It’s a brilliant buy, everything about it just gets more and more surprising as I go round it . Can’t wait for the good weather to arrive (eventually)
So had an early arvie off work so thought I would tinker a little more. While on the main stand I noticed the steering bearings were mega notchy, like ridiculously bad. Never in all my time on bikes had I come across a set that were so horrible. I didn’t really relish in the idea of striping the whole front down but there was no ways it could see the road again as is. So first up was reshuffle the garage and put the Kz in the front where it can stay immobile for however long it takes. I removed all the touring gear, which as a dealer fitted kit, was done properly and dead easy to undo and remove. All in I rekon I could go from full touring kit to big standard bike in an hour, and probably double that or slightly less to reinstate. I felt it safest to work on the bike without extras stuff to damage ! first up, as the bike came if you didn’t spend a fortune on the touring gear . Crash bars will remain no matter which guise I chose to ride it in. time to strip the front off for bearing replacement. Expecting to find seriously rusted tapper bearings with heavily notched races, what I found instead was I lovely spotless top bearing with zero scoring. Hmmm ok must be the bottom bearing then ? Lowered the front end enough to get at bottom bearing, ah ha… grease was dry as a bone and preventing beairng from turning properly. Cleaned bearing with brake cleaner and then repacked nicely with grease. Steering is smooth as silk again and no parts needed to be replaced Then it was onto the bit I was dreading the most. One of the first things I noticed within minutes of the bike being delivered was the gunge in the master cylinder. I knew I wasn’t going to be pretty inside, and it didn’t disappoint! I had a theory on how to clean it , the junk accumulated is jelly from moisture that’s been attracted by the brake fluid. So what better to clean water debris … more water of course . Ran the cylinder under some nice hot water and it came up a treat. The piston and seals were spotless and still supple so didn’t bother ordering a new kit, it really wasn’t needed then it was time to pop the caliper pistons out, again expecting some really horrible sight. Nope, not a single spec of dirt, grime or corrosion to be found. Seals were soft as they say they were made. And that’s a 40 year old caliper piston that’s not been cleaned, that’s exactly as it came out the caliper ! Still rocking some 80’s brake pads ! These should again for another good few years. And all reassembled with fresh Pagid fluid, flushed to an inch of its life and bled properly. Got a lovely lever on it now with zero dragging of the pads when free wheeling the wheel. I can also now see the fluid level which is a bonus. I do need to strip, etch prime and satin black the cylinder at some point as there is signs off fluid eating the finish in places. Next up will be rear brake, this I don’t expect to go as swimmingly . Rear wheel is just about seized and can only just be turned by hand. Either caliper seized or master buggered. Either way I’ll get it sorted
Cheers bud. It’s very satisfying working through the small list with zero outlay and only a little effort. Wife decided to put xmas tree up which soon turned into a stressful event with these bastards mugging the tree of treasure the second the wife put anything on ! Decided safest place for me was in the garage ‘putting my tools away’. Thought I had better have a quick check to see what was up with the rear brake while I was in there. Pedal was rock hard and wheel barely turned, no ways was I going to be as lucky as I was with the front brakes . Opened rear brake reservoir and found the fluid a little discoloured but no moisture like the fronts had. Evacuated the old fluid with my scientific tool quick wipe down And refilled with pagid DOT 4 fluid Turns out the reason for rear brake not working was simply a snagged pad in the caliper carrier binding on the disc. Took pads out, cleaned up the sides and applied small amount of brake grease to the sides. Slid pads back in and flushed through with copious amounts of fresh fluid. Rear brake now good as new again. Damn I’m loving this thing !!
The turkey is the least of my worries..Wife uses those for layering different concoctions when killing us with her endless supply of shots on a drinks night. I think a bit of brake fluid would well and truly finish off the lightweights
Still odds and ends ticking on in the background. I removed carbs and stripped fully ready to send for ultrasonic cleaning, then the guy came back saying it was £100. Now I know people have overheads etc but to literally drop them in the machine and press the ON button seemed a little tough for me. Did some research and ended up just buying my own unit for £147 plus £30 for carb cleaning solution . Well I haven’t left the garage since… what a revelation this machine is . It cleans anything and everything that’s submersible!!! here are a few pics of stuff I’ve done so far Now it won’t make anything better than it actually is under any grime, but it does bring stuff right back up to as new. It’s amazing for rubber, that really comes up ace.
I’ve also been ordering a few new bits in, air filter Oil filter Oil genuine cam cover gasket genuine cam cover end caps genuine carb to airbox rubbers And a pair of Avon Roadmaster II’s I always thought my old one leaked/weeped from the cam cover due to age and miles, nope, this 5000 Mike bike is also weeping from cam cover and end caps. Turns out the did it from new , thankfully parts are available and reasonably priced. I think it was about £70 delivered for gasket and 4 cam cover end plugs which isn’t bad at all really. Airbox rubbers came in at £84 delivered for 4. Tyres were £189 for the pair. Must be honest, I was absolutely dreading scraping off a 40 year old gasket. The reality was it stuck to the cam cover rather than the head which made life a million times easier ! I wasn’t too sure what I would find under cam cover. Low miles bikes like this can often be very rusted up too due to idiots starting them every few weeks ‘ to keep them running’ . The reality is it creates condensation in the oil as it never gets too temp and usually cams are toast This, like the rest of the bike, was borderline brand new. I keep having to remind myself I’m working on something not too many years younger than me. That cam cover pic is as it came off before any cleaning, or removing dreaded gasket. I didn’t come off too bad with a fresh Stanley blade tbh
Mines an eBay special made in China, but I from a UK based seller, or at least shipped from UK warehouse as it arrived in 4 days and didn’t have stupid import taxes etc ! Research showed people mentioning that for a bank of 4 carbs you need a 22L to 30L unit. I did some measurements and worked out I could get away with 15L unit. I paid £147 delivered and measurements are as follows Main units external sizes 33cm length 31cm depth 26cm height Basket size 29cm length 27cm depth 9cm height I’m glad I didn’t get the bigger unit as this is plenty big enough for most jobs. I also see he has changed the price to £247 rather than £147 is paid. There are other sellers back at the normal price. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/15L-STAI...2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0
Thanks for the info - if only bastard Brexit hadn't made us have to think twice about buying something over £135 from Germany there would still be good stuff around the price you paid...
yes it’s a pain to make sure anything you buy now doesn’t attract a large tax bill . https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/15L-Digi...2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0 The specs and measurements of this unit match what I bought and is visibly the same machine as mine. They state item location is Leicester and delivery early next week.
Well I’ve be scares for a while with work/family/covid and all other bollocks that generally interferes with life ! However tinkering has still continued in the background. The Z1100 is now complete and runnning, just needed a fuel tap o ring to arrive which is now fitted. The wife was bored of her CB500 and wanted more , she did try out my 996 but sadly it was too tall for her , what a shame lol. So we popped round the corner to triumph and bought her a street triple 675R which she loves. As I can only fit 6 bikes in the garage I have had to park the 748 & 996s in a mates garage for now. I’m thinking of selling the 996s as riding both I much prefer the 748 for some reason. It just feels more planted, more urgent and just a better package all round. I am considering robbing the Ti forks and Marchi’s off the 996 and fitting to my 748 first. I know it will knock value off the 996 but I’m not overly fussed. Anyways had to empty the garage yesterday so took the KZ out for some pics. Not great ones as only have my phone , but for all original 40 year old survivor bike… it’s not bad at all
@Slingy123, what solution did you use in the cleaner, looks like you had great results? I've got some old carbs to overhaul so hoping for similar results. Sadly my cleaner is small so have to do one carb at a time.
yes it worked a treat and stuff came up super clean. I used this stuff from EBay which is concentrated so 1l solution per 10L water mix. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5L-Ultra...2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0
