The Friendship Bike - NobleHops restores a 75 Z1

A short clip for Nils. The Z1, KZ 900 and early KZ 1000's are the same.
Steve

Hello Nils, I can help you out with a blue dyno plug. Most of them are brittle, with 1 side of the snap locks cracked. But I have a nice one with the 5 male pigtails. The oil send and neutral light wire are nipped short. And another with all the wires, you can make due with the 2 and come up with a nice one to use with your wires.
Thanks for the tip on the wintergreen oil!
I have 1000ml. of Methyl Salicylate coming. industrial, not diluted (hopefully) not for human consumption. I will be able to sell some off to anyone that wants 4 oz. here. I can spare 8-12 oz.'s
I'll PM you.
Merry Christmas from Totally green and 60 degrees in Buffalo, NY. I love it!

Marty

z1kzonly wrote: Hello Nils, I can help you out with a blue dyno plug. Most of them are brittle, with 1 side of the snap locks cracked. But I have a nice one with the 5 male pigtails. The oil send and neutral light wire are nipped short. And another with all the wires, you can make due with the 2 and come up with a nice one to use with your wires.
Thanks for the tip on the wintergreen oil!
I have 1000ml. of Methyl Salicylate coming. industrial, not diluted (hopefully) not for human consumption. I will be able to sell some off to anyone that wants 4 oz. here. I can spare 8-12 oz.'s
I'll PM you.
Merry Christmas from Totally green and 60 degrees in Buffalo, NY. I love it!

Marty

Marty you're awesome, I will PM you my address - thanks a ton. Are you going to try the xylene with the wintergreen? Get the paint can and save your brew - bet it lasts you for roughly forever.

Steve, thank you yet again. What are your thoughts in the condition of the one I have? Replace with a better used example?

Nils, I'd like to see close ups of the dogs and the bearing caps. The one I have 2nd gears are wasted. The rest seems to hold up. Rather than trying to rebuild mine I found a low mile used one and back cut it myself. Been doing this on dirt bikes for years. Being these trannys are in so many years and models, you should be able to find a good set if you need one. It was a PITA pulling the engine and splitting the cases for something $200 could have prevented.
Steve

OK, here are some better pics. Looking at the fiche, this one that I am concerned about is 5th gear, which is pretty odd, but as one of my local mentors points out, the least likely to jump out of gear. All the others on both shafts look fine, then are not nearly as rounded over, seem to engage positively.

Here are the 'bearing caps" aka "Bushing, drive shaft, and Bushing, output shaft" in Kawa-speak. Both have damage and wear, and in this first photo of the end of the driveshaft that dark smudge is metal - it'd cut you if you rubbed your thumb over it. The second photo is the one I was first concerned with on the output shaft. Lots of wear and damage and missing metal. This alone would make the transmission whine from misalignment I think.

Lastly - the needle bearing at the clutch basket hub has a fair amount of play axially. The big bearings all feel fine, silky smooth, no play. All the other gears and dogs look fine, no particular wear on the gear teeth, the engagement dogs look fine.

So I think I will replace all three needle bearings - the two on the drive shaft and the one on the output shaft, and also the two 'caps' on each shaft. I also have a call into a couple of local machinists to see if they do the undercutting of gears and if they do I will bring them the pair of gears on that output shaft that are engaging and get them worked over. Then I am going to put this together with my new clutch fiber plates and scuffed-up steels and new clutch springs and declare victory over the transmission.

If you guys think undercutting this gear is unnecessary, please speak up. Your advice is solicited and appreciated.

Good plan?

Mic the shafts where the needle bearings ride. If they're out of spec, I get a good used set. I only back cut second gear both input and outputs. I didn't do the clutch side the first time and that's why it started popping out of gear again. If fifth looks worn then dressing it up is in order. I'm not sanguine about putting NOS bearings and parts in a already worn tranny.
Steve

swest wrote: Mic the shafts where the needle bearings ride. If they're out of spec, I get a good used set. I only back cut second gear both input and outputs. I didn't do the clutch side the first time and that's why it started popping out of gear again. If fifth looks worn then dressing it up is in order. I'm not sanguine about putting NOS bearings and parts in a already worn tranny.
Steve

I cannot find a spec for the transmission shafts anywhere in the manual - the only reference I find is the differential clearances to the gears they prescribe. I'll measure in a few spots near the end of the shaft and see if there's a lot of variance indicating wear, but I don't see any on the shafts. But the needle bearings are worn, judging by how floppy they are within those bushings, and the clutch basket.

Seemed like it was run out of oil. I wonder if the cases even are a matched pair. That one cap looked like it was moving around. My main bearings looked like the races were chattering in their bosses. I thought of taking a sharp punch and dimpling them in a few spots, kinda like knurling them if you know what I mean.I used a line of thread locker under them instead.When I lug it, I hear them chatter a bit. When I put in my 903 crank, I'll pay special attention to that area.
Steve

Update: I got with my local machinist, showed him a photo of 5th gear's dogs and he said "NFW" should it put it back in. And the part is NLA from Kawasaki. So the hunt is on, and sure enough many of the eBay sellers somehow have these two gears closed up in their photos .

No doubt I'll find one, but word to the wise, if your transmission is popping out of second gear now and then, find and hoard one of these in good condition or better yet an entire young transmission while you can.

Will carry on later this week with the assembly of the clutch and the alternator cover and grommet.

z1kzonly wrote: Hello Nils, I can help you out with a blue dyno plug. Most of them are brittle, with 1 side of the snap locks cracked. But I have a nice one with the 5 male pigtails. The oil send and neutral light wire are nipped short. And another with all the wires, you can make due with the 2 and come up with a nice one to use with your wires.
Thanks for the tip on the wintergreen oil!
I have 1000ml. of Methyl Salicylate coming. industrial, not diluted (hopefully) not for human consumption. I will be able to sell some off to anyone that wants 4 oz. here. I can spare 8-12 oz.'s
I'll PM you.
Merry Christmas from Totally green and 60 degrees in Buffalo, NY. I love it!

Marty

Many thanks to my friend Marty from Buffalo, NY for sending me two perfect connectors for my projects. That was exceedingly kind of you Marty. When you see the finished bike, you'll know your nice part is on it!

Best,

N.

Hi Nils, thanks for the nice words! Glad I could help.
Looking forward to your completed Professional Restoration.

Marty