TOPIC:

I started my project build, 1980 b4 1000 probably 2 years ago, , ive said on here before, im a lousy mechanic ...that being said and understood before you readon.i got a recommendation from a frienqqd of a friend as to my first " fabricator/great mechanic ". I bought a zx 9 total front end clip in excellent condition. The reason i sought out that pticular front end and year, was i read a guys post on here as to how simple the swap was. Smart right? Nooo, not according to ,we'll call him WV, he said no problem when i went to his shop for the first time. As soon as i saw the shop i should have loaded up and left. Now ive spoken to qite a few people since,,this is sopt on, his small warehouse was PACKED like cordwood, row after row of bikes, i mean zero room to walk ,it must have taken 2 days to pack those "stolen " bikes in there, as i was later told.6 months later, and many arguments, i text drove the bike. Of course i loved the look i was after..imtookma very short ride , ok. Went home, took bike up the road , the front brake siezed ,i almost went down,, he apparently didint tighten the bolts that held the caliper unit on, it spun around and locked up the wheel, nightmare i could go on with that guy, nevertheless i was done,, a total idiot..

ok so i move to eastern nc. Great job,$$$ to put into my project! So i google vintage bike builder in my area, i will not mention names ...yet, this guy , fb page, builds thats look great, impressive talk and lots of confidence, articulate..so im convinced hes a stand up guy, with him, check out front end, kinda tracks side to side? We talked carbs, i said id find a used set of more higher performing carbs as down the road i will in the end rebuilding the entire engine and bumping up the performance, so id want the carb to be able to handle the added hp. He strongly suggested a full rebuilding of the stock carbs,, so i caved,,,#2. What gets done to engine,, 19k miles daily ridden, not me,, as purchased. No mind you the bike ran ok, i mean pretty damn good. But was tired ,this is my 4th kaw, is im not a rookie. He asked budget, i said 3k. For now as if it goes great ill pump more into itbas allowed, he acted devastatated... nearly disgusted that my pockets had bottoms,, sorry im a carpenter ..7/8 k full rebuild.his words,, so why dont we pull off the heads and see what we have,, ok. Diagnosis,, needs pistons, rings. Honing, , and theres a bent engine stud bolt???? He complained several times about that , how it was a nightmare, i guess someone used cheap gasket materials as he complained that it was nearly impossible to remove, after hearing that 2 times ,i offered to drive 2 hrs one way and clean them myself,,3 months later! Now he had no other builds at this time, anxious to ride it, forgot my helmet , he was hesitant to loan me " his racing helmet ", christ... went to the end of his street , hit the rear brake...nothing, grabbed a handful of front,,,damn, bike sounds, great, pretty smooth, but big lack of power as certainly didnt run it hard or run up the tack,,,got back and ask wth happened to the rear brakes??? Oh idk he says i took it out to test, and gasit up and it locked up on me...really isnt that something should be addressed BEFORE you tell me to ride it??? Ill take care of brakes,,, so get home, ride 1, 10 miles, very gentle, smooth thru gears, ok,, ride 2, 16 miles,,same smooth but a little sluggish, ride 3 ,, got uo to 3rd gear, started running choppy, everytime id twist the throttle past a quarter, it sputtered,, barely got home, called him, i stated as i just wrote, he says put a few hundred miles on it ,break in the engine and carb work,, dude i barely got home!!,, ill add to this after work,,

By Tirefire Pat: (with a little editing) ok so i move to eastern nc. Great job,$$$ to put into my project! So i google vintage bike builder in my area, i will not mention names... yet, this guy, fb page, builds thats look great, impressive talk and lots of confidence, articulate.. so I'm convinced he's a stand up guy, with him, check out front end, kinda tracks side to side?

We talked carbs, i said id find a used set of more higher performing carbs as down the road i will in the end rebuilding the entire engine and bumping up the performance, so id want the carb to be able to handle the added hp. He strongly suggested a full rebuilding of the stock carbs, so i caved, #2.

What gets done to engine, 19k miles daily ridden, not me, as purchased. No mind you the bike ran ok, i mean pretty damn good. But was tired, this is my 4th kaw, I'm not a rookie. He asked budget, i said 3k. For now as if it goes great ill pump more into it as allowed, he acted devastated... nearly disgusted that my pockets had bottoms, sorry im a carpenter ..$7/8 k full rebuild. his words, so why dont we pull off the heads and see what we have,, ok.

Diagnosis, needs pistons, rings. Honing, and theres a bent engine stud bolt??? He complained several times about that , how it was a nightmare, i guess someone used cheap gasket materials as he complained that it was nearly impossible to remove, after hearing that 2 times, I offered to drive 2 hrs one way and clean them myself, 3 months later!

Now he had no other builds at this time, anxious to ride it, forgot my helmet, he was hesitant to loan me " his racing helmet", gee... went to the end of his street, hit the rear brake...nothing, grabbed a handful of front... damn, bike sounds, great, pretty smooth, but big lack of power as certainly didnt run it hard or run up the tack, got back and ask wth happened to the rear brakes??? Oh idk he says i took it out to test, and gas it up and it locked up on me...really isnt that something should be addressed BEFORE you tell me to ride it???

Ill take care of brakes. so get home, ride #1, 10 miles, very gentle, smooth thru gears, ok, ride #2, 16 miles, same smooth but a little sluggish, ride #3, got up to 3rd gear, started running choppy, every time id twist the throttle past a quarter, it sputtered, barely got home, called him, i stated as i just wrote, he says put a few hundred miles on it, break in the engine and carb work, dude i barely got home!! ill add to this after work.

It was kind of hard to read, hence the edit. hope you don't mind.

What a nightmare. What are you asking from the forum. I agree that a fresh upper end rebuild should have a couple hundy on it to experience full potential, but it should be all there just begging for that first hard pull. If it’s spudering and not “there” now a few hundy won’t fix that, it should just make good better.

Not to add to your frustration but what diagnosis process was done to determine you needed a rebuild on a bike you claim ran well? IMHO a good sealing gasket will be a PITA to clean up. Crap gaskets that don’t seal should come off easy as they didn’t “seal”.

What parts were used?

I agree if your there to test ride your bike, you’d thing out of pride and respect for his own reputation he should have wanted to impress you and not let you ride an unsafe bike. Especially one he admits was not ready.

I know it has hurt but just remember it’s only a machine and it can be fixed. I’m sure the forum will support you any way it can.

I’d get a solid plan and good diagnosis on what is wrong with the bike as it sits today and approach the builder about fixing it. If he’s not willing hopefully you’d have legal recourse to get it fixed and sue the builder to recover the additional expenses.

Sounds to me you'd have been better off doing it yourself with help from us.
Steve

Thx Martin, it was 5 am, im just so pissed about the whole ordeal that i couldn't type fast enough,,lol or legibility,,Steve, i agree, mikaw , all he stated was top of the line parts, as to the several complaints about the gasket, sorry bro its his job, i do my job like the professional that i am, whining to the customer shows lack of professionalism. Ok back to the restof the story, jump back to when i initially bought the bike...i took it to a great builder where i used to live, Dayna ignition, wires plugs, new sprockets, chain, just a bit of tuning, ran well. I left that out...ok so ,the rest,, i barely got home... he says i just got 2 new builds, I said, look i paid you for a running bike, that should run great, but dosen't, he says drop it off. Great,, 2 months later !!!he texts and says, i haven't had time to touch your bike.my builds are a nightmare, sound familiar???? Jeeze...and i put you bike in storage and its safe...WHAT...!!!! I couldn't even text i was beyond furious...wisdom on my oart.., so 2 weeks later i decide ive had enough of this shit, my dreams of having the thrill and pride of having another old Kawasaki were over,,just constantly failing at every turn,,, i texted him , ive just had enough of trying to get my project forward, i just keep getting jerked around ( he knows my frustration of the other mechanics foolishness) and i give up,,if you or any of your circle are interested ill take $4000 for the bike as is...lmk...he unbelievably texts me back and says ,,,he dosent like my language ,,( whoa snowflake sorry about the very mildly ststed truth) and i can come get my bike!!!are you kidding me , you want me to pick up a non running bike after 3000 cash?? Long hesitation from him,,, well ill give you a refund, how much do you think is fair,? He says. I thought for a few min. Now im not oblivious thst this guy did do work, now what NO ONE KNOWS, is this, was everything he did a train wreck?? Or was it minor tuning issues?? he wont take the time to even troubleshoot or even look it over, that red flaggs me man...i get a vibe that he feels it something catastrophic,, idk,, but i text him back and say , $2000 is fair,, he immediately texts back,, ok come get it........now, i ve lost 6 month's, for now having a bike that , used to run ok and i could ride every time i wanted to a bike that won't run, i have no clue as to what he did wrong, so im fxxked again,,, as to how he diagnosed the motor, compression tested the cylinder s, 1 was close 2 were i think 80/ 70. And 4th was really bad,,i forgot the # s but he stated i could blow up any time.... what do you guys think...

I would do my own compression test >> it's pretty easy. Make sure the battery is good & fully charged beforehand. Get a tester that screws into the spark plug holes >> same thread size as the spark plugs. Remove all 4 spark plugs & install the tester into #1. Hold the throttle wide open (WOT). Press & hold the starter button for about 5 or 6 seconds while watching the tester needle. Record the highest reading. Then do the other cylinders. Report back. You can then add a little oil to the cylinders, maybe a tablespoon or something like that, to see if the numbers change.

note: a handy time to check the compression is when the carburetors are off the motorcycle, in which case you won't have to fiddle with the throttle. ps: I'm not really an engine guy, but the compression test is easy. I just followed the clymer manual.

Pat, if I understand correctly you have the bike in your possession and paid him $2,000 of the asking price of $3000. I’ll assume that’s correct. So you maybe paid a couple hundred more than you should have, if he actually did the work. A 1045 or 1075 piston kit is around $550. Bore the cylinders about $150. Head work, again if actually done around $400, and about $150 in gaskets and shop supplies. $750 for labor isn’t bad but a little high. Anyway if the work was actually done you not in the hole much. I’d go to amazon or a like place and get a Bluetooth $35 bore scope. Pull the plugs and look. If the work was done you will see new pistons a nice clean crosshatch on the cylinder walls and no carbon on the valves. At that point you have the plugs out I would do as Martin recommends a compression test. They are done cold so that is a good place to start. Then I would check the valves for lash aslo done cold, and check the timing and cam chain tension and adjust as necessary. Make sure you have a full charge battery, fresh gas and take it for a ride. But back up a little bit if you do not see evidence of recent work then you have another issue to deal with. These bikes are fairly easy to diagnose I’m sure with help from us we can get you back up and running

Do a compression check that will tell a lot . Is your tank clean .Might have just sucked up some swill from the tank and clogged up your carbs .

martin i fully understand that tne troubleshooting that youve just suggested is ,, to me , is not possible,, just as you cannot take the entire roof off of is your mothers home and stick frame a bastard hip roof back in its place,, childs play to me...you get my point? Im jusy dysfunctional whenit comes to mechanics ,,,,trust me, i want to be a better diy mechanic., my tank is/was clean...

Tirefire Pat wrote: just as you cannot take the entire roof off of is your mothers home and stick frame a bastard hip roof back in its place,, childs play to me...you get my point? Im jusy dysfunctional whenit comes to mechanics ,,,,.

I could, I’m an old carpenter as I think Street Fighter LTD is. That being said you can teach an old dog new tricks.

The bike...before heading to the builder


I FIXED YOUR PICTURE ,,CLICK INSERT NEXT TIME
DAVE STREET FIGHTER LTD