'78 Z1R tc (turbo) turn signal stalk and pots

Howdy from Oregon where we kiss where the sun don't shine. I've had this old Z1R turbo as the 2nd owner for over the last 20 years. An inherant problem is with the turn signal pots. To keep the darn things stable on the horizontal post one has to tighten the mounting screws to the tension that breaks the pot intermally threaded mount. Has anyone come up with a fix for this? I mentioned this to my best friend and his BMW had the same issue.

Thanks and a lift of the lynch lid for any responses






Turn signal pot (disassembled)




Interior of turn signal pot




(sorry for the pooor image quality, I'll try again tonight)

Try some Blue Loctite # 242 on the metal parts. Clean the area with Lacquer thinner or Acetone, apply a few drops of Loctite, and snug down the nut. #242 is removable type with tools. The Red types need heat to loosen the grip.

Thanks for your response MFolks, the trouble is these parts (save for the screws) are molded plastic. I'll post some more detailed photos tomorrow. One thing that came to me this morning when I was waking up is I could drill and tap a hole through the center of the turns signal stalk and this ought to provide lateral support. Have yet to work out the engineering but I always kept spares of parts I'd replaced over the years so I'll practice on them first, unless someone comes up with a better idea in the meantime.

Replacement signals(front and rear) are available through K & S www.kandstech.com/ , but they are probably like what Kawasaki supplied, with a glue/pressed in threaded boss in the plastic body of the turn signal.

My solution was to replace the OE signals with K&S units, mostly just to save the OE units before I smashed them. The K&S units look basically identical, are affordable and easy to get, but they don't feel as solid.

The K&S units use the same setup to clamp the plastic housing onto the stalk, so the K&S also loosen and rattle on the stalk over time. However, I haven't had any issue with the internal threaded plastic bosses. Basically, so far the metal bracket that clamps onto the stalk has bent before the screws pulled out. When one gets too loose for my taste, I remove the metal clamp, bend it back into shape, and put the thing back together. They stay tight until I bump them again.

www.z1enterprises.com/ItemDetails.aspx?i...Z1000&item=KS25-2145

www.z1enterprises.com/ItemDetails.aspx?i...Z1000&item=KS25-2146

Yes, I'm familiar with K&S, back in the late 80's I was was of their retailers. If I remember correctly these are K&S knock offs (literally as it turns out)

As I have a couple of spares somewhere I'm thinking of taking the stalk and the clamp to my buried drill press and tap both for a small set screw.

.....I'll post some proper photos if I'm sucessful.

Okay, here goes, first a better camera photo of the signal pot (used my camera rather than phone)



Now here's a turn signal stem and the pinching hold down froim my spares bin,



...and how it's placed on the stem,



Now my plan to keep this pot from loosening (or stripping or breaking the pot from overtightening) is to drill a small hole here and thread the stem for a small sheet metal screw o hold this sucker in place. This way I don't think I'll need to torque down the stock mounting screw for a tight fit.



I may start on this later this week. Will post results.

At long last I got it all together and it looks as though this is the fix for drooping turn signals. Here's how it went;

Using a center punch I located (somewhat) near the center of both elements and using my drill press and I was ready to begin tapping thread.


Here's the kit and caboodle of the threading operation, I added a little extra clearance (1 drill size up) or the annodized hold-down.


I took my time and was careful as there is limited area for the tapped threads


I was careful not to exceed the inner clearance with the length of the screw (6/16ths)


...and here it is all put together and holding fast

It looks good, and should fix the drooping signals. The newer ones(80's or so) have a pressed in metal stem into the signal, with rubber vibration dampners in the headlight shell and rear turn signal mounts. That's what I thought you had, as I suggested some Loctite on the securing nut.

I see, I was puzzled at first. apparently this style of mounting the turn signals was common in the '70's. My buddy had a BMW of similar vintage and his were very similar according to him. Hmmm, and I thought the Germans excelled at design. :huh: