1975 Z1B - back on the road... hopefully!

www.kzrider.com/forum/3-carburetor/49950...e-replacement#499592

Patton wrote: If an el'cheapo fix is needed for the original style fuel pipe with the raised rubber ridges (no separate o'rings), may wrap the fuel pipe's raised areas with teflon tape to tighten the fit. Yellow teflon tape is supposedly more gasoline tolerant than is the more common white teflon tape.

www.z1enterprises.com/detail.aspx?ID=1910

www.kzrider.com/forum/3-carburetor/49950...e-replacement#499592

Single fuel line carbs usually have a single fuel pipe situated between #2 and #3 carbs.

Dual fuel line carbs usually have two fuel pipes situated between #1 and #2 carbs and between #3 and #4 carbs.

Good Fortune!

LukeMacPU wrote: Just joined the forum with my recent acquisition of a 1975 Z1B. Father-in-law gave it to me so starting cost is literally $0. Hope to get it back on the road with a minimum of funds.

After posting in the new members' section, I've come to realize this bike can be worth quite a bit in good shape. Hopefully, I can get it back in decent condition and end up with an enjoyable bike to ride. If it happens to be worth a few $$$, that would be a nice bonus.

Here's the starting point. Bike was running (though not perfectly) when parked 8 years ago. Never was ridden regularly in our family, don't know about previous owners. 18,XXX miles, a LePera seat, and 4 into 1 exhaust. Paint is in less-than-stellar condition, some oxidization on the engine, chrome in decent shape.

I'll post a few photos of initial condition, and later post new pics as things improve.

If you decide to sell the seat PM me or let me know, I have a 75 Z1-B also.
Thanks
ED

ed spangler wrote: If you decide to sell the seat PM me or let me know, I have a 75 Z1-B also.
Thanks
ED

Not worth as much being non-stock, but I actually like the seat. Looks are not my style, but I would have been searching for a passenger backrest for the Mrs. anyway. Seems like it should be comfortable and I think she'll be good for short rides too.

It won't run or run very good with a dead/missing battery.

Before you dig into the carbs, make sure the fuel isn't coming from those 2 breather lines above the carbs and dripping down. Theoretically, if there was a problem with one of your carbs fuel would overflow from the 4 overflow tubes. but if there's a blockage in the overflow it might come out the vent.

Pick up a sudco carb rebuild kit. I did mine only removing the bowles and caps. They're pretty simple.

Several victories today...

My fuel joint pipes or whatever was leaking have stopped. Sat for several hours with the fuel petcock on, no fuel leaking from anywhere.

Even more exciting, I managed to get my new points installed and settish via ohm meter and timing marks. New battery arrived and I was able to try starting. I was pretty pumped so when the starter button didn't do anything I was a little disappointed... absolutely nothing when I hit the button.

Lucky for me, there's the kick-starter! Kicked it over a few times with the key on, kill switch off, per a recommendation here. Could see the oil pressure light go out when I kicked it so I figured I was good to go.

After a couple kicks it fired and ran! Didn't run smoothly at all, but it was running. Grabbed a timing light and dialed the points in better. Smoothed out considerably. I let it idle for about 5 minutes, blipped the throttle a few times, and it seems to respond quickly. Shifted through all gears on the center-stand. No ride, as tires are crap and I have no front brakes, but it's alive! Sounds like a cylinder is dropping out intermittently, at idle. Would low charge on battery cause this, or do I have some other problem? Goes away seemingly in conjunction with headlight brightening as RPM's pick up. Chicken or egg question...

Now that it runs, I've got some other work to do. The tach doesn't work... cable or something internal? How do I tell? Starter is MIA, could be bad switch or ??? Apparently, the starter problem isn't new, and the bike had to be kicked when my father-in-law got it. Since they rarely rode it, they didn't look into fixing it.

Time to consider new tires, wheel bearings, and a master cylinder rebuild kit. With those, I think I could ride it. Old cables are functioning well now that they're lubricated, so I didn't install the new ones I ordered. This bike kick-starts much easier than my '79 Triumph, no comparison. I'd post more photos, but it still looks the same except for a few new fuel lines. I'll have to start in on cleaning it up now that it runs.

To protect those freshly cleaned carbs, and if not already done, would fit a good aftermarket in-line fuel filter. If dual fuel lines, install an in-line fuel filter in each fuel line.

The aftermarket filters are inexpensive and readily available at Z1E and most bike shops.

Click > www.z1enterprises.com/detail.aspx?ID=293

Click > www.z1enterprises.com/SearchResult.aspx?...yWords=fuel%20filter

Good Fortune!

Just figured out what's wrong with the tach... the worm gear on mine is just a shaft. The tach cable was loose where it attaches to the engine. I unscrewed it and what is supposed to be a worm gear fell out. Just a straight metal shaft. Looks like the geared portion twisted off the end. I'm guessing that was probably due to bad tach cable not turning.

Do I need to worry about that little worm gear portion being in the engine somewhere??? Would that stay up top under the cam cap?

LukeMacPU wrote: Just figured out what's wrong with the tach... the worm gear on mine is just a shaft. The tach cable was loose where it attaches to the engine. I unscrewed it and what is supposed to be a worm gear fell out. Just a straight metal shaft. Looks like the geared portion twisted off the end. I'm guessing that was probably due to bad tach cable not turning.

Do I need to worry about that little worm gear portion being in the engine somewhere??? Would that stay up top under the cam cap?

Would remove the valve cover and extract the broken piece.

While in there, check the valve clearances (an easy job), and adjust the clearances if necessary to within factory specs.

For consideration:

www.z1enterprises.com/detail.aspx?ID=1585

www.z1enterprises.com/detail.aspx?ID=334

www.z1enterprises.com/detail.aspx?ID=1563

Z1E also carries the valve cover gasket.

Good Fortune!

If haven't yet obtained a hard copy, here's a free down-loadable manual, which is in KZr's FILEBASE, together with a plethora of other info specific to 1975 Z1.

Click > www.kzrider.com/filebase/doc_download/43...asaki-service-manual



Good Fortune!

Check on cleaning the starter button contacts. Mine got a little corrosion on them and wouldn't work. They coma apart real easy then just use some emry paper to shine the contacts up.

LukeMacPU wrote: Just figured out what's wrong with the tach... the worm gear on mine is just a shaft. The tach cable was loose where it attaches to the engine. I unscrewed it and what is supposed to be a worm gear fell out. Just a straight metal shaft. Looks like the geared portion twisted off the end. I'm guessing that was probably due to bad tach cable not turning.

Do I need to worry about that little worm gear portion being in the engine somewhere??? Would that stay up top under the cam cap?

With the cable removed from the engine, do you see the tack drive rotate when the engine is running? The straight piece might be the cable end, not the drive gear. You can see what it looks like on the parts diagrams, or just remove that phillips screw and pull out the tach drive.

BTW - those tach drives leak like crazy, so if you see some oil in front of your engine reseal the tach drive first.

Since it ran, follow the steps for the cam chain adjustment. And you really need to rebuild those carbs!

You'll have to troubleshoot the starter problem, like Flyndrive said, check the button itself, make sure you have power there, then check the rest of the system. I think I have a spare starter if you find you need one. But I have a gut feeling it's a bad connection.

Flyndrive wrote: Check on cleaning the starter button contacts. Mine got a little corrosion on them and wouldn't work. They coma apart real easy then just use some emry paper to shine the contacts up.

I'm assuming you mean the contacts inside the switch housing on the handle-bars? I'll give that a shot, sounds like it could be an easy fix.

Thanks.