TOPIC:

Got an appointment for my MOT. Next available time was on the 10th of June - gives me a couple of weeks to test out the colortune when it gets here

Got my license plate today, too. Just need that pesky MOT...



In other news, the gearbox on the mini has been rebuilt and I took care of the rust as well. Should be back on the road on Monday.

Set the idle mixture with the colortune plug today. Made things a hell of a lot easier. Ended up at 2.25, 1.75. 4(!!) and 2.25 turns out. I blame Nessism for carb #3 It was a replacement I got from him and the only one that didn't spend a week in solvent (I know, I know, I should have cleared the circuit manually). All the others were in the solvent in Canada before I bought the bike back (all 4 went into the ultrasonic cleaner back here).
Anyway, I'm hoping it will clear itself out a bit during break-in, but if not then I'm not too worried. The mixture got too rich and the idle started to tank at anything above 4.25-4.5 turns out, so I'm not at the end of the adjustment.
Maybe a job for next winter...

The bike was getting pretty hot so just a short video:

Forgot to mention yesterday that I'm still getting a bit of smoke when starting up. It's just a bit of smoke - no billowing - and it stops after the bike is warm enough to idle on it's own (1-2 minutes). I'm assuming this is due to the ring gap being pretty close to the service limit on all the first and second rings. It could also be a very slow leak in one of the valve seals (all new), but I would assume that would just be a quick blast of smoke and then it would burn clean almost straight away.
Any other ideas or is it the rings?

Put on some new bars today.
I originally wanted to ride out the season on the stack bars and see if I got used to the handling at low speeds (they are really narrow). In the end, however, German bureaucracy forced my hand.

[long-winded explanation]
Here in Germany almost all modifications to a bike require some form of paperwork (I even have papers for the footrests on my Hornet). There are a few different options:
- The manufacturer provides paperwork for your specific model and year (you need to carry this with you when you ride).
- The manufacturer provides a general "this is for a motorbike" piece of paper and you need to take the bike to a testing station, get it approved and then get it entered in the registration papers.
- No paperwork and you need a full test and then get it entered into the registration papers.
All the bars that came into question fell into the second category. If I mount them now I can get them approved at no extra cost when the bike gets tested next week. If not, it'll cost me about €50-60 next year (and a trip to the testing station and the DMV). I figured I can always switch back to stock, although having put the new bars on that seems unlikely.
[/long-winded explanation]

The new bars are almost exactly the same size as the old ones, just turned up and out. Made routing the wiring etc. easy as everything was the right length. You can also see the new license plate bracket in the photos. I got this laser cut as that little red reflector at the bottom is compulsory in Germany

In the USA some models came stock with a license plate reflector >> usually a bracket & reflector and listed in the Ignition switch diagrams. There were at least 2 different brackets. I think the reflector was used on the 1982-on models & it's still available..

www.partzilla.com/catalog/kawasaki/motor...tch-locks-reflectors
REFLECTOR,REAR REFLE 28012-1005 (1983 KZ750-F1 Ltd Shaft, et al)
BRACKET,REFLECTOR,RR 11036-1150 (1983 KZ750-F1 Ltd Shaft, et al)

www.partzilla.com/catalog/kawasaki/motor...tch-locks-reflectors
BRACKET 11034-1922 (1983 KZ750-L3, et al)

Thanks, they wouldn't leave enough room for the German plates, though. They are 180 x 200 mm (the same size as the rest of the bracket in the photos).

Your bike looks amazing. Nice job.

What color is the smoke on startup? Blue means oil. If it's oil it will have that characteristic smell also.
Assuming oil, I doubt the cause is ring gap. My bike has .004" piston to bore clearance, which ain't so great, and it doesn't smoke.
Hopefully just a matter of ring seating. Don't baby the bike during the early rides, rather, ride it hard but avoid redline. You need some combustion pressure to push the rings into the cylinder walls and cause them to bed in.

Thanks Ed! I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Don't worry, I won't be babying it Can't wait to get on the road, especially with the new bars (the bike feels a lot more stable).
My piston to bore clearance is more like 0.003" (ring gap is about 0.020-0.025"). I'm pretty sure it's burning a bit of oil and am hoping it is as you suggest and the rings just need to seat properly. I didn't hone the cylinders as I was reusing the old rings and didn't have the tools, maybe a mistake but I'll be putting new rings in next winter and will do it then. The valve seals are all new and seemed to be fine (despite being from Athena!).

Here's a video of a cold start - kept filming until I could turn the fast idle off:

Your bike sounds good. Definitely running on all four.

How close does your exhaust system tuck up to the sump? Looks pretty close in the video.

Yeah, running a lot better with the new coils and a bit of work with the colortune plug (still my favourite tool for someone without a lot of experience with carbs).

Exhaust hugs the frame pretty tight, probably best seen in the photo below (don't have any pics of the oil pan clearance). I can still get the filter out easily and I can get the oil pan off and back on if I use a spanner instead of a socket on the right hand side (did this once and never again - easier to just remove the exhaust).

Is that the Delkivic header?

Yeah, it's the Delkevic with the classic straight muffler:
delkevic.co.uk/Kawasaki/KZ750/1980/kawas...ilencer.html?search=