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

Kidkawie wrote:

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.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Tach drive falls out when cable is removed because the gear is missing on the end. The straight shaft that the end of the cable fits into just slips out, followed by oil.

Already did the cam chain tension adjustment, is that what you mean?

I'm not super worried about the starter. If I can't fix that easily (cleaning contacts) I'll just go without for a while. Starts surprisingly easily with kick. My frame of reference may be off since the last thing I kick-started was a Triumph? I'll keep you in mind if/when I get to the starter.

Why rebuild the carbs? What will I be replacing? Everything was actually pretty clean inside when I took the bowls/caps off. Sprayed carb cleaner through the holes, and it seemed to come out the other ends pretty easily. Needles and slides were clean and not corroded. Everything moves smoothly. My floats appear to be working well. All carbs are getting fuel, none are leaking from overflows. I checked the overflow tubes in the bowls and all were clear.

Not trying to be difficult, just curious. Rebuild basically replaces float valve stuff and jets, right? What symptoms should I look for to indicate a rebuild is needed?

LukeMacPU wrote: Rebuild basically replaces float valve stuff and jets, right? What symptoms should I look for to indicate a rebuild is needed?

Any of the various passages in the carb bodies need to be cleaned or blown out. If you took the carbs apart (removed all the jets and fuel screws) blew out the passages and made sure the jets were clean, then you should be fine. You don't 'have' to buy a rebuild kit if nothing was/is damaged.

When the carbs were off you would want to set the floats using the clear tube method, and get the slides dialed in using the wire gauge method. Once all that's done, setting the fuel screws to factory specs should get you in the ballpark. You'll want to sync the carbs though.

Basically, you just want to be 110% sure the carbs are working and set properly so you can look elsewhere if there's an issue with performance. It will save alot of headaches later on.

I would recommend you pull the valve cover and remove the broken tachometer gear. You can then replace it with a new one - part #13223-011, a new oil seal #92050-075, and a new o-ring #670B1510. All 3 of these parts are still active so any Kawasaki dealer can order or you can get them from ronayers.com for about $40. If you also need the guide you may want to order everything from Z1E...

www.z1enterprises.com/SearchResult.aspx?...rds=tachomete%20gear

Thanks again, already have the gear, o-ring, and seal on order. Just have to get the old piece out and install the new...

Progress at last!!!

Well, I've been on a bike working hiatus because we just had our fourth and final wee person. Baby girl was born Feb. 3, and I've been on kid duty with the older 3 while the Mrs. recovers from the c-section.

Anyway, finally got a couple hours to work on the ol' bike again. Installed my new tach drive gear and cable and fished out the broken piece of the old gear. Rebuilt and re-installed the front brake master cylinder. Brakes still seem too soft. They'll get solid, but it requires pumping... will squeeze all the way to the grip on the first grab. Don't know if I've got more bleeding to do or if my hoses are shot. Upper hose can't be stock, it's way too long and looks ridiculous. I'll be replacing that. I guess I'll see what it feels like after that?

Plan to check/adjust the valve clearances while I've got the top open. Ran out of time (read Mrs returned with the 4 kids), but I checked two valves and both were too tight. One was .0015 (smallest feeler gauge I have) and the other was tighter than that. Have to get the rest measured and remove shims to see what shims I need to order.

If they're all similarly out of tolerance, I would expect it to run better once that's remedied, eh?

Sounds like there's still some air in the brake system. Ed

I've bled just about 2 full reservoirs of fluid through it. Anything special I need to do to get the rest of the air out?

Checked all my valve clearances... 2 are out of spec tight .0015 or less, 4 were .002, one .003, one .004.

On other bikes I've had, you always targeted the loose end of the spec, so I'm planning to swap out 6 of 8 shims to get close to .004 for all.

Sound like a reasonable plan?

Just ordered the Motion Pro valve shim tool kit. I'm hoping that helps me swap shims easier. Got one out with random tools, but don't want to tear things up.

Got some time to work a little... old shims measured, new ones ordered, correct upper brake hose installed, brakes bled (actually have solid brake now), new tires arrived, still waiting on the tubes.

In theory, once the tubes and shims arrive, I'll be ready to ride. Lots of polishing/cleaning/painting to do before it's pretty, but it should be ready to roll! I hope to be on the road by next Wed/Thurs if all goes well.

Spent a couple hours working on things last night. New shims in and clearances are good. Bike is running again. The new tach drive and cable I installed are functional.

I took the wheels off to have new tires mounted, and nstalled new brake pads. My regular shop is closed on Wed, so no tires until tomorrow. Also found my steering stem bearings were too loose. I'm waiting on a spanner wrench to arrive so I can tighten that up sufficiently. The spanner wrench I used on the rear spring pre-load of my other bikes (KLR650/XT225) is too big.

Target on-road day is Friday if my wrench shows up on schedule... Once the wheels are back on, I'll roll it out and start cleaning it up. Still sitting with 8 years of dust/dirt on it now.

Well, I had one failed test ride and one successful in the past two days. First time out, the bike started bogging and basically died after 10 miles when it had been running well at the outset.

Thanks to some helpful folks on this forum, I was pointed in the direction of checking my timing and auto-advance mechanism. Turned out the advance unit had surface rust that sanded away my points arms (they were new points) until there was no longer a gap.

Cleaned up the auto-advance shaft, re-gapped the points and I was off and running.

Man this thing is fast compared to the 225cc thumper I just sold! Totally different riding position, weight, and power than my previous ride. Will definitely take some getting used to. I've had decently fast bikes before (GS1150E), but it's been a while. I've got to do a final check on my timing (have to borrow timing light), but I think I'm running decent.

Time to start beautification, and maybe get more baffles for my really loud exhaust. I'll post up some photos when I have progress on cleaning/polishing. At least now I can enjoy the ol' bike a bit too!

Success!!!

After my last quasi-successful test ride, I thought it'd be good to start cleaning things up a bit. Darn the luck, but when I tried to fire it up afterwards, I only had 3 cylinders! Apparently, the last 10 years of storage and who knows how long before that, hadn't been kind to my plug wires or coils.

I was getting pretty weak sparks to 1&4 and 2 was shorting out to anything but the plug. Ordered new coils/wires and replacement speedo cable late Sunday night.

Z1E got them out quickly and I got my stuff in the mail today. Conveniently, Wed. night is bike/guy night and I was able to get some work done. I had removed my surface rusted exhaust, sanded, and re-painted with high temp black on Tuesday. Before re-installing it, I was able to get new coils and wires in along with the new speedo cable.

Didn't take long and the bike was back together, ready for another test ride...

This time, things went well. I put on about 30 miles without incident. Got a little more used to the size of the new ride, but I'm still struggling to keep it under 60 mph! Definitely digging the get up and go. Had to wring that XT225 out before every shift to get much oomph. I do that on this one, and I'm over the speed limit before I'm out of 3rd gear.

Good problem to have, I just have to pay more attention.

I snapped a couple pictures of the current state before a headed out. Still desperately need to get my body panels painted, but that can wait 'til I get some bonding time with my new bike. I'll feel lots better when I've got at least a few hundred miles under my belt with no more bike issues...




Post ride inspection revealed that new fork seals are needed... I guess, the resurrection isn't over yet.