonight. Found out my valve clearances are way off - almost double the recommended distances for both valves. So just one question in regards to that - to get the timing mark to the "T" mark, is the inlet valve suppose to be at its peak (ie highest position)? cos I found that while it is traveling along its upward movement before it hits the "T", it continues to go up after this.

I was with a friend and we were both under the impression this should not be, however, after further reading, I'm starting to believe that this is ok, as the TDC position (which I believe is what this "T" mark is) is suppose to be where both valves are open, hence allowing for the measurements to be taken. This means both valves are not at their lowest or highest positions. Can someone confirm or clarify this please?

At the end of the day, all this seems to go back to my need for a torque wrench, as the locking nuts have to be adjusted to a specific torque.

Looks like I have an order to put in...

Here's a free manual download (courtesy of KZr member, loudhvx).
Give it some time, as the screen appears blank like nothing's happening for maybe a minute or so, but should eventually pop up.
Click here > home.comcast.net/~loudgpz/KawKZ200Man.pdf
and then . . . W . . . A . . . I . . . T . . . (like go get a beer, walk slowly, drink slowly, repeat) :lol:
Lou has almost sobered up. I'm still trying to sober up.

Until finally ---




The following pics are from those included in the manual.
I added notations as to the F mark and T mark, in hopes of confirming exactly which is which.



Good Fortune!

Hey Patton,

Thanks - I'm downloading it now, though I do have the kz250 manual on hand as well.
The alignment I did today was to the T mark - my query is I guess what should be happening at this T mark - in my manual, it said that I would reach this T mark after the valve has completed its downward movement, while it was moving back up. So does this mean my timing mark should be aligning with this T mark sometime between the bottom and top of the valve movement (as it is now) or if it should be at the very top (which it isn't currently).

To confuse things more, I'm also reading elsewhere TDC is the position where both valves are closed. This suggests to me that the timing mark should be aligning with the T when the valve is at the very bottom of its movement?

Am I complete wrong here?