SO NOW THE FUN PART!

Time to start reassembling the bike!  This is always my favorite part getting to work with like new parts.  Nice and clean, easy to work with...just a fun time!

I have all the parts back from my powder coater and vapor blaster so I can start reassembling the bike and really determine what look I am going for.  I had both frames done - the textured coated one is the LTD I originally purchased.  The gloss coated one is the CSR I purchased as a parts bike.  I'm definitely  going to use the textured LTD frame and swing arm.  All new All Balls Racing bearings for the bike.  The wheels are at a shop getting fresh tires mounted  as I type.  Next step is to rebuild one set of forks and assemble a rolling chassis.

I CANNOT FIND A STOCK PISTON FOR THE ENGINE AND IT'S KILLING ME!  I need a piston to re-assemble the engine.


 

So now it’s time to try to fit the ZZR1100C swing arm.

The Gpz1100A2 frame is 260mm over the pivot, the swing arm is 252mm over the pivot and the swing bolt is 18mm in diameter. The missing 8mm is taken up the indented spacer and the swing bolt.

The ZZR1100C swing arm is 256mm over the pivot, 262mm over the pivot tube inc the spacer and the swing bolt is 20mm in diameter so some shaving of the swing arm is necessary.

I took 2mm of each side of the swing arm using a good old file, much like Allen Millyard and then refitted the seals.

 



Now the spacer on the right side also had to sacrifice 2mm to flush with the swing arm seal.



Even the pivot tube that now is protruding a little bit too much on the left side also has to take a beating in the lathe. I was I bit reluctant to try to shortening it in our lathe as the pivot tube was too big for the head stock and the pivot tubes are usually hard as hell and a bitch to turn in the lathe. But I had to give it a try even though it protruded in a scary way. Low and behold it was not bad and it didn’t judder even though I was cutting with inserts made of chineseium.



Then the swing arm can now be wiggled in to the frame and I could hang it up on the original swing bolt.
Looking at it, I guess I can just as well make a new swing bolt from a centerless axle instead of making a sleeve to make up the missing 2mm on the swing bolt.

With the Swing arm in place, I tried out the ZR-7 rear wheel. It’s not a perfect fit. It might be because I fitted a hanging brake caliper holder, as I am planning to use a brake caliper from a ZXR400/750. So spacer will need to be fabricated but first I need to center up the wheel in the frame and make sure that the chain will line up.
But before that can be figured out, the new swing bolt has to be fitted to make sure that the swing arm is fixated.





Except for that, the GSX-R600 K1 front brake caliper also showed up in the mail, that’s a given as I know that they works on the Zephyr 1100 forks. I just need to source two brake discs and turn out the top-hat spacers on the lathe in order to handle the M10-M8 caliper bolts and disc spacing situation.



Next up is the suspension linkage and figure out what shock and dog bones to use. I have got these from a GSX-R 600 wonder if they will work?



/Anders

wrote:

It looks really nice! 

I saw a couple of things you may want to do.  First, the swingarm bolt goes from right to left.  The nut should be on the left side.  Second, there should be two cable ties on each side of the bars.  
 

  Just switched the swing arm axle around.  It did shift because I couldn't find anything close to the diameter of the axle to hold it in place but it was easy enough to move the arm around to line it back up again. 

So I’ve hit kind of a what-do-I-do-next moment. It’s an Existential Motorcycle Moment. The good/done so far: 

• Brakes: I’ve replaced the rear shoes and adjusted the linkage. 
• Wiring/electrical: other than a couple of munged connectors, everything looks intact and original. Wiring matches the published diagrams. 
• Gauges are present and accounted for (albeit borked). 
• Mechanical: no visible leaks. One chip off the end of the right-side cylinder head, under the half-moon seal. All tubing is intact/original. Exhaust is original. 
• Chassis: straight, intact, and original. Bike is straight, bearings seem ok. Tires are from late 2019. 12,5xx miles on this bike seems about right. 

 How far do I want to dig into this thing? I at least want to make it safe—or as safe as I can make it. So that means… 

• Brakes: at the very least, rebuild the front caliper and master cylinder, and get new stainless- or aramid-braided lines. Finish off with semi-metallic pads and new fluid. Rear brake torque arm needs a proper mounting bolt. (This bike can use all the bite it can get!)
• Wiring/electrical: must be safe and reliable. Need to inspect the fuse box. A lot of the outer cable wrapping is on its way out, and everything is grungy. So…take apart and rewrap the main harness? What about led lighting?
• Gauges/indicators: busted. Needs new control-panel mounting parts, tach. Needs new front blinker mount. 
• Mechanical: bike should at least provide reliable power. So yes, I should rebuild the carbs; the bike runs like shit: rough idle (though better than it was), midrange bogging/surging, not much get-up-and-go. Do I need to go deeper than that?
• Chassis: check bearings/bushings/seals/fasteners. Suspension is ooooollldddd.

 What else does it need?

• New tach, indicator panel mounting
• New blinker mount
• Rebuild/sync carbs
• New exhaust seals/bushings
• New intake trumpets
• New fuel/vacuum lines
• Clean the paint off the pipes, front mudguard, rear wheel. 
• Various new bushings/mounts
• New/fixed mirrors

 What does it want?

• Chrome euro bars
• Uprated fork springs
• New shocks
• Dual-disk setup

 What don’t I want?

• Frame-up rebuild
• Top-end rebuild
• Concourse perfection

 
I’ve done some preliminary splicing and so on, and the wiring at least looks intact and original. I’ve taken apart and cleaned/greased the left handlebar switch assy, and made good progress with the chrome.  

I added another canister of grease into the swingarm fitting; still nothing coming out the ends. I’m starting to get worried, and I’ve run out of grease.  

Somebody’s been inside the carbs recently; among the spare bits was one of the air box mounts. (But not the other one.) Like a shelf mount from IKEA, only overbuilt in Japan.  (It is kind of a fun game: Where Does This Bit Go?) Vent lines are missing, as are a couple of the Absurdly Expensive Intake Trumpet Collar Springs.  www.partzilla.com/product/kawasaki/92081-047  The drool-lines for the bowls are missing, too, and one or two of them is on backwards. (Just the float bowls are backwards; not the entire carburetors.) 

Once I’d at least shoved half of the airbox into alignment—enough to stuff IKEA into the battery box on one side—the trumpets were aligned better with the throats. I can’t tell if they’re still leaking or not.*

 *(Answer: probably.)  

So it was running fine for a while the other day—other than a too-long chain—but then it started stumbling badly, like it was on three cylinders. This was long after I’d cut back the choke, so it was already warm.   

Perhaps something is going on with the carburetors. 


oil in the airbox (but no grease). Mopped it out but it looks like the drain is clogged. Drain goes to…?


Selfie after scrubbing the paint off the mudguard. Because priorities. 


Look! Shiny OEM exhaust! Leaky O’Reilly gasket tape!



IKEA bracket makes for happier airbox. 

It looks really nice! 

I saw a couple of things you may want to do.  First, the swingarm bolt goes from right to left.  The nut should be on the left side.  Second, there should be two cable ties on each side of the bars.  

Spent most of the past couple of days successfully avoiding the carburetors, concentrating instead on running new throttle cables and fixing or rerouting the wiring away from Completely Awful.  

The throttle cables needed some sorting. I’d ordered two of them (a “push” and a “pull”); both ended up having the same part number. So the right (return) cable is too long. I’d love to shorten it, but I don’t have the parts or the equipment.  

I spliced the broken wires back together and replaced a couple of bullet connectors, stuffed all the entrails back into the headlight bucket and put it all back together, and then routed (and rerouted, and rerouted, and rerouted) the mess of wires and connectors and cables running along the top tube until I was vaguely satisfied.  

I had tested the horn when I first bought the bike; it gave a plaintive “bleet?” and then stopped working altogether. This weekend I traced the issue back to the button, so I took apart the lefthand switch and cleaned/greased the contacts. So now it goes “Blatt!” I also tried out an OEM horn from my Versys (which looks suspiciously like the same one that was vin my old KZ550) (“Honk!”) and a Wolo Loud One (“Boop!”) 

I’d really like “Boop!” but it doesn’t fit in the stock position, so I’ll stick with “Blatt!” for now. I was thinking of eventually mounting “Boop!” somewhere behind/under the battery box; seems like there’s a lot of space back there. But then again it might be muffled there, and it’d be right under my arse. So I dunno.) 

So I think I figured out all the spaghetti under the tank, after a bit of trial and error. (Do the throttle cables go over the tank ears or under?)

Also: I was really excited to try out my new grease gun on the swingarm bearings, and shot in a full canister of grease, but didn’t see any old stuff come out. Then I shot in a second full canister, and then gave up. (If it starts coming out the top of the airbox you know you’ve put in too much.)



 

I think the upper bushing is 14mm & the lower is 10mm.  The upper shock nut is 12mm but where the bushings fit is larger & there's a 14mm washer on the stud.  The lower shock bolt is an M10 & fits thru the lower bushing.
upper shock stud pics >> KZ750-M1 CSR frame on EB >> item #311891447219

www.partzilla.com/catalog/kawasaki/motor...-arm-shock-absorbers

 

Wow.. ok that’s a whole load of work around I didn’t have to do.. ah well. I used a W.P shock I got from Scirocco, was close to the standard gpz shock size. Yea just looking closer and there is a big difference between the older and later swing arms. Not sure if you can grind away at the newer one and there are no pin bearings on the swing arm on the older ones.

wrote:

do you mind me asking what bearing configuration you used for the front end? i used a ZZr front end too and had to have a whole steering stem made and pressed into the lower fork clamp. Ill be kicking myself if there was an easier way. Plus to make the rear shock work i had to take a bit of meat away from the swing arm to stop it rubbing, about 20mm if i remember but i used the older model arm Plus i had to widen the front cowl/fairing bracket? if that what we will call it to stop the forks rubbing on it.

 

No worries at all. I used a triple clamp from a 1989 ZXR750 which bolts straight in and uses the same steering head bearings as the GPZ. All that is required to fit it is removing a small tab from the frame that binds up if left on. ZZR1100 forks are same diameter as the ZXR750 so a straight fit there. Forks/triple clamp clear the bracket no problem at all. I will post a photo later today. Yes, the rear end is going to take a bit of thinking. What shock did you use on your one?

Swingarm is in now. Not 100% as I have a bit of work to do with the linkages to get it sitting right and working well. Currently I have put a GSF1200 shock in to work things out. The Mk1 Bandit shock is 306mm eye to eye and to get any height out of the back things jam up at the mo. I have a selection of lower links and will try a few different combinations tomorrow and see how I get on. So as she sits today it puts me back where I was about six years ago!!