Trying to Rescue a Late 1970s (1977??) Kawasaki KZ1000

Thanks SWest.

Yes, heat.

In our car world, the alternator is not in the hot crankcase, and has its own separate fan spinning about twice crankshaft speed.

But the crank end mounted alternators in our motorcycles take a good frying.

I keep hoping F64 will see these number and help. 
 

Thanks Guys.

Dreams are said to solidify thoughts and clarify thinking, and I popped awake about 3 AM last night remembering that the blue plug previously mentioned also contains pins for the neutral switch and oil pressure switch.  With no oil pressure and the gearbox in neutral, these switches are closed to ground.

So this morning, I pulled the wires from the neutral and oil pressure switches and measured again the resistance from each stator wire to ground.  And got infinity ohms !!!

I think that the 15 Mega-ohms I was previously getting was from a bit of conduction by dirt in the blue plug from the stator pins to one or both pins of these grounded neutral and oil pressure switches.

So I'm pleased to learn that my stator might be OK.

As mentioned in one of my previous posts, I often seem to get fooled by where electrons will flow.

Apologies for my earlier clumsy work.

saved some heartache and possibly money too. It's amazing the havoc a little s@*t will cause.

No sign of my used regulator yet.  Meanwhile, there's a lot I still don't understand about the shunt and series type of regulator.  I'm trying.

So a break from electrical stresses, and I'm aiming to put the rear wheel hub in good order by getting two new seals.  One seal on the sprocket side, and the other on the brake side, which are different dimensions.  This eBay seller seems to have good prices and a good selection of Type C seals.  I'll let you know if they look OK when they arrive.

I guess we can't post an eBay link.  The seller is bohrer-onlineshop.

And what do you guys think of these rear shocks?  It pleased me that they're Showa and Made in Japan.  The numbers on the lower part of the shock, googled, tell us that they were OEM on 1994 Harley-Davidson 1200 Sportsers.  Even in the lowest spring preload setting, these suckers are very stiff.  My first impression is they're too stiff for the KZ1000's weight with me on it.  And a lot of my local roads are third world rough!  Is there something more supple that you guys recommend?  

More later.............



 

My SH775 seems to be adjusting itself to the load of my lights. I highly recommend installing one. Old 70's tech vs modern ones. 
As for the shocks, isn't one too close to the chain? 
Steve

Here’s the bearing and seal numbers. Go to a bearing wholesale like “Bearing Services”. You can get better quality for a few dollars more and same day pickup.

 

SWest wrote:

My SH775 seems to be adjusting itself to the load of my lights. I highly recommend installing one. Old 70's tech vs modern ones. 
As for the shocks, isn't one too close to the chain? 
Steve

Thanks SWest,

Good point about the rear shock and chain interference.  The Showa shocks were both set to the highest preload which ramps those bottom adjustment collars upward.  And perhaps this was done by the PO to clear the chain rather than tune the suspension.

So I went looking for a picture, and found this one.  I think the preload collar clears the chain in any of its 3 position, and other shock parts also clear.  But it's not the most instructive photo for this judgement.




 

Thanks for the bearing and seal information Mikaw.

The only bearing that I've looked at was the carrier, which seemed smooth and "play-less".  The bearing's shields seemed to have worked well, because the seal on the sprocket side had half its lip ripped off.

The new seals I've ordered are the same dimensions you've shown.

With my wheels being LTD cast and of unknown year, I'll have to pay particular attention.

-7ºC here so still hiding indoors, but there's a bit of heat in the sun when you're out of the wind.  Motorcycling season starts slowly in March around here.

Working a bit with the front wheel and tire.

She's rolling a 100/90 19 tubeless, but there's some sidewall light cracking, the tread is legal but minimal, rubber seems hard, and it's not great at holding air.

Does that valve stem look like the installation is tubeless, or is that a tube stem?

I'm surprised that the discs are only 4-bolt and no locking tabs, but it looks like a sound assembly.  the bolt heads aren't scarred up, so I don't think they've ever been removed.

To replace the rubber seals it looks like I would have to unbolt those discs.  The seals seem OK to the extent I can examine them.

Also note that some of the flat black paint has flaked, and I might want to touch up the front and rear wheels.  Is there a recommended paint for these cast wheels?

Thanks guys............

I run a tube like the one you have. The disks will need to come off. I used VHT roll bar paint on both of my alloy wheels I got from one of our members. (Thanks Vic) The disks look to have been drilled. I used some late model disks on my old wheels. They fit on the new ones too. 
Steve

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Yes the stem looks correct for tubeless, but there are tubes with metal stems so the only way to know for sure is break it down. I still run tubes in my mags. I tried to remove the tube once and the tire would be flat in four days. Tire needs replacing. Even without dry rot the shouldn’t be more than 8-10 years old. You may have 1979 mags swapped in, they were factory drilled. I’m a big believer in OEM setups, if the factory felt it was needed I believe them. Look at the parts fishe I posted and get 8 new bolts and 4 new locking tab washer. 

www.partzilla.com/catalog/kawasaki/motor...hub-tire-79-80-b3-b4

Not your size but for example of a tube with metal stem