Topic: Terry's Kawasaki ZZR1100 "Bring it back to life" project.

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, you're tougher than I am Bobby, my vision of a perfect ride day is a nice 70-80 deg F day, jeans and T shirt, (maybe my Triumph vented jacket if I'm feeling at all safety conscious) summer gloves, my flip front helmet and boots. A nice long-ish ride (the 200 miles to my Ma's place is a good ride) lots of back roads, and the occasional stop at a pub for a pint of icy cold beer or cider is a great option. I really miss giving up smoking 3 years ago, I really enjoyed sitting out on the verandah of a pub smoking cigarettes and drinking beer, and chatting to fellow bike riders about all things two wheeled.

This fcuking bursitis is a a real PITA, my big Yamaha FJR1300 has been off the road for almost two years (forgot to renew the registration when my brother died, now it needs a roadworthy inspection and new plate) but it was the best long distance bike I own with 147 BHP, but a big barn door fairing to keep me being blown off the back at speed. I'm hoping I can still do longer rides on the big Yam, as 60 miles or so is my limit on my non-faired bikes. We'll see.

IMG_0744 by terry prendergast, on Flickr

In the meantime I'm having wicked thoughts about the drag bike. I've got some frame sections coming from the US so I can take it back to near original (it'll have more of a Z1 appearance when done) but that's all a fair way away, and I'm thinking it might be fun to drop that beastly engine into my K2 "Bitsa" for a little while? I believe that all I'll need is some new engine mounts, but no cutting and welding required, so it might be fun for a little while?

CB750-w900Z1-700-004 by terry prendergast, on Flickr

[754]

I like that..

[Terry in Australia]

Me too Frank, it'll be a fun little exercise, but only temporary, until I can get the drag bike looking like a KZ1000 again.

[BPellerine]

Me too Frank, it'll be a fun little exercise, but only temporary, until I can get the drag bike looking like a KZ1000 again.

and make the purists furious!haha bill

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, well if they love CB750's and they love Z1's Bill, why would they be mad? Of course, a CB750 engine in a Z1 would probably be slightly disappointing...........

[754]

Not if it was  CBZR motor..

[PeWe]

That Hondasaki look really good! A beauty! What to complain about as long as it works, chain correctly aligned .....
I'm sure many will see it as an old stock bike in mint condition. Old CB 750 and Z1 owners will admire extra!

[Terry in Australia]

OK, so I have to admit that this build has been a tad slow. The problem that I have is that if something isn't quite right, I usually can't live with it, so it either gets pushed to the back of my garage, or I nut it out and finish it. To make things worse, the drag bike came along while I had the ZZR engine in bits, and I really want to get the drag bike/CB750 hybrid up and running by Christmas, when I'll have lots of time to ride it over my 4 or 5 weeks of annual leave in nice warm weather.

The problem I had was the replacement piston. I bought it from a seller in the US who said it was from a 1992 ZX11, which should be the same as my 1992 ZZR1100. But it wasn't. Here's a pic of the replacement piston:

ZZR1100 D Piston by terry prendergast, on Flickr

Whereas this is another piston from my engine:

ZZR1100 C Piston by terry prendergast, on Flickr

So while the replacement piston was about the same dia and the same weight (once I installed the rings) it had a longer skirt, front and back. I didn't think this would be a major problem until I rotated the crank and busted 5mm of skirt off when it caught the bottom of the cylinder aperture on the crankcase top, the skirts at that point are less than 1mm thick, so super fragile. Hmmnnnn, I ground the other skirt off and surprisingly both pistons then weighed exactly the same, but without the skirts that piston looked a bit weird, and I just couldn't live with the idea of having one odd piston.

I contacted John in England, the ZZR1100 expert who sold me the crankshaft, and asked him if he had a piston for my bike and explained the problem, and he got back to me right away and said yep, the "odd" piston is from a later "D" model, so he sent me a couple of pics of a C and a D piston side by side.

ZZR1100 piston comparison by terry prendergast, on Flickr

He's a top bloke, and only charged me 20 English Pounds for the piston and rings, including postage to Oz, so I should have it in the next week or so, and maybe (just maybe) I'll get the engine back together before I go in for  surgery on the 31st, because after that I'll probably be out of action until the end of September. Fingers crossed.

[ekpent]

 End of September ?? What the hell are they doing to you ?

[754]

Did  you turn it by hand ? What did it sound like when you get her skirt off ?

[Terry in Australia]

End of September ?? What the hell are they doing to you ?

G'Day Eric, I'm having gastric bypass surgery on the 31st, so I'll be in hospital for 4 or 5 days post surgery, then off work for another 10 (returning to work on the 17th of September) but I'm not allowed to do anything strenuous (like lifting engines in and out of motorcycles) until at least the end of September, probably longer. That's OK, as long as I'm back into it by December I'll be happy, I'd hate to be out of action over summer! Cheers, Terry.

[ekpent]

End of September ?? What the hell are they doing to you ?

G'Day Eric, I'm having gastric bypass surgery on the 31st, so I'll be in hospital for 4 or 5 days post surgery, then off work for another 10 (returning to work on the 17th of September) but I'm not allowed to do anything strenuous (like lifting engines in and out of motorcycles) until at least the end of September, probably longer. That's OK, as long as I'm back into it by December I'll be happy, I'd hate to be out of action over summer! Cheers, Terry.

  Some people will go to any length and do anything to make their bike go faster      Here's hoping the surgery goes smooth and you and your new bod are ready to tear it up for your spring riding season !!

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, yeah well it will be weird riding my RC51 without my belly resting on the tank to take the pressure off my wrists Eric, and that nice Joe Rocket jacket I bought many years ago will finally fit, so yeah, should be good!

[BobbyR]

End of September ?? What the hell are they doing to you ?

G'Day Eric, I'm having gastric bypass surgery on the 31st, so I'll be in hospital for 4 or 5 days post surgery, then off work for another 10 (returning to work on the 17th of September) but I'm not allowed to do anything strenuous (like lifting engines in and out of motorcycles) until at least the end of September, probably longer. That's OK, as long as I'm back into it by December I'll be happy, I'd hate to be out of action over summer! Cheers, Terry.

Good luck on the surgery Mate!

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Bobby, still a couple of weeks to go, but I'm looking forward to getting that monkey off my back.(and everywhere else) The folks I work with are having a "Farewell for Terry's Tum" lunch for me on Friday, the last day I can eat real food, before I have to go on the special pre-surgery diet, which I thought was nice.

[ken65]

Thanks Bobby, still a couple of weeks to go, but I'm looking forward to getting that monkey off my back.(and everywhere else) The folks I work with are having a "Farewell for Terry's Tum" lunch for me on Friday, the last day I can eat real food, before I have to go on the special pre-surgery diet, which I thought was nice.

So the Dry horrors should start on the Sunday evening.
Not much fun at night not knowing if your awake or asleep.
Good luck Terrance.

[Terry in Australia]

The dry horrors? I'm not an alco Ken, fair go mate, I'm just drunk a lot! Hmmnn, well maybe I AM an alco! Bloody hell.....

[ken65]

Me too. I'm only a drunkard.  At worst a beer soak. ha

[RAFster122s]

You will get drunk faster after the surgery, or with less alcohol...you do know you won't be able to drink alcohol for a while even being on liquid diet.

[Terry in Australia]

Yes David, sadly I won't be able to liquor up for quite awhile, but that's OK, as long as I don't end up like my poor brother did, (he had type 2 diabetes and died of a hear attack a month before his 59th birthday) it'll be worth it.

[kpier883]

Blessings to you Terry!
—Kirk

[PeWe]

Did  you turn it by hand ? What did it sound like when you get her skirt off ?

I'm curious too ... What happened when you got her skirt off, Terry?
1.) Dirty old man...!
2.) I've got no knickers either!
3.) .......?

[Terry in Australia]

Blessings to you Terry!
—Kirk

Thanks mate!

[Terry in Australia]

Did  you turn it by hand ? What did it sound like when you get her skirt off ?

I'm curious too ... What happened when you got her skirt off, Terry?
1.) Dirty old man...!
2.) I've got no knickers either!
3.) .......?

You guys gotta get your minds above your navels.......

[PeWe]

Did  you turn it by hand ? What did it sound like when you get her skirt off ?

I'm curious too ... What happened when you got her skirt off, Terry?
1.) Dirty old man...!
2.) I've got no knickers either!
3.) .......?

You guys gotta get your minds above your navels.......

My mind has wings....