1976 Kz 900 A4

Most of the Snap On Tool salesmen have a device in their trucks for checking torque wrenches. Obviously they can't recalibrate them, but you can get a pretty good idea of the accuracy of your torque wrench. I get mine checked once every year or so and last year discovered one of my Craftsman ones was way out of spec. I ended up buying a really good one from the Snap On guy. Expensive yes, but it works great and I am very happy with it. I keep mine in the basement where it stays warm and safe. As a side note, the wrench that was bad was one that I borrowed to my brother and it took months to get it back. When I did get it back it was still wound up to 115 foot pounds so I anticipated it would be off a bit, but it was way off. Never again is the words that come to my mind.
Rick H.

Also, for anyone who may not be aware, be sure to turn the torque wrench setting back to zero when you finish using it. That will help keep it accurate as it takes pressure off the spring. Ed

650ed wrote: Also, for anyone who may not be aware, be sure to turn the torque wrench setting back to zero when you finish using it. That will help keep it accurate as it takes pressure off the spring. Ed

Thanks Ed, good advise. I did have mine stored at its lowest setting. I messed with it a little yesterday and it appears to be something in the gear drive in the head. It appears loose, Meaning it moves within the outer chrome housing a great deal. Then if you get it angled just right it will bind up while rotating it in the opposite direction of the drive/torque direction. I didnt want to pull it apart till I get a chance to big into Craftsman warranty. I do now they stopped replacing complete ratchets and instead offered a replacement gear drive that you installed into the ratchet body. Till i know more I'm not pulling it apart.

If you have the skill to tear down an engine and rebuild it.....why not tackle a torque wrench???

One of the reasons I prefer the deflecting-beam type. As long as it is accurate when made it will always be accurate.

Keep it going I know it’s time consuming but once it done it will bring many smiles and enjoyment.
Hera mine I did about 5 years ago

Very nice....

I just loved that seat so much for yrs.!! I bought one! To go with Mikaws grab rail! !!
I had to weld seat tabs for hinges on. The last guy had that Old fiberglass tail on! He cut off the seat hinges???
Happy New Year! Hope it gets back to 1/2 way normal

ayeckley wrote: One of the reasons I prefer the deflecting-beam type. As long as it is accurate when made it will always be accurate.

My very first torque wrench was the deflecting beam type that I got as a Christmas gift when I was about 17 years old. I thought I was in heaven with it and it was used a lot by me and the guys I hung around with. When I started turning wrenches for money it was just too difficult to use in certain applications and I bought a set of Craftsman dial up torque wrenches which served me well until someone left one cranked up. I stopped at the Sears Repair Center in Milwaukee and they said sorry , no warranty on torque wrenches so I bought a new one. It worked well until once again it was left cranked up, so I broke down and bought a new Snap On LED model. It is great to work with and I never have to worry about making sure it gets turned down, but it isn't going to be allowed out of my sight. Had I not been in the process of rebuilding my KZ-1000 I doubt I would have purchased a Snap On LED torque wrench, but I wanted to be sure of the torque amounts I was applying on that bike so Snap On it was. A nice feature of that wrench is that it not only tells you if you over torqued something, it displays the over torque amount. I wish I would have bought one of these a long time ago.

Rick H.

spdygon wrote: Keep it going I know it’s time consuming but once it done it will bring many smiles and enjoyment.
Hera mine I did about 5 years ago

Thanks for posting that picture. It help me stay focused on the build , but more my color choice. I have always liked the green more but it seems like every '76 is green. I chose brown because its not seen as much. Now i know I made a good choice, your brown is the sun is stunning. Who did your paintwork?.

Also just recently I found out the '76 should have the turn signal alarm but mine didn't have one when I bought it. My 1976 LTD does and its mounted inside the headlight bucket. Does your's have one? is it mounted inside the headlight?

Partzilla shows it as part of the chassis electrical but the fishe doesn't indicate where it is located. I don't recall seeing it in the FSM but I may have missed it
www.partzilla.com/catalog/kawasaki/motor...electrical-equipment

Seeing how Scrooge Rick won’t let anyone else play with his toys I got to thinking, I have one of them there deflecting beam torque wrench’s around somewheres. Found it, the center pointer was still touching 0 so I took a chance. Front wheel finished. Also called about the Craftsman warranty. After calling my local hardware, ACO, Ace, Lowe’s, and finally a Craftsman warranty phone number I placed a claim, received a claim number and waiting on an email response to see were this goes.

Your wheel looks really nice!