Calling all members

It's that time again ! I have December and January covered at which point the "well is dry" again for BOTM material. I am happy to continue running the feature into a third year but I need you guys to supply the material. There are so many great bikes out there "why are you shy to share?" Please reach out to me via the "contact us" tab at the top of the page

Maybe everyone ran out of money and just can't finish their projects?   

I'm beginning to tear down my Z1B.  I have a "whine" in the engine somewhere that needs to be eliminated.  I'm thinking it's the oil pump and hoping it's not a crank bearing.

A whine or have you been drinking wine/ripple and just imaging a sound, ha. From experience, doubt a crankshaft assembly issue. Could be pump? At idle or when traveling down the road?  

I had one and it turned out to be a loose alternator rotor. If it freezes up it could make for a FK'ed up day. (Don't ask me how I know.) Could also cause the starter to spin causing more problems. Had lots of troubles of one kind or the other with them over the last 50 years. Weak link. 
Steve

It is a whine!  It's less noticeable when the engine is cool.  It increases in frequency as the engine revs up.  It is present in all gears.  It is louder than when I first noticed it.

I took the exhaust pipes off yesterday.  Today I was busy.  Tomorrow I plan to drop the oil and the pan and try to pull the pump off.  The oil and filter have no miles on them.  I changed them in the fall of 2022 and haven't ridden the bike since then.

Wookie, you can always accept the ZG 1000 GTR/Concours for consideration, there's a lot of them since Kawasaki built them for 20 years, 86' to 06'. My 94' is old enough that it now has collector plates on it. They were built for sport touring and handle really well. I go on long distance rides every summer on mine and it is an amazing bike. Kawasaki really did their homework when designing it. If you are a fan of Kawasaki's you should appreciate what they came up with to compete with the Goldwing using many parts from the bin.

I love my 77' KZ 1000 LTD, it's my favorite bike but I wouldn't take it on a 4k mile road trip. I've done 750 mile days on the GTR/Concours and felt fine the next day and ready to do it again.
I appreciate many brands of bikes and think Kawasaki really accomplished the goal of producing a better sport touring bike that could cover the distance and still be absolutely fun while doing it.

If you are running out of candidates in only two years something needs to change.
Broaden your horizons buddy.

Kelly E wrote:

Hi Kelly appreciate the feedback, when I re-started this feature I said at the time I wasn't looking for just "trailer queens" but rather examples of members passion for the brand and their hard work to keep these bikes alive. I am looking to give recognition to custom, stock, resto, restored, survivor and ideally with an interesting "back story".

With regards your feedback​​​​​​​

1. It's not so much a case of "running out" but more the case that it has been like pulling teeth for much of the last two years getting guys to engage and send me material (to date I have never had more than "the next 2 months" in the bag). I am happy to continue with the feature but what "needs to change" is the support that is coming from the membership in providing candidates 
2. I'm not "down on your Concours" in any way, I have simply tried to focus on the bikes that appear to be most popular amongst the membership

​​​​​​​Check your emails

hardrockminer wrote:

It is a whine!  It's less noticeable when the engine is cool.  It increases in frequency as the engine revs up.  It is present in all gears.  It is louder than when I first noticed it.

I took the exhaust pipes off yesterday.  Today I was busy.  Tomorrow I plan to drop the oil and the pan and try to pull the pump off.  The oil and filter have no miles on them.  I changed them in the fall of 2022 and haven't ridden the bike since then.

Is the noise present stationary or only when you are on the move ?
Can you tell which side it's coming from ?
Generally a "whine" would be a bearing or "worn gears" might be worth checking the starter clutch isn't dragging (spinning the starter with the motor will cause a whine and ultimately destroy the starter in a big way)

Well it's been a couple of years since I looked for the cause.  It's there in neutral and in all gears.  I changed the timing chain rollers but that did nothing.  I also changed the transmission bearings.  I can't tell where it's coming from other than it's in the engine somewhere.  I figure an oil pump change is less work, so I'll change that out and see what happens.  If the whine is still there then I have to pull the engine apart.

Didn't want to clog-up the initial intent of this Topic but.. Lets know what You find Hardrock. Could be a multitude of things, lots of stuff spinning in there. Sound can resonate within the castings and make it hard to denote "what's-up". You answered the question i was going to ask, a bad camchain sprocket (4). I show a picture of the kick starter assembly, that bushed gear is always spinning. I have gaggles of crap if You need it. Fancy to merely replacement, Tupperware containers of it.