Hi, I know I've received a lot of help from this forum already and I don't want to put anyone out. However, now that my project is structurally all together (minus electrics, brakes, lights etc.) I would like to know the correct torque settings for the bolts and nuts attaching engine to frame. Also, the swinging arm torque setting. Always best to do it properly rather than just go by "tight plus threadlock". I have the Kawasaki service manual and the Haynes. However, the torque settings are not specified. I tend to under-torque nuts and bolts, in the fear of stripping them out, when I don't have the correct torque tension to hand. Where should I look? Thanks

Not the shocks are longer but the upper shock mount was re-located lowered than stock to lift tail.
Maybe the bike get a single to dual shock conversion due to the Suzuki GS 1000 or cal fab aluminum swingarm.

Well I took Wookie advice and bought the new one, and im happy I did. It measures around 15,92 - 15,95. I installed it right away with new grease on the bearings (just 3-4 years old). What a difference! completely snug now, swingarm feels so good I want to take it to the track but... unfortunately its snowing and will do so for at least 4 months

 

But this is wierd, the old one measured between the sleeves:

 
It looks identical, same head etc.

I wouldn't blast any of the internal swingarm parts. The sleeve has been hardened where the needle bearings ride. The hardened layer is very thin and you can blast it off and the pieces will wear quickly. I soak rusty swingarm bolts and sleeves in EvapoRust then inspect the parts for damage. Many times it is just surface rust and the parts are fine.

Mine is 750, but when I removed my swingarm shaft, it looked OK but after sandblasting (I have a small blasting cabinet), it showed up with lots of rust pit. Guess it was covered with rust and grease that I couldn't see with just wiping it down.

Went online and found several shafts on evilbay and just bought one that looked the best. Blasted and now it look and work fine. Don't forget to replace the bearings and the seals at both end. Mine didn't come with one, so I also added a grease nipple. For my bike, sleeve were harder to find than the shaft.

Thanks, I will pull it tomorrow and take more measurements!

Is there a source for new ones, either NOS or replacements?

The bearings where basically stuck when I bought the bike, maybe that caused the severe wear.

Hi!

I have just started to assemble my KZ1000j -82 after work on the engine and a powder coat of the frame. A couple of years back, I changed the swing arm bearings and sleeves. I noticed now when I put the swing back on that it has a considerable radial play between the shaft and the sleeve. I pulled out the shaft just a bit and took a couple of measurements all between 14,3-14,5 mm. I google now that it should be 16 mm!? I read in the service manual that the service limit of the shaft is 0,7 mm.

Is 16,0 mm the correct shaft diameter?

thanks,

 

Pretty much finished the electrics on the restomod - need to get the welder out before I can get the last couple of things done. In the meantime I decided a change of focus would be good. 

I got the clocks back from being serviced. Look pretty good and the damping fluid and bearings have been renewed so the needles should be pretty stable. I repaired one of the M6 threads in the block so I could bolt the head down. Got that done and got the exhaust on as well. Need new camshaft bearings so will have to wait a bit before I get the engine finished. In the meantime I guess I'll start on the wiring - it's not like that's all I've been doing for the last month... 

      

  

  


The exhaust is too close to the swingarm on the left side. I figure the hanger on the frame is probably bent (given the state of the frame when I got it). It's not too bad though, so I'll just bend the bracket for the left muffler just enough so the axle bolt clears the muffler. 

  

I finally, finally (finally) cleaned out the carbs; I reused the old needles and float valves and so on, replacing only the gaskets, O-rings, etc. I did a rough bench sync and swore them into position, now using new intake boots leading from the airbox. (I tried using an Olde Internet Remedy and Cure-All—wintergreen oil in rubbing alcohol—to soften the old boots. This made them temporarily squishy again, but soon they reverted back to Bakelite before I had a chance to try them on.) 

The next day I managed to fire it up long enough to vacuum-sync the carbs, but it seemed to stumble and bog at 4000 rpm and above. Still, the idle was…. [chef’s kiss]. But the battery was close to dead at the end of the day, so I stuck it on a trickle charger and left it overnight, while I dreamt dreams of clogged main jets and bad gasoline. (Did I forget to blow out the main air passages? Is there a vacuum leak somewhere? Maybe a stuck ignition advance???) 

So. The next day. I rolled it out of the garage, engaged the choke, and (after a few quick cranks and a unkinked gas line) it started right up and settled into a lovely, smooth idle. I took it for a short test-ride, thinking that the stumbling at higher revs would sort itself out as it warmed up. In a fit of irrational exuberance I made it about 20 miles or so before the thing sputtered and died completely. It cranked and cranked and cranked, but it wouldn’t fire up. 



That was as far as I got. 

I stood staring stupidly at the thing for a while before trying to start it again. Because (also stupidly) I forgot to bring any tools, so staring at the thing was all I could, really do. But after standing around hapless for about 10 minutes or so, I tried it again and it started up. I headed for home… 

…and made it about three more miles before it sputtered and died again. (Perhaps it isn’t the carbs after all.) And I waited for a while for it to cool a bit, tried it a few more times, waited, and started it again. The bike made it another couple of miles before it sputtered and died again.  

The spacing between the Chevron stations along 99E in Oregon City is the distance it takes an old ignition coil to heat up and fail again. At least, that was my new suspicion. 

Luckily, eventually I managed to break down in front of a Harbor Freight on the way home. This bought me a much-earned bottle of Gatorade and a pair of pliers to at least try tightening some of the ignition coil connections under the tank. It didn’t make any difference; I still broke down at the next Chevon station. And again, and again, and again, until I finally got close enough to coast the last half-mile or so back to my garage.  

It was a stupid day.  

So it never developed much power at mid- to high-RPM, and spark to cylinders 1 and 4 was intermittent at best.  A friend at work suggested I look at the stator/regulator/battery, so the next weekend I popped open the sprocket cover and checked the stator wires. Then I tried to make sense of the mess of wiring under the seat, where I found a short between the regulator/rectifier and the main fuse box.  

Perhaps that might have something to do with something going funny with the electricity. I checked the battery before heading to the store; it read about 12.81v. When I got back, it was 12.72v. 

The following weekend, the battery had settled at 12.62v. (So, uh, maybe OK?)

Inspired—and now armed with a can of contact cleaner—I dove into the spaghetti. I (again, stupidly) forgot to take Before and After photos, but it was a bit of a rat’s nest under there. So I somewhat-methodically took apart and cleaned each connector, and attempted to make some sense of the wire routing, at least so things like the blinker relay and the headlight-failure doohickey unit weren’t bouncing around on the top of the swing arm anymore.

Here is a dramatic reenactment:



I found a few dodgy connections and a couple of bad grounds between the regulator/rectifier and the fuse box, as well as some jiggly connections to the ignition coils. I cleaned and tightened what I could find. It started up but was running on three cylinders. Cylinder 1 gave me a nice healthy Zap, but Cylinder 4 still wasn’t sparking, and I didn’t pursue matters beyond that. 

So…. Progress. I’m not finished yet with the connector-cleaning campaign; I’ve at least gotten to the wiring under the seat and under the tank; I still have to tackle the wiring in the headlight bucket (I need to chase down a blinker short anyway), but I’ve at least tightened a key few connections and got three of the cylinders working instead of just two. The battery seems to hold a charge, and I didn’t find any corroded or burnt connections anywhere. 

wrote:

Recently went thru this myself and here’s what I came up with. An investment in powder coating to any degree of quality is a sizable expense. Unless you plan to parlay it into a business, which I’m not, it’s prohibitive. Like 10K prohibitive and then you need the place to do it. The. factor in a learning curve.

I don’t know what fuel increases have done to the powder coat scene but it likely has impacted it like most everything else. Figure more like 400 if you want other bits and pieces done to be on the safe side with a buffer.

Sorry, disregard please. I missed some pertinent info. My bad.

Things must be more in your neighborhood. I just dropped of everything but the frame and swing arm and the cost was $80. I’m sure frame and swing arm will be about $200