82 1100A Resto.

Since you guys have convinced me to keep it and not part it, I suppose I should start a project thread.

Bike is a 82 1100A shaftie. 45K, bone stock as far as I can tell. Bike was bought for 500 bucks and delivered to the door, so not a bad deal. Needs some TLC, obviously, so here we go:

Pic the day it was delivered:



Obviously the 70's porno bags and fairing had to go. They were relocated to a KZR member from Michigan, putting the total cost of the bike at 250 bucks. Not bad. (Side note to the story - After the fairings and bags had been sold and paid for, I had done some more research on the bike and found out that Kawasaki actually sold many of the KZ1100As with the Vetter stuff co-branded from the factory. All of my parts had either the co-branding on them, or the holes filled where the emblems should have gone. Turns out the Vetter parts on my bike came from Mama Kaw on my bike, and in hindsight, I probably should have left them on and not sold them. Oh well, hindsight.)

Here's a weak-ass pic of it once it was de-fairing-ed and de-bagged:



And a few pics of the utter filth that I was dealing with just for an initial cleaning:







At this point the plan of attack is to get it running. Next post will be on what I've done so far.

Did you try calling tim about those parts you were looking for?

Don;t know if you've worked on the shaft drives, but all that slim/ crud is probably from the O-ring around the pinion bearing holder. Those 4 bolts where it goes to the swing arm come off, after the wheel is off of course. then you will see where at that 4 bolt flange the pinion has a bearing holder that separates from the main rear drive case. No need to remove pinion nut, unless it looks like the pinion seal. But the o-ring where the pinion holder goes into the case, thats the usual leak.

So, after bringing it into the garage following a ridiculous few hours cleaning it, I began to find the multitude of issues with it which included:

- Didn't idle or run worth a sh*t.
- Loud knocking noise coming from the motor.
- More filth.
- Brake lights inoperative.
- Weak spark.
- Cobbed and hacked wiring.
- Brake fluid in the front is probably OEM.

Worked on one thing at a time, started with the spark issue, which basically led to de-oxidizing every connector in the wiring harness, and replacing plugs/caps/wires. Found that the bike had both resistor-style plug caps AND BR8ES plugs, so I changed out the plugs for B8ES and put new resistor caps on. Worked well. Spark good.

Once the spark issue was solved I started trying to figure out what the engine knocking was all about. Pulled off the ignition cover, everything fine, so that got a clean and lube and put back. Pulled the stator cover and found the starter clutch loose as a goose, no loc-tite on the mounting bolt threads, mounting bolts pounded to hell and not reusable. Noticed the springs in the clutch were pretty compressed so I stretched them out for the time being and put it back on correctly with new bolts and blue loc-tite. Very happy with wasn't a major issue.

Next.... While refurbishing the wiring connectors I found that the brake light didn't work for crap on either switch. Both switches were given a spritz with a de-oxidizing/lubricant spray from RadioShack and the rear came to right away. Front was a different story.

Found on the front brake circuit that I was only getting about 3.5V to the brown wire and the other brown wires in the front of the bike were fluctuating as well.

At this point I did start to have some doubts as to whether or not I should keep going on with this thing or just part it, as I'm not an electrical engineer, I already need a headlight/bracket/signals/carb kits, etc. and now I might need a full harness too? Sh*t. After a interest gauging thread in the For Sale section, a few guys gave me some support and talked me back into going forward with it.

Member Motor Head gave me some sound advice to trace the connections back in the harness, and this is what I find:



Looks like water had seeped into the harness over the years causing this joint to sh*t the bed. re-soldered the joint and everything was good as new. Brake switch needed a spritz and we were in business. When I was spritzing the switch I saw in the front master peephole that the fluid was... well... no bueno. Pic:



This is where that part of it sits as of now. Decided I needed to at least do SOME kind of visual fix-up to get me excited about it, so why not at least clean up the emblems, side covers, etc. The bike does have a nice black-metallic paint job on it that I'd considered re-doing, but after a wax on the painted bits, I might just leave it for a while.

One thing I didn't care for was the fact that the PO painted the emblems the same color as the bike... Looked... well, dumb. So after some thought, I laid some sandpaper down on the bench and slowly sanded off the high spots on the emblems, re-filled the letters with some color, and this is what I came up with:



Also decided to do the tank emblems and gave those a 'brushed' finish. I like it.



Total package:



So... we're well on our way. Next up, I guess it's time for carbs/valve adjustment. Will update soon. Hope you guys dig it so far.

Yes that looks really good, I like the emblems turned out real nice.
What do you think is the Knock in the motor? Cam Cap bearing bolt pulled out threads? Just a guess. Could be that the carbs are so plugged up its not running even at all and could be causing some noise. Maybe loose Magnets on the Rotor? Guess.

Motor Head: Thanks for the tip on the o-ring. When it comes time to rip the back wheel off and re-paint it, I'll be sure to change it. By the way, a BIG THANKS for all of your advice on this project so far. I honestly wouldn't be where I'm at in the project without your assistance. Again, thank you.

wireman: I haven't called him just yet. Member kz10006 sent me a PM and is working on locating some of it at the moment, so if he doesn't come through, your contact will be my next stop. I appreciate the help on that as well.

AH, forgot about the knocking. That's what happens with these big ass posts, something's bound to be forgotten. I'll edit the previous post, but...

I did figure that one out, by dumb luck. It was the starter clutch. Hanging on by a thread, no loc-tite on the mounting bolts, so it was rattling and binding something fierce.

New bolts fixed that right up, but I'm going to go back in and get that rebuild kit from Z1 before it goes on the road, the springs were pretty shitty.

That rebuild kit is pretty good. I've installed it in mine. Lock-tite those allen head bolts where the Starter clutch goes to the rotor/ flywheel. they have a history of backing out.

That's exactly what happened. Some bone-head in years past put chrome allen heads in there with no loc-tite and the backed out.

Once I get the carbs sorted and recover from the stroke that I'm sure to have rebuilding them, I'll spring for that kit and get it permamently fixed up.

Judging by the emblems you are going to have a really great bike when you're done! You will be so glad you didn't part it out (and so will the bike). Ed

Those carbs are really simple, no stroke involved there. You got the manual for it, grabbed the copy in my signature? There is also a Cv carb rebuild in "File Base" here on KZR, top right corner of the tool bar. Non- Specif models, and its on Suzuki or Yammie carbs but its about the same.

650ed- Thanks for the kind words. This isn't the first bike I've fixed up and made 'my own', it's just the toughest one I've done and it got a bit frustrating for a while having so many things wrong at once. I agree, it's a beast of a bike when right, and deserves new life.

Just to brag a bit and prove I'm not BSing, here's my last project before and after. 80 GS750L.

Before:



After:













Motor Head - Yeah, I dl'ed the manual. Right now I'm trying to find the best price on the carb kits and I should probably replace both sets of rubber boots (airbox and engine). Just trying to save up some cash.

I've also found that my exhaust might not be right for this thing, may be off of a 1000P bike because it fits like crap and the center stand lock doesn't work. That will be another doozy if it's what I think it is. I'll be posting a thread in the Engine forum for help on that.