I'll check the steering head as soon as I get a clutch cable. (Broke yesterday a stoplight..)
I went over the bike and made sure EVERYTHING was nice a and snug last night and couldn't find anything loose. I grabbed the front wheel and tried to see if there was any slack in the head but didn't notice any. Did the same to the rear swingarm. I'm going to go ahead a pull the tripple down and grease the bearings anyway so I'll double check them at that point. I dropped the rear suspension's spring rate down a notch as well.

So far though, it's much better. We're making progress! lol

I'd also like to know what grade of fork oil to use in these bikes, and how much should I use to get a solid, fairly high dampening rate?

Wolfman@SparksAmerica wrote:

Smithgpz, I smell a write-up for the twin with the GS1100 swingarm. all the info you have and lots of pic's PLEASE!!!!!! also what type of paint or coating did you use on the motor?

No kidding! Great work and gorgeous bikes.:woohoo:

Smithgpz, I smell a write-up for the twin with the GS1100 swingarm. all the info you have and lots of pic's PLEASE!!!!!! also what type of paint or coating did you use on the motor?

if you want to do a mod on your twin a suzuki gs1100 swing arm is what i used. i used a ltd1000 rear rim with a 140 bias ply tire.a160 is as big as you can go with the gs arm.here is a pic of my 76 750twin.

Ok, on my way to work today, I was running through some sweeping turns on my 1000ST and noticed a pretty bad wobble from the rear of the bike. I was at neutural throttle, (not speeding up or slowing down) as soon as I began to accelerate out of the apex of the turn it seemed to fade away. I was doing about 70mph (give or take a few). It has a new front tire and a 75%rear. And I wasnt even turning that aggresively. It has a 1 inch lowering kit in the front forks, and aftermarket shocks on the rear. The rear shocks seem to be of decent quality, and dampen very well. They are, however, on their stiffest spring setting. I can't feel any slack in the swingarm or any of the other bearings on the wheels or steering head. I also feel the wobble ever so slightly right after I let of the throttle to decelerate.
Any suggestions on how to chase this down?

I agree. I have them in all my bikes but one 1977. 1978 KZ650s had needle bearings from the factory in the swingarm, 1977 had bushings. 1979-1980 KZ1000E shaftie even has tapered steering head bearings from the factory. What a bike that was.
wiredgeorge wrote:

If you have ball bearings in the steering stem now, the outer races are press fit and need some convincing with a drift and BFH. Once they are out, the new ones go in decently but a good driver is a good idea. The tapered steering head bearings make the steering feel almost MODERN! Smooooooth! If you don't change to all needle bearings through the bike when you get it, you are missing something! (put them in the swing arm as well rather than using bushings!).

If you have ball bearings in the steering stem now, the outer races are press fit and need some convincing with a drift and BFH. Once they are out, the new ones go in decently but a good driver is a good idea. The tapered steering head bearings make the steering feel almost MODERN! Smooooooth! If you don't change to all needle bearings through the bike when you get it, you are missing something! (put them in the swing arm as well rather than using bushings!).

Actually the flat bar is 6065, the pipes. The pipes are a good question, we orderd that pipe a long time ago for safety railings at the overhead cargo docks in our warehouse. I guess its alittle more of, use what ya got. Its sch. 80, i used filler rod i bought to weld up my Alum. Indy SR-440 cyl head, they dont react to well to dropped intake valves, but they weld up nice. Anyway.... after I started on this swingarm, I picked up on a link to Trac Dynamics, and i notice that rectangular tubing is what there useing. I think if i ever getting around to it again i'll go with the tubeing. At least the other person with have to buy the material, do lots of freebees being a welder. I just brought it home today, struts are on, ready to install the motor, rear wheel, front end...... art

Actually, with this bike, I do want spokes- I am trying to do a very mild mod on my Z1. Just GS swing arm, fatest tires I can get using stock appearing rims. I want to upgrade very mildly I guess is what I am saying- I hate the rear drum brake, want the KZ1000 rear disc set up on the 75 Z1. I am going to build a custom triple tree capable of accepting 41mm fork tubes, and then make some caliper brackets for dual discs up front, and keep the spacing correct using the stock Rim up front as well. It will make a nice kit for conversion up front for our Zs I think. Everything you need to bolt on ZX forks and use all you can from the Z1- rims, brakes, calipers, mastercylinders, gauges handlebars. So that the only way a person could tell it wasn't stock forks is to be pretty knowledgable about Zs in the first place.

So the Z1 you see in my pics is my test bed for "slight upgrade" new parts. Just enough to make the thing handle more like a modern bike, with a pretty fat tire on the back.

Post edited by: CruisingRam, at: 2005/10/22 18:32

Garn wrote:

My guess is the swing-arm bearing loose/ worn.
Regardz

I remember my bike twitching or jerking as I went into and out of corners. New sprockets, chain, wheel bearings, swingarm bushings, shocks etc. and the transitions are smooth as a babies bum now. I seem to remember pictures Of a Roy-b-boy frame that was reinforced but he hasn't been around for a long time.

Post edited by: luvmykaw, at: 2005/10/19 11:24