My Shop This Morning

Hi Folks,
I've finished most of my side jobs and I've been able to get back onto some bike projects I've been tinkering with this last year.
The most significant effort has been on my KZ900. I put this bike in the back of my shop after I realized that the fuel tees were leaking and replacing them will require dismounting the carbs and then pulling them individually off the rack. This was in 2008.
I'm thinking that the KZ900 was the last KZ to not use CV carbs.
The rebuild/cleanup was pretty straight forward except that I, being a cheap idiot, decided to use these after market TEEs which turned out to be a looser of a decision:
 
I lubed the O rings generously but in the end the O rings were just too big. I actually had to use a bar clamp to force the carbs onto the TEEs. In the process I ended up slicing up the O rings which leaked while I was setting the float levels. I had to take everything apart again. This time I used the OEM stock tees which cost nearly $100.00 with shipping.
Bill

Thant sucks !!!!!

Here's my 900 with an old tank sitting on it. I had to relearn some old bits of Kawi Knowledge, like 'Connect the throttle cables to the carbs before you mount the carbs to the engine'. That one cost me a couple of hours as I didn't realize the issue until after I finished connecting the carbs to the air box. In the end I was able to make the connections by loosening all the available adjustments and connecting the pull cable last. The return cable is crowded too close the head.
 
I've got to admit I was surprised when the motor started, hadn't heard it in a long time.
Regards
Bill

My next effort was to resurrect an old project on the advice of a friend who used to work on Mazda wankles. I have a 1983 GL 1100, I knoow it's not a Kaw, but please give me some leeway. I took this wing into my shop in an attempt to free up a stuck ring that was causing the left side to smoke for the first six or seven miles of any first ride of the day. The folks over at Steve's GoldWing site told me to just ride it, it'd clean up with some regular miles. But it being a Honda in a Kawi shop, the riding didn't happen.
But back to my friend's advice. He told me that oftentimes when he was presented with a wankle engine that was smoking excessively he would drain the oil and refill with ATF. He speculated that the higher detergent properties of the ATF were disolving the deposits that were preventing the seals, at the tips of the triangular rotors, from properly wiping the chambers. To that end, I poured ATF into the cylinders about a month ago and let it set. When I got back on it last week I topped up the crankcase with the remainder of the ATF and started it up. I let it run unto the fan came on and then chenged the oil. If the roads dry up later today I'll get it out and see if there's any improvement.
 
Later
Bill

 Let's  see,
The 900 needs it's gas tank cleaned, The Wing needs better weather. That means it's time to pull out the W3:




Of course it's not a KZ but this story will reveal how close it is.
Bill
 

My W3 is a 1974 Japan only model. I purchased it from a fellow named John Robinson who lived in New Orleans just a few months before Katrina hit. I suppose there's a good possibility that I saved this bike from the scrap heap by shipping it to Oregon in the nick of time. John purchased the bike in 1975 while he was living in Tokyo  for Shell Oil Co.
At that time the Japanese public was prevented from owning any bike with more displacement than 650CCs so this Kawi fit the requirement. Unfortunately, the W series hadn't fared very well after It was introduced to the USA as a one carb 650 twin in 1967. 1968 saw a W2 fitted with two carbs but which still failed to get any sales traction.
If you look at the instruments closely, in the post above, you may notice that Kawasaki fitted the front end from a Z1, with dual brakes in an apparent attempt to tart up an old design.
Bill

I kinda like those old 650 twins and I would probably buy one if one dropped into my lap...probably harder to get parts for than my Z2

KZQ wrote:

I'm thinking that the KZ900 was the last KZ to not use CV carbs.

Bill

Not exactly correct.
The last KZ 900's were produced in 1977 but the 1000 (1015cc ) fours continued to use VM carbs through into 1980 with the MK2, Z1R D3 ,LTD and ST models.

Never had an issue with those tees and I have fitted probably 10 or so sets from this guy in Montanna. I use a bit of red rubber grease when installing.
www.ebay.com/str/gunsbluemoon?_trkparms=...542580.m47492.l74602
Where did you buy them.

zed1015 wrote:

KZQ wrote:

I'm thinking that the KZ900 was the last KZ to not use CV carbs.

Bill

Not exactly correct.
The last KZ 900's were produced in 1977 but the 1000 (1015cc ) fours continued to use VM carbs through into 1980 with the MK2, Z1R D3 ,LTD and ST models.
 

Thanks for that correction Zed1015.
Bill

Cra-z1 wrote:

Never had an issue with those tees and I have fitted probably 10 or so sets from this guy in Montanna. I use a bit of red rubber grease when installing.
www.ebay.com/str/gunsbluemoon?_trkparms=...542580.m47492.l74602
Where did you buy them.

 

Frankly I didn't know what to expect as far as how much force it might take to insert them so I gave them what they needed. I could always use them with smaller O rings but at this point the bloom is off the rose.

Bill

That's some nice bikes.

Z1BEBE's training wheels, a creampuff 1976 CB360T, came to us in ~1989 or so with 300(!) miles on it and stuck rings in one cylinder. She rode it on a 1,200 mile Blue Ridge Parkway tour, our first.  Rings freed during that trip.

We've used those aluminum T's on Z1 carbs before with no problems.  We bought six sets plus spare O-rings for all six sets from Z1 Enterprises at Jeff's Mid-Ohio swap site the last year Jeff was there, so that's been ~10 yrs. or so.  Maybe the O-ring stock has changed since then?  We'll try measuring one for diameter of the ring cross section.

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE