1978 D1 winter rebuild

Hey, just an update because it's been a while. Im working on getting the topcoat on my frame and other body parts right now and waiting for my tax return to come in so I can start buying parts for the rebuild. Unfortunately no pics today, but as parts dry I'll definitely get some cool stuff up. For now I'm just looking for advice and help with some things I'm stuck on.

Here's a list of some of the basic parts I'm going to get:
Rear suspension and shocks
front fork spring
sprockets and chain
new front tire
master cylinder rebuild kits
roller steering bearing

If anybody has any ideas or suggestions of good deals for these parts I'd love to hear it (or if anybody has suggestions for any other cheap upgrades). Specifically I am considering regearing my sprockets. Before tearing the bike down I was running 16 on the front and 41 on the rear (slightly more drag-racer style i think), I was just wondering what other people are running and what their experiences have been with them.

On a more technical note, I'm trying to disassemble my front forks and can't get that darn allen bolt out of the bottom to get to the spring and oil seal!!! Has anybody done this successfully? Ever?

Lastly, my steering lock is frozen up. It feels like the key fits into it but wont turn. It could be that the key is the same type but cut differently, the only way to know would be to take it into a locksmith, but it's stuck in the frame. Does anybody know if it's possible to remove the steering lock? It looks like there's a little hole on top of the shaft for it, but except for that it looks flush everywhere else.

Thank you all very much!

abrambila wrote: ... trying to disassemble my front forks and can't get that darn allen bolt out of the bottom to get to the spring and oil seal!!! Has anybody done this successfully? Ever?

...Does anybody know if it's possible to remove the steering lock? It looks like there's a little hole on top of the shaft for it, but except for that it looks flush everywhere else....

Fork Allen screw -- usually best to try initial loosening before removing caps (whereby spring pressure tends to hold the internal parts in position that are turning along with the Allen screw), and use an air or electric impact wrench, or at least a manual hand impact wrench, with correct size Allen wrench.

If above method is unsuccessful, there's a special tool, or may fab a special tool, such as a pointed broom handle or proper size bolt head, nut, socket, rubber cap, or whatever, affixed to a long metal rod, to insert in the top end of the fork and hold the parts from turning while torquing the Allen screw.

A forum search should yield several earlier threads on the subject.

Steering lock -- look for a small Allen screw accessible when the forks are turned opposite of the lock position.

Good Fortune!

The steering stem races aren't welded. The one on the bottom half of the triple tree is a bear. I VERY CAREFULLY used a Dremel with a small cutoff wheel to cut most of the way through that race. Then, using a small cold chisel encouraged it the rest of the way. Just don't be too agressive and you won't hurt anything. For the bottom race in the steering neck - you may want to soak it with Kroil for a couple days, then use a long brass drift pin to tap it out from the top. It will come out; again - be patient. Lots of little taps work better than a couple mighty whacks. If you do a search on this site you will find other useful info on bearing removal and installation. Ed

650ed wrote: The steering stem races aren't welded. The one on the bottom half of the triple tree is a bear. I VERY CAREFULLY used a Dremel with a small cutoff wheel to cut most of the way through that race. Then, using a small cold chisel encouraged it the rest of the way. Just don't be too agressive and you won't hurt anything. For the bottom race in the steering neck - you may want to soak it with Kroil for a couple days, then use a long brass drift pin to tap it out from the top. It will come out; again - be patient. Lots of little taps work better than a couple mighty whacks. If you do a search on this site you will find other useful info on bearing removal and installation. Ed

+1 on what Ed said on the steering racers. Ed was a great help to me when I replaced mine a couple of weeks ago with a set of tapered roller bearings. I was to aggressive with the lower racer and damaged the lower head stem. Avoid doing so at all costs. You may end up with a junk frame. If I had to do it again I would soak it with Kroil or something else like Ed suggested. Then I would even apply some heat to the lower head stem (not the racer) before starting to tap it out. Removing the top race was much easier.

some new pics!

here's a mock up of the front forks.  I still have to buy the steering bearings but I put it through as a mock up


center stand


headlight bucket


and front and rear calipers



it looks like progress!

Looking good! Keep us updated - I like all the pics too! :woohoo:

hi it looks like its going ok for you. i am doing the same thing with a 1982 kz1100d, presently taking apart clean up looking over parts buying parts as i can. my problems are its going slow,or maybe i am :laugh: .i still dont know what i want in the end, but like the looks of police bike. right now im in middle of pw80 dirt bike . when it gets done it will be sold to buy more kz parts . :laugh: this place has been priceless all the info!! :woohoo: look forward to more pics good luck and keep on trucking, no biking :laugh:

hah, yeah it always does seem to go slower than I want it to. The police bike is a cool look, I'm actually eventually going to paint my tank/fenders/sidecovers either white or ideally some kind of cream color in a similar vein with red accents here and there (as you can see by the calipers)

I primed up the front forks and tested some vht paint on one of my headers last night and am going to check on that stuff today and take some more pics. I also put an order in with z1 for steering roller bearings, new headlight bucket, new sidecover grommetts, a new clutch cable, some fork oil and a few other odds and ends so I can start reassembly. The next big challenges will be redoing the wheels and wiring system.

I'm still looking out for shocks and I'm on a pretty tight budget relatively speaking so I'm trying to decide how much to invest in them. On one extreme I am considering just going with progressive suspension and doing it right (14 series with new springs), or I could try to use my existing springs (repaint) and mount them onto a progressive suspension damper, or I could go with something like this: omarsdtr.com/shox1.html
or something from mikesxs: www.mikesxs.net/products-18.html#products

what do you guys think? Is the extra investment worth it, or is it marginal enough that I should go the low cost route? Mikesxs has some snazzy stuff, but I dont want to be paying for something that looks great but might as well be the stock shocks I've already got on there.

abrambila wrote: I also put an order in with z1 for steering roller bearings,

So you're not going with tapered bearings for the head stem? Sounds like you are just replacing the roller bearings. I purchased roller bearings from Z1E for about $32 or so. I hear its a big improvement over the old racer/ball bearing set. Haven't had a chance to actually try mine yet so I can't offer any sort of opinion yet.

hmm, I thought these were the same thing? I'm not doing the ball bearings, as you can see by all the work I did removing the old races! I got the same set from z1 I think, with the roller barrels instead of the balls. I assumed this is what the tapered bearings were, what's the difference?

abrambila wrote: hmm, I thought these were the same thing? I'm not doing the ball bearings, as you can see by all the work I did removing the old races! I got the same set from z1 I think, with the roller barrels instead of the balls. I assumed this is what the tapered bearings were, what's the difference?

You are right on the terminology abrambila. I in other words you are the replacing the ball bearings with the tapered " roller " bearings . Sorry, I should have understood that.

Joe

I've got some more pictures and an update. I've been busy, but the approaching nice weather has put me into overdrive trying to get this bike back on the road. I cleaned up the shop the other day and started throwing together the front end:



and I FINALLY got that steering stem bearing in all the way so I can begin to tighten some stuff down.



Here's a couple more closeup shots of the front:




the only problem is that I forgot to put new fork oil in, so i'm going to have to break off the front shocks and do that

So far I'm happy with how the basics are turning out. I'm dreading having to go through the electrical and hook it all up, so i'm procrastinating by going through more small things like cleaning out the master cylinders, etc. As you can see I'm also prepping the tank for some body work:

and I'm trying to figure out the best way to clean all the little crevasses out of the engine.

I treated the headers of my exhaust with vht paint:

but I scratched some that i'm going to have to retouch, and I'm not sure the mufflers still look great, there are spots where the chrome looks like it was worn away by some chemical (maybe batt. acid?)

I ordered my front tire, and finally got the bearings out of my rear wheel, but am still working on the front wheel.


and just for fun... here's my roommates side of the shop, he built a new table! this is what originally inspired me to clean up and reorganize my side. This project is beginning to feel manageable!