wrote:

Steve just curious. I see all your electric parts are on the left side of your bike, did you do that or was it the former owner or is it normal for a Z1B in the US ?
Because i am working on the electric parts of my bike at the moment and all the parts are on the right side of my bike, a Z1B 1975 europe.
Willem
No my bike was ruined in 86 in the wreck. I bought a frame but was ripped off. It's a KZ900 frame so I used the parts from the wrecked KZ900 I had on hand. It will never be stock again. 

 It's mine and I'm doing all the mods I want now making it faster, more stable and going with Mag's off a KZ750G to customize how I always wanted it to be. 

 
The frame is thicker and I'm adding gussets to stiffen up the frame. Went with a 98 KZP swing arm that is 1 1/2" longer and stronger than stock. NO MORE WOBBLES. 

In your case it looks like the wires were barely touched. I'd solder the bare parts, test the windings for shorts against the case and if good clean and coat the wires then put it back together. 
Keep us posted on your progress. 
Steve

 

So I thought it would be a great idea to take both the front and rear wheel from a ZR-7 as I know that the ZR-7 front wheel fit like a charm in the Zephyr 1100 front fork. That way I would also get a 5’ rear wheel compared to the 4.5’ ZXR400 rear wheel I used on the Green Kwack.

Little did I know, more than that I have an fetish for suspended rear brake calipers with the torque arm anchored to the frame.




Ok, so if you want a suspended rear caliper there is no mix and match. The spacer that holds the caliper on to the rear wheel axle has to poke in to the rear wheel. Otherwise it looks like this:



I thought that the caliper could live together with the ZR-7, but that meant that the oil seals would rub against each other.

So now I have yet one more hose real made in Japan and a second ZXR400 rear wheel and that solved everything, of course I will have to remake the spacers, but that what our old Blomqvist lathe is for.

This is what the rear set up looks like




and it fits like a charm. 



On that note I ended the day by ordered all new bearings, needle bearings and seals for the wheels and swing arm, so I hope that the family will work up their appetite for oat meal. 

//A

So the frame was now in the way, busting the frame or bending the axle was not an option!

But as the saying goes, when things doesn’t fit revert to old methods.
Brought old the old file and went the Millyard route, marked up where the swing arm hit the frame, and as the swing arm outer tube has some good +5mm of goods I went down.



Took of a good 2,5mm at the thickest point on both sides.



Then it fits and thats how Clearance came to be, if someone ever wondered.




That’s when I realized that there was something wrong with the ZR-7 rear wheel and the ZXR rear brake caliper, they just didn’t really like each other. . . . . . .
//Anders

Trying to get the exhaust mount sorted. The original A1 mount is about where the orange dot is in the picture below. The red dot is where I'd like to put it if I stick with the current exhaust. I may end up going for a Kerker - if so it will be the KZ1000R model as I can get that a bit cheaper. Hindle is also still on the table (appears they have one version for all models A, MKII, J, R, GPZ1100). 

I would like to weld the original exhaust bushing to the frame using some smaller diameter steel tubing (about 1/2" or 3/4") - the green lines in the photo. I want to get it located so that it works for all exhausts and it seems like the R or GPZ1100 mounting point will work with all systems (I have a bit of leeway with the current system as it's just held with a clamp). Can anybody tell me where the mounting point is on these bikes? Either relative to the points marked in the picture or, better still, measured relative to the swingarm pivot and another point on the frame (bear in mind there isn't much in the way of fittings left on my frame). 

 

Seems in good shape. No dents. Even the exhaust pipes are in good shape for being almost 40. I'm not too worried about rust as we are in southern Arizona. I should still look it over though. Thanks for the reminder. 
The only history I know of on this machine is it was bought by the shop for partlng out in 2008. Coils and rear master cylinder and clutch and front brake levers were missing and the rear fender was minor dented. Starter is missing too.Other than things being dried out the bike is in fine shape and under my care, getting better. Today the swingarm bearings got lubbed, wheel bearings on the rear wheel got new grease.I think I found the source of a clunking sound, maybe. The chain was missing an outer plate at the masterlink! The engine is in gear and I haven't been able to fine nuetral. 

wrote:

Nice work Larriken!

Just wondering  are you using the ZZR or the Gpz pivot knuckle and what hole distances did you put on your dog bones? Also a bit curious on your swing arm bolt bushing, got some measurements?

/A

Apologise for the delay in replying. I am terrible at checking on the forum! Knuckle was a parts bin surprise and I have absolutely no idea what it was from. I will measure the distances from the hole centres for you tonight if that will help. Dog bones were cut with the taller ride height eye to eye distance of 145mm and the lower was 160mm. When I whip the swingarm out next I can measure the swingarm bushings for you. 

I have found its a false economy to buy cheap chains and sprockets as they typically wear much faster than higher quality items.  Unless you are drag racing there is really no need for a roller chain. Look at the chains top tier racers are using - all x-ring or some variant.

One guy being vocal on the internet does not mean much, if it were many people than it would be worth considering. Even cheap chains are incredibly strong and for it to fail catastrophically in that amount of time points to something else going on. Particularly since the guy claims he has been hot-rodding the bike and more explicitly the chain heating up is a clear sign of over stress.

If you have longer than stock shocks you need more chain slack. if he set the stock chain slack, or too little chain slack for that matter, and had overlength shocks (fairly common when hotrodding) that would put an incredible amount of force on the chain as the suspension compressed as it has nowhere to go. This will break chains or destroy transmission/wheel bearings in a very short amount of time, no problem. I have 2" over shocks on my KZs and the only way to properly set chain slack is to remove the shocks and tighten the chain until you feel pressure when moving the swingarm through the tightest point of its travel. then back it off a little. the overlength shocks make the chain appear to be loose by normal standards when the bike is sitting, however this is correct slack for swingarm angle. I then document the slack measurement and use that as the min slack amount in the future.

Other variables could have caused/contributed to chain failure:
Was the master installed properly? so many people F this up and over rivet the master or install the master clip the wrong direction.
are the sprockets aligned? did he buy the right sprockets?

Point is  - spend an extra $40 and get a good x ring chain. it will probably last another 20 years.
 

Fasteners have been a real issue, hardly any were correct and I’ve had to decide how to proceed. The PO had a mix and match assortment on it, hardly a single original fastener save for things like the swing arm, axles and a few others. I’m having to replace my caliper fasteners due to some damage to them. All this has made for an expensive project. Since I’m here on Maui I’ve decided that easy to change fasteners will be stainless such as those you mention. Corrosion is practically an overnight thing here and if I’m going to ride this I would like to not fight it so much, hence the stainless spokes and nipples. Zinc spokes go very quickly here. So no, the bike won’t be purely correct. 
I will install the lower part of the engine and then assemble the top end. My K3 750 Honda I did the frame lowered over the engine method, it worked well. I’m trying this two step method on the Z1 because it seems pretty straightforward. I hope I’m right.
I do have a mystery. I was cleaning up and I found the round rubber or plastic part in the pictures. It looks like I may have left something out of the carbs but I’m not finding any parts that look like it. I thought it was Collar B 16073-003 but images don’t really match. Anyone have any thoughts? I may just take the carbs apart and look.

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.