Well my good buddy Dunnell has talked me into putting exhaust on my Ducati, this will EAT the flatslide carb money for the KZ. Ducati does not make it easy, you have to re-flash ECU, add a power commander, and Dyno the bike to get the most out of a header.



This should kill track days on the R6 and the KZ project for a few months.

I am betting this is the longest running KZ project in history. I have refurbished at least three other bikes while the KZ project has been going on. Not to mention basically resto-modding the S2 Gixxer.

Looks like I will be pulling the stock KZ carbs and taking a second look at why the number 4 carb is jacked up.

Here is an interesting site if you love the KZ:



sbkfactory.com/

Bozo wrote: Looks like the bearings were replaced with bronze bushes, interesting?. if you use a rod to belt them out they might (depending on how tight they are) go out of shape. What are you thinking of doing - refitting original bearings??

Yes, I have new bearings and sleeves to refit after powder coating. Just need to figure out the best way of removing the bronze bushings. I will try to find a rod to put in from the opposite direction av try knocking them out.

.T

Looks like the bearings were replaced with bronze bushes, interesting?. if you use a rod to belt them out they might (depending on how tight they are) go out of shape. What are you thinking of doing - refitting original bearings??

You can NOT drive them through the arm.
Long rod in one side and drive the other side out.

I am having the frame and swing arm on my '83 KZ1000R2 powder coated. Since I'm powder coating the swing arm I need to remove the needle bearings (I've already bought new ones along with sleeves). When removing the grease seal I find to my big surprise, no bearings??? It seems as there are only bushings there from the looks of it, no bearings. Kind of looks like a bronze bushing?. Dunno how to remove this, because I'm not sure what it is?

I've attached a photo of the pivot. Any advices on what this is and how to remove it. Can I just knock on one end and knock everything out on the opposite end? There is supposed to be a collar of some sort in there seperating the two sides, and this should be possible to remove?

Help!!!

.T

For the top end, other than fresh pistons ( and I still need to weigh them! ) I am kinda OCD about head gasket leaks, so one of the first things I consider on every engine I have built to date, is heavy duty head studs. Some might say its overkill on a stock motor, but if I ever decide to go bigger I will already have them and for the time being I know that I can torque it down without flinching, so APE studs and nuts for the win!! For anyone who has thought about doing this to their engine, a word of caution: The original studs in my engine were tight as a ticks @$$ and took a LOT of heat and torque to remove!!! :woohoo: I spent about 2 solid hours twisting them out. Doubling up some nuts? Forgettaboutit! The only thing that I could clamp onto the studs tight enough was a bench-top vice with a length of pipe... and turning a little ata time between applications of heat, penetrating oil, and then mechanics best friend (wax) over and over. I had my work cut out for me :laugh:
But with the new APE's in, I followed a little bit of advice I read a while back and put heat shrink over the 8 exposed studs. Apparently that will make removing the jugs in the future "easier", but I thought it would do better just to prevent them from crusting in the distant future. So I wiped them down with heavy oil before slipping the shrink on.


I also rewired the dynamo, per a few suggestions I read on here. Unfortunately, I missed the part where I should have bought a new grommet from Z1E when I placed the order with the pistons :blush: So I put it together with a copious amount of RTV.....

Since I am only one man, I found it easier to move the engine without the top end. I slipped the frame over it without a hitch (or scratch) and the heart was once again mated with the body


And the rear end installed with a couple temporary bolts. The swinger was repainted with a rattle can paint I brought back from my old job. It looked to be some custom mix from a local shop called "brilliant black" by SEM, black with metallic flake. It matched the original swingarm paint almost perfectly, had I not put clear over it. I will have to see if I can find a place that will mix and fill rattle cans and get some more.... I also repainted the yellow shock spring and upper mount gloss black.


For the upper mount, I made a couple steel inserts on the mini lathe (all I got ) to press in with a bit of red lock-tite.

www.kawasakikz1000caferacer.blogspot.ae/

Hey, that shop you are working at looks familiar... it is biker boyz, formally Motorcycle City I think?
Please give me an update on the front fork swap.
Cheers
Russell

Hi e.dishong2 and welcome to the site.

Questions:
What after market speedometer can I get for fairly cheap that will work on my bike?
Sorry. Cant help with that one. Perhaps someone else can

What adjustments should I make to the new carb I got?
You use the word "carb" as in singular or one carb. The 83 spectre would have come with a rack of 4 carbs. If you have a rebuilt set then you would need to make sure they are least jetted for a Spectre and any further changes you make will depend on if you exhaust is not original or if you are using single pod air filters or the stock airbox.

What fluids, bushings, etc should I look over and replace, from sitting so long?
You should change the oil the brake fluid front and rear and rinse out the gas tank and if not rusty fill with fresh gas. Lube the cables.
You should check wheels for free play (bearings). Check swingarm for free play (bushings). Check chain and sprockets and generally give the bike a thorough going over. One or both of the manuals suggested should give you list of things to do.
What shop manual should I get, and were to find it?
You can download a manual here
mbsween.bike-night.com/kz750l3/manual.html
It probably wont be exact for the Spectre but most items will be ok for .you. Check it out to see if it has a supplement for the Spectre. You will need this for the carb jetting. See if there is a section in it for routine maintenance. I also find that the Haynes is useful.

How about pictures ?

Good Luck

Aaaaaaaannnnnnddddd finished!


Thanks. Yeah pinning it was definitely a great idea, helped make sure everything was in alignment when I welded it, and should make a big difference in long-term strength. I made sure the welder was cranked up enough to fuse together both layers of pipe, so it shouldn't cause any problems, but since all four joints are out in the open, I will be able to keep an eye on them when I start riding, make sure no cracks appear.

I'll be getting the steering bearings pulled out and the rubber grommets taken off, then I need to clean up the swingarm and a pair of rims, and I should probably go ahead and pull the lower tubes from the front forks... All of those parts will be getting powder-coated (probably satin black). The rest I'll be doing myself with rattle-can, but I figure these parts will have the most exposure to road debris.

A little out of order, but here are some pics of the rear hub, rear wheel, spacers, etc...before the swingarm was polished. New bearings in the rear hub too: