Restoring Zephanie

I was able to clean up one set of fouled plugs with just a wire bristle brush, but I have no idea if they are clean enough. I may try the propane torch just to see what happens. 

A regular wire brush can leave deposits that cause the plugs to short - there are brass wire brushes specifically for this

 

I have only used the brush on the earth strap, base ring. Heat only on the porcelain 

Here I am again, back on my bullshit, lol. 

So the bike has been running great. I even went on my longest road trip ever a month ago, 650 miles-ish, and hit a new personal high speed record. 

However, on that trip one of the roads was terrible and my suspension bottomed-out front and rear, numerous times. And ever since then, I have been all too keenly aware of just how worn out my suspension is. 

So I’m shopping for replacements or upgrades, and finding it extremely difficult. But before I get into all of the options, I have a single, simple question. 

Would a full fork and shock rebuild actually make a difference? Like as in, if I disassemble them, clean, reassemble with new replacement parts as indicated in the FSM, fresh oil, is that worth it? It’s certainly the most affordable option, versus buying new Öhlins or having them rebuilt at a shop. But would I be wasting my time and energy?

A fork spring swap and fresh oil is likely all you need.  Sonic and Race Tech are good places to get fork springs.

Shocks are a lot more expensive than fork springs and oil, and there are various options.   You can spend a lot, or a little.  For about $300 you should be able to get something that's better than what you have now.

New springs and oil up front will make a big difference. The shocks are probably not rebuildable, but as Nessism said, there are good choices for less than a mortgage payment. Companies like Ohlins and Penske make outstanding suspension parts, but are overkill on an otherwise stock Zephyr. Maybe Racetech build shocks that would be a good match for their fork springs. If not, I bet Ikon or Hagon do. Progressive Suspension is another possible option.

Thanks guys. I’m glad to hear that about the front as it gives me a reasonably affordable option. 

Progressive Suspension lists a set of springs that fit my bike for about $112.

RaceTech lists springs and gold valves, however according to their spring rate calculator, they don’t have the right rate for my weight. The kit is $350. Worth the extra cash for the addition of the gold valves? 

Öhlins makes a cartridge kit that fits the Ninja 300 (37mm fork tubes) as well as the Ninja 650 (41mm fork tubes). I can’t help but wonder if it would fit my forks which are 39mm. That kit is only $250. 

Honestly, if my forks were a bit bigger my options would open way up. The Zephyr 750 has 41mm forks, and the Zephyr 1100 has 43mm, and either front end is supposedly a direct swap. It’s tempting to get triples from an 1100, and spend big money on some entirely new Öhlins RWU forks, and go full AC Sanctuary style custom. I’m not that rich, and not that good of a rider, but it sure would be cool. 

I’m looking at buying the tools I’ll need as well, which will no doubt send the total cost way up. 

 

wrote:

Thanks guys. I’m glad to hear that about the front as it gives me a reasonably affordable option. 

Progressive Suspension lists a set of springs that fit my bike for about $112.

RaceTech lists springs and gold valves, however according to their spring rate calculator, they don’t have the right rate for my weight. The kit is $350. Worth the extra cash for the addition of the gold valves? 

Öhlins makes a cartridge kit that fits the Ninja 300 (37mm fork tubes) as well as the Ninja 650 (41mm fork tubes). I can’t help but wonder if it would fit my forks which are 39mm. That kit is only $250. 

Honestly, if my forks were a bit bigger my options would open way up. The Zephyr 750 has 41mm forks, and the Zephyr 1100 has 43mm, and either front end is supposedly a direct swap. It’s tempting to get triples from an 1100, and spend big money on some entirely new Öhlins RWU forks, and go full AC Sanctuary style custom. I’m not that rich, and not that good of a rider, but it sure would be cool. 

I’m looking at buying the tools I’ll need as well, which will no doubt send the total cost way up. 


 

You would be completely wasting your money going to an Ohlins front end, these are high end, high dollar race parts that probably 2 % of the riding population would ever need, or use to their potential, and probably only on the track. I have a pile of friends that race vintage Kawasaki's ,Yamaha's, Suzuki's and Honda's, at speeds far more than you'll ever achieve on the road and they all use old suspension with uprated springs and valving, surprisingly a couple of them still use old Koni shocks too, and these guys are fast. Just upgrade your fork springs and rear shocks for a start, It will make a big difference, plenty good enough for the bike you have,  and for road use...
As a side note, I bought a full 45mm Showa front end of some rich dude in New York, he told me he'd replaced the springs {racetech} and still couldn't get it to work so he shelled out for a complete Ohlins front end. The Showa front end arrived ,  and when I picked up the forks I noticed they topped out straight away, something was clearly wrong, the big dollar guy had fitted brand new racetech springs, in the rate I would have bought, {bonus}  and NEVER put the correct spacers in, the racetech springs are shorter than the stock springs and he'd fitted the stock spacers which were far to short, Its a wonder he never crashed it,  it was that bad, I made up 2 new spacers and I have a very cheap, very good front end with calipers and braded lines, triple clamps,mirrors axles, master cylinders and levers, all for 100 USD....  Good suspension won't make to a better rider, it will only improve the ride, start with the easy bits first, you'll get plenty of good advice here....

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…Ohlins and Penske make outstanding suspension parts, but are overkill on an otherwise stock Zephyr.

wrote:

You would be completely wasting your money going to an Ohlins front end, these are high end, high dollar race parts that probably 2 % of the riding population would ever need, or use to their potential, and probably only on the track.

I gotta say, I don’t quite understand comments like these. I mean I get that riding street, especially at my skill level, is not the same thing as a pro riding track. But better suspension is still better suspension for anyone right? Why wouldn’t it be worth it to improve the ride? Confidence on a bike is challenging enough as it is, wouldn’t quality suspension aid in that?

Besides, $250 for the cartridge kit (if it even fits my bike, tbd) is not that much money really. Maybe to some sure, I’ve spent most of my life poor, I was even homeless for a year, so I get it. But I’m in a good place now, and I have a little savings specifically for throwing at my bike. It is mostly stock, sure, but it’s also been rebuilt post-accident. Plus it’s 31 years old. Some amount of money is gonna have to be spent to keep it going. Might as well be spent on good quality.

I take your point. Perhaps I should reword my response.
The correct suspension bits from these top-tier manufacturers will transform any factory-suspended bike. On these ancient Kawasakis, the transformation will be radical and it will magnify the inadequacies of the frame, tires and brakes. Properly set up, you will have a bike that is far more plush and planted than the designers could have imagined decades ago, and certainly worlds better than anything that fit within the design budget. There is a good chance that you will be sorely tempted to ride well beyond the capabilities of the tires, frame and brakes. Those matters can be addressed, but you may find yourself down a rabbit hole. There are a few guys over at ZRXOA who have spent in excess of $20,000 improving an already pretty awesome motorcycle. With  a really good rider, they can now keep up with modern 600cc sport bikes. If you have the desire and money, by all means plow ahead.

Stereordinary post=871593
I gotta say, I don’t quite understand comments like these.

What I take away from 750 R1's post is that spending a lot of money on high-end suspension often doesn't magically transform the handling.  The anecdote about the Showa forks I think was meant to highlight the fact that the brand of parts often isn't as critical as is the setup and tuning.  Without proper setup and tuning, they are useless.

When you get a set of race forks from Ohlins, or a set of race carburetors, or any other high performance assembly, what you're paying for is quality manufacturing and the ability to customize and adjust every little thing.  They have ALL OF THE KNOBS, and can be fine tuned in a 100 different ways, but they are not set up for any specific model, rider, or use.  They are a blank slate.  The assumption is that the people who are using them are experts, and that they have the knowledge and resources to do the real engineering that will allow them to get every last bit of performance out of that setup.

On the other hand, starting with a setup that has been specifically engineered for your motorcycle (the stock forks) and making small incremental changes to them, such as using the racetech spring rate calculator to adjust for your weight and performance goal, or tweaking the oil weight to adjust damping, is probably more likely to lead to improved handling.  Taking this approach is unlikely to leave you with a fork setup that is very poorly tuned for your bike  Where as starting with a blank slate race fork and even getting to a setup equal to where your OE forks started might take a lot of effort.

My ZRX has adjustments for 2-way damping and preload.  I really don't like how the forks feel, but I haven't been able to find a setting that makes it better.  Sustention tuning isn't easy.

wrote:

wrote:

…Ohlins and Penske make outstanding suspension parts, but are overkill on an otherwise stock Zephyr.

wrote:

You would be completely wasting your money going to an Ohlins front end, these are high end, high dollar race parts that probably 2 % of the riding population would ever need, or use to their potential, and probably only on the track.

I gotta say, I don’t quite understand comments like these. I mean I get that riding street, especially at my skill level, is not the same thing as a pro riding track. But better suspension is still better suspension for anyone right? Why wouldn’t it be worth it to improve the ride? Confidence on a bike is challenging enough as it is, wouldn’t quality suspension aid in that?

Besides, $250 for the cartridge kit (if it even fits my bike, tbd) is not that much money really. Maybe to some sure, I’ve spent most of my life poor, I was even homeless for a year, so I get it. But I’m in a good place now, and I have a little savings specifically for throwing at my bike. It is mostly stock, sure, but it’s also been rebuilt post-accident. Plus it’s 31 years old. Some amount of money is gonna have to be spent to keep it going. Might as well be spent on good quality.

"better suspension is better suspension right?"

Yes, BUT,  the Ohlins suspension is meant for fine tuning at the limits of the bike and suspension overall, something you'll never do on the street, so unless you want to throw money away just to look good , the Ohlins is overkill for the street, it's the same as building the engine up to get maximum horsepower,  just to ride around at the speed limit and never go to the track. By all means, if you want to throw money at something you'll never fully utilise, go right ahead, it's your money, but you can use what you already have, save a shitload of money and still have a great handling bike . Read DOHC,s first paragraph above, he gets it, the other point was that it cost me $100 dollars to get a great suspension for my bike.
There is ample scope for you to tune the suspension you have,  with different spring rates and the cartridge type kits, in saying that, my other point was that those parts will achieve nothing if you don't know what your doing with them, you still have to set the suspension up with the new parts and  understand how it all works together or, get someone else to set it up for you,costing more money. Spending money on the parts doesn't magically transform the suspension. 
Another example, I had a late 1980's GPX750 Kawasaki, it would bottom out the forks under brakes if you hit a pot hole, or were entering the driveway while braking hard, as happened in my instance, it jarred my wrists badly, If you've ever had a fork bottom out you'll know what I mean, it hurts. I'd only had this bike for a week or so. I made up a couple of spacers using washers so I could tune it, more washers to stiffen {add preload} , less to soften , I think I only used 4 or 5 washers per fork, problem solved,  it tightened up the front end a touch and stopped it bottoming out under brakes, I later changed the fork oil out for a slightly heavier oil {rebound damping} , and never touched the forks again, virtually no cost and problem solved. It helps if you have some understanding of how the suspension is supposed to work,and what you can do to solve small issues. Talk to someone that knows how to tune motorcycle suspensions before throwing money at it....