Rebuild of KZ1000J engine

I have been wondering why such a site dont exist, but it did! That big M6 kit looks tempting, should be good enough for my J.

Thanks for the tip!

The owner is very knowledgeable on big Kawasakis.  I've forgotten his name but he is very willing to satisfy each individual customer.

Its been a while since last update, but there has been some progress! I have sourced some parts from all over the world. A NOS handle cover and new center stand screws is some of the more important items (also some misc fasteners).

I have replaced the steering stem bearings as I had a new one (made in Japan) lying around. I kind of regret it, as the old one was OK! It was a lot of work as I dont have any of the special tools for it. Welding in the inside of the lower outer race was a really good tip I picked up here. I spent a couple of hours before that to punch it out, without success.
 Handle cover:

Bike on center stand for the first time since I bought it (convenient):

Question: How should the cables be routed through the frame from the head lamp?
Is this correct (everything above the brace): ?

Good evening!

I have since last post replaced the swing arm pivot spindle with a NOS part, that removed all slack and its now ready for some high quality shocks.
Spent some time cleaning and making the main harness more tidy.

Today I installed the pistons. I thought the circlips was difficult at first, especially when in the engine, but got a hold of it eventually by twisting them in place with fingers only.

Maybe its time for engine into frame after this?

 

Battery tray intalled with a mix of NOS screws and re-galvanized by me:


I googled around looking for different paint jobs and found this picture of a blue -J. I really like the color (and the bike), I think it would complement my green Z900 as well:

If its non stock go with what you want, its your bike after all. I did.

Going together nicely and looking really good, keep it up. Will be a nice bike when finished

Not that much progress last couple of weeks. I have not been heating the garage as much as I use to. Temperature has been cruising at -20 C (-4 F) for nearly a week now and electricity prices is through the roof, 10 times higher than normal winter. We have had historically low prices here in mid/northern Sweden because of hydro power production, but because of the development in Europe the entire market is crazy (and politics replacing nuclear plants with windpower...).

I bought new bushings for the front engine mount (much softer then the old ones) and also a new Yuasa AGM battery on sale. The old battery was a traditional one that finished last season with spilling out some acid on the frame. Dont want that on the newly coated one!

Today I installed the engine into the frame. My brother in law helped me and we used a floor jack supporting it once in frame. Went very well, no scratches. I dont know what is best practice, assembling the engine before or after the installation, but I hope the cylinder will be OK putting on afterwards. I saw some piston holders in the clymer manual that you place under the pistons before you lower the cylinder down on them. Looked easy enough?



 

Looks fantastic. One step at a time.
I hear ya on the electric costs. I don’t work on my bike unless it’s at least 20F outside. My shed is roughly 3 meters x five meters and tall. I use a small electric cube heater which, in two hours, will raise the temperature to about 40F. I can deal with 40 and not have to work with gloves on. If I’m in one place working on the bike I keep the heater near me.

It is coming together nicely.  Where are you in N Sweden?  I visited Kiruna several times about 20 years ago.  And if you don't mind saying, what is your price for electricity?  Here in BC, Canada I pay about $0.12 per kwhr in $CAD.  Our province is 100% hydro.

wrote:

It is coming together nicely.  Where are you in N Sweden?  I visited Kiruna several times about 20 years ago.  And if you don't mind saying, what is your price for electricity?  Here in BC, Canada I pay about $0.12 per kwhr in $CAD.  Our province is 100% hydro.

HRW that is a killer price, not sure about Sweden but in the UK I am paying $0.55 CAD per kWH so no heat in my garage, just a thick fleece (was -7degree's on Friday) 

I burn hardwood in a stove to heat my shop.  I can take it from 40 to 70 deg F in a little over an hour.  1000 sq ft with 12' ceiling.  It is in the teens here every morning, but the shop never falls below 40.

Interesting, 0,12 CAD is a good price! is that the total or do you have some transmission fees on top of that?
I live in Sundsvall, which is actually located in the middle of Sweden on the east coast (geographically in Swedens "northland"). Kiruna should be something like 800 km to the north still!
Here is the last couple of month energy prices in EUR/MWh:
22 - Nov 111,9022 - Oct 46,8522 - Sep 93,8822 - Aug 49,4522 - Jul 21,34
This month will probably end up someting like 200 EUR/MWh, that should be 0,3 CAD/KWh

Normal, historical, winter prices would be around 0,06 CAD/KWh (40 EUR/MWh) for the energy.
On top of that we have 25% tax on the energy price then another 70 EUR/MWh mix taxes (renewables) and grid transmission fee.

So last winter: 40*1,25+70 = 120 EUR/MWh or 0,17 CAD/KWh.
Now: 200*1,25 +70 = 320 EUR/MWh or 0,46 CAD/KWh!

Still cheap compared to the UK it seems