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

[spotty]

VMAX back on its own two wheels and test ridden through the local tourist lookout carpark  (with no helmet of course) so now the zzr goes up on the bikelift

Not quite matching black wheels as it appears the orange rimtape for the back wheel is not actually adhesive......

[RAFster122s]

What is the rim tape if not adhesive rim tape? Confused...

Congrats on VMax being riding and off the lift.

David

[spotty]

Turns out the rimtape which should have been adhesive was a long piece of orange plastic ribbon....it feels sort of sticky on the finger but won't stay on the painted rim. Bollocks
Will try and get some more the same as the front but it's not essential for riding so not stressed

Ended up getting one muffler polished ( I know these bikes were built to a budget but they only mirror polished the side of the muffler you would see, the back side is kinda satin)

Painted the radiator and oil  cooler mesh guard

Got the zzr up on the bike lift but it turns out the rear tyre is too wide for the wheel clamp do it had to go in pointy end first
So instead of doing fork seals and checking headstem bearings I shall be looking at the arse end first and the modifying the bikelift to handle a 180 rear tyre ( angle grinder should fix it )

It was good to have the VMAX moving again, it's been a while and having the back wheel hooking up and going sideways out of the driveway was a most cathartic experience

[Terry in Australia]

I believe the young folk these days have some sort of 'app' inside their telephonic devices that allows them to electronically make such lists
 ( and then of course share them on the relevant social media platforms )

Ha ha, I did realise that I have a "notes" thingie on my iPhone 5 (old obsolete phone that I still use because it still works) so I made a "to do" list, but I won't be sharing it, because it was way too optimistic. Those pipes are looking good mate!

[spotty]

Amended to do list

There's only a couple of things on there that are cosmetic  ( mirrors, front pegs ) , everything else is in need of checking for basic roadworthy and that's before tyres and other stuff I've probably forgotten
Hopefully get a few things done tomorrow morning before I have to get all clean and shiny to go to a 3yo birthday party.....ah well , there will be beer and I sure as fcuk won't be driving

Also I'd forgotten what a pain in the freckle polishing metal by hand was....one muffler and my right arm felt like a 14yo's at a titty rubbing competition....ah, the good old days

[PeWe]

I believe the young folk these days have some sort of 'app' inside their telephonic devices that allows them to electronically make such lists
 ( and then of course share them on the relevant social media platforms )

Ha ha, I did realise that I have a "notes" thingie on my iPhone 5 (old obsolete phone that I still use because it still works) so I made a "to do" list, but I won't be sharing it, because it was way too optimistic. Those pipes are looking good mate!

A newer bigger phone perfect to use as a limited computer.  Enter this forum via Tapatalk. Attach photos easy. Later phones have good cameras too.
I recommend OnePlus 7 Pro.

[RAFster122s]

What is a OnePlus 7 Pro PeWe?

Spotty, forgot to add start Oil discussion for entertainment to your list...


Are you going to service the fork oil while tearing down and cleaning and refreshing everything? Are the fork seals in good shape...no leaking seals?

Don't forget to replace the muffler bearing oil whilst polishing the mufflers, ya would hate to run out and spin a bearing...

David

[spotty]

You're quite right RAF, we need more discussions about lubricants

Engine oil will be Renault fully synthetic as I managed to blag bout 30 litres from work

Fork will get a good clean, inside and out, new seals  and Renault ATF as I blagged a load of that too. Lowers will get a fresh coat of paint

I run my mufflers dry cos only gurls have a lubricated  tail pipe

[spotty]

Second muffler polished, few rust blemishes but they're underneath and only surfacy so that shouldn't bother the roadworthy man too much

Mirrors cleaned and shiny
.
Realised last night I have no way of getting the wheels out.....they require some ludicrous sized Allen key thing, there is a special multitool available so if I can't find an original tool kit I shall look for one of them

And mustn't forget it needs tyres too
Shinko to the rescue, about $290 a pair fitted
And while the wheels are out I shall clean up the polished parts of the rims ( or paint the whole wheels Kawasaki green)

[seanbarney41]

Good lord...not much more dangerous than something with that much power on cheap rubber.  Be careful!

[Terry in Australia]

Well I always love a tyre discussion, and until recently I thought Stinko's were cheap sh1t Chinese crap too (although the ones on my Goldwing 1200 were fine) but I did a little research and found out that Stinko's are actually Japanese, and are just the old "Yokohama" tyres (remember them?) re-branded, so as they need to pass stringent Japanese quality control and design standards, I'm pretty confident that they're probably just as good as anything out there.

And as much as the ZZR1100 is a "Hyper" bike, do 25 miles an hour over the speed limit here and your bike gets confiscated for a week or so and you lose your license, so I don't think Spotty will be testing those tyres limits too often?  

[scunny]

They are pretty harsh here in NZED on speeding, 140k in a 100k area is automatic loss of license for 28 days and a day in court. I have a twink mark on the VTR's speedo to remind me, then I can choose to take my chances. When I was racing the mighty GS1000 back in the day, I used to put the best rubber on the front and a halfway decent tyre on the rear, that way, the back would slide(most of the time) before the front went. 

[jgger]

Realised last night I have no way of getting the wheels out.....they require some ludicrous sized Allen key thing, there is a special multitool available so if I can't find an original tool kit I shall look for one of them

Find a bolt that has the same size head heat it bend it=instant Allen wrench! Or double nut the threaded end and tack weld it, then use a socket.

Yup, I'm that cheap!🤪

[seanbarney41]

yeah well, crashing under the speed limit sucks almost as bad as crashing above.  Hopefully, Stinko's have improved in the last few years, as the last ones I had, about 4 years ago, scared me enough to never buy them again...and those were on a cb750.

[Terry in Australia]

yeah well, crashing under the speed limit sucks almost as bad as crashing above.  Hopefully, Stinko's have improved in the last few years, as the last ones I had, about 4 years ago, scared me enough to never buy them again...and those were on a cb750.

Well that's interesting Sean, I had stinko's on my big black 'Wang 5 or 6 years ago and they were fine, I rode them in both wet and dry weather with no issues at all, the old Dunlops on it were pretty scary just because they'd gone hard with age, but I was actually quite impressed with the Stinko's, I'd put them on a bike before I'd put Metzlers on, I've had lots of scary moments with Metzlers on BMW's, over the years.

[spotty]

I've got stinkos on the VMAX which makes near the same power (125ish RWHP) , weighs more and has far worse steering geometry, they are far better than any other brands I tried and responded far better to steering, brake and suspension upgrades

I'm hoping the stinkos will be ok but as with all things time will tell

And cleaned mirrors

[Terry in Australia]

They look like new Spotty, that is one of the benefits of buying a bike that blew up when it was only 8 years old and was put in a shed for another 18, the plastics were all in pretty good shape. Hopefully you'll get at least another 8 years out of it.

[spotty]

There's a few cracks and a couple of broken tabs but I should be able to sort them
In this incarnation it's never going to be immaculate but as long as I can keep the repairs hidden and the paint pretty much original I'll be happy

[RAFster122s]

yeah well, crashing under the speed limit sucks almost as bad as crashing above.  Hopefully, Stinko's have improved in the last few years, as the last ones I had, about 4 years ago, scared me enough to never buy them again...and those were on a cb750.

Well that's interesting Sean, I had stinko's on my big black 'Wang 5 or 6 years ago and they were fine, I rode them in both wet and dry weather with no issues at all, the old Dunlops on it were pretty scary just because they'd gone hard with age, but I was actually quite impressed with the Stinko's, I'd put them on a bike before I'd put Metzlers on, I've had lots of scary moments with Metzlers on BMW's, over the years.

I am a firm believer in not going cheap on tires since your life depends upon you being able to control the vehicle in wet and dry conditions. I apply that philosophy for both my bike and my car. Running Bridgestone BT45s on my bikes, except for the new Suzuki VStrom 650 XT Touring which came with Bridgestones but, I don't recall the model as they are a touring model with street and light adventure tread.
Dunlop has a new tire out SportMax 3 I think? Suppose to be pretty good but I do not know  anyone who has ran them...might be an interesting thread to start to see if anyone has.


If "Stinko"" made a tire that was just as good as the Bridgestone or Avon or similar perf tire then I might try it, but it is an expensive experiment if they are not as sticky and you crash the bike.


Been at Vintage Motorcycle Days at MidOhio Sportscar Course in Lexington, Ohio past couple days and I have never seen so many bikes in my life. It is quite something. The number of people running around on small 2 strokes with no riding gear or helmets here is quite scary and many of them are not going slowly. Lots of kids on small dirt bikes. It is amazing that there are not that many accidents.
Ohio has optional helmet laws for adults, makes for a large pool of what I refer to as organ donors if they are thoughtful enough to designate so on their license as protecting your brain is kind of important.


Sorry for the segue...keep up the good work fellows!


David

[spotty]

Not much progress but I have ordered a new complete cap for the tank ( cheaper than a new seal on its own ) so I might just pull the seal off and service the old lock mechanism ( they have a tendency to seize and break keys apparently) or just use the whole thing and have 2 keys

Also ordered 2 new LED bulbs for the taillight as I reckon they're a good thing and cheap insurance against a following cop having an excuse to pull you up for a blown light ( with 24 leds on each bulb they don't show up as blown if only one or two pop and that rarely happens anyway )

Getting two tools tomorrow that are designed for undoing axles, it's a sort of stepped Allen key (17,19,22,24mm) with no handle that goes into the Allen key hole in the axles and you turn it with a ratchet, socket or spanner
And apparently it's a good idea to have two

[Terry in Australia]

Damn, now I want one of those tools, and I don't even have a bike that needs them? Oh wait, the RC51's and the FJR1300 might? Sweet..........

[RAFster122s]

You buy the tool from a AU eBay seller or otherwise?
Once you have finished the ZZR1100 you might need to change your profile/ID message...

[Terry in Australia]

Ooher, I've just had a wonderful thought at 35000 feet (on my way to Adelaide) about how I'll gut Spotty's spare engine, strip the horrible black paint off the cases, and swap my "F" engines guts into it. Then I'll shove that engine into my spare K6 frame and build me a mild hotrod 836cc K6. Sweet!

Has anyone got a mild cam for sale? Or I've got a minty billet 125/75 still in the box if someone wants to trade up for it?

[spotty]

don't get ahead of yourself there big boy, you've got a swamp rat and a mad max bike to finish first

i got the tools from an ebay seller but got them picked them up from their shop so i got them before the weekend and saved postage, double win

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, good point mate, I do tend to get myself sidetracked when it comes to CB750's, my priorities are, in this order:
Swamp Rat build
Mad Max Z1000
Redneck RC51
K8 Hipster Street Scrambler
Troy Bilt zero turn mower
K6 Hot Rod
BSA C11G

Fark, if I only do one a year, I'll be retired by the time I finish!