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

[MRieck]

Jeepers, this is the expensive way to get a 43mm front end..
 I just bought mine without the bike, way less money and hassle..

The 11's suck.....period. The ZX10 were OK for liquid cooled....I guess because I hate Kawasaki's except the  78, 79, 80 and earlier Z's which are air cooled and look good. The f'ing bodywork never fitted well on the liquid bikes. Half a$$. That ZX11 oiling system took the cake. Like I said I fixed them and no problems after BUT you could SEE the problems. I own Yamaha's, Honda's and Suzuki's....no Kawasaki's though I'd take a 79  or 80 Z any day.

[754]

 Ifvthe crank is nitrided, it may live through that kind of bearing wear..my R100RT did.
 But I would bet our SOHC cranks, would not survive that...

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, thanks guys, I joined a FB group called the "ZZR1100 Appreciation Society" (a very small group.........) but I'm guessing Mike's not a member? No matter, we ZZR1100 owners love our bikes, I really don't know why as I've never ridden mine, but I'm sure it'll grow on me!

Yep, it might cost me some money, but hey, it's only money, and even if I dump another $1K into it, it'll still be the cheapest running ZZR1100 here, so no biggie. I think I'll take the bottom end down to my home town on the weekend, my cuz is the best mechanic I know, so I'll get his opinion on the crank and take his advice, even if it's the more expensive option.

I'll report back as soon as I learn something really exciting.

[Terry in Australia]

OK, well I just melted my remaining plastic with a good used "D" model crank and rods from England, and a new cylinder sleeve from WeMoto in Japan. $500 AUD ($400 USD, or thereabouts) including shipping was very fair for everything I thought, so all I think I'll need now is some main bearings? Happy Days!

[MoMo]

A big WOW on that purchase.  ...Larry

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Larry, I really am happy, I thought that if I did this "properly" it was gonna cost at least a grand, so I'm stoked. The good thing is that once all the bits turn up I can quickly put it back together, shove it back in the bike and be back on the road after an 18 year hiatus. Hmmmmnn, I better put some new tyres on it too.........

Last Friday I picked up the last of the 1969 CB750K0 engine covers I had hydro blasted, so once the ZZR is a motorcycle again, I can rebuild the engine and put it on Ebay. With luck it'll pay for the ZZR, the repairs, and a good supply of whisky.

[MoMo]

18 year old tires.  Here's mine on the KZ1000 LTD

IMG_9381[1] by Lawrence Moulder, on Flickr
IMG_9380[1] by Lawrence Moulder, on Flickr

[Terry in Australia]

Nice! If the tires weren't cracked though, would you leave them on? Mine look fine, but I don't want to open it up around a bend on a cold road in winter, and push 150 BHP through an 18(+) year old hoop, I'm too old and fat to survive a high speed "Get Off"......

[MoMo]

I could always use the Burt Munro shoe polish method.  I would use the tires as is for the short 5 mile trips that I do back and forth to work but I'll replace when the KZ is deemed restorable.. regards

[Terry in Australia]

Yeah, to be honest the tyres on some of my bikes are pretty old and I still ride them, but they'd fail a Roadworthy Inspection if I tried to register one of them now, just because the tyres are too old.

[spotty]

sounds like me, i'd fail a roadworthy these days based on knackered suspension and emissions

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, me too Spotty! Well Wemoto pissed me off this week, I bought the new sleeve from them on Ebay because it was the "Last One left" so I did the "Buy it Now", then 2 days later they sent me a message saying that they'll need to get it made, and it won't be ready to send for 2 weeks? WTF?

As happy as I'm sure I will be to have a shiny new sleeve to install, what happened to the sleeve that I bought? Or is it OK to sell stuff that doesn't actually exist? Hmmnnn, I think I might have to start selling some new Vincent Black Shadows, then once I've got the buyers money, explain that I'll need to get them made up, so they might have to wait a little while? Arseholes!

Anyway, it looks like my replacement piston and crankshaft will be arriving this week, so at least I'll be able to get the bottom end sorted out. I presume the crank and cases are marked like our CB750's are so I can determine which main bearings I need, I better check my factory manual to confirm. If I can drag myself out into the cold, I might rebuild my front brake MC, if I can only remember where I put the new reco kit? Damn my short attention span!

[jgger]

Terry I have heard that the latest upgrade for those Vincent's is a muffler off of a Tesla.............BTW I have the last 2 left. Let me know if you need one!

[Terry in Australia]

Saturday 19 May 2018:

Well while I'm waiting for engine parts to arrive, I thought I'd crack on with a job that needs to be done before I can take it back out on the road, reconditioning the front brake Master Cylinder. Not surprisingly, after sitting for 18 years in a garden shed, the piston seal had shrunk a little bit, allowing fluid to leak out.

It's always easiest to strip the MC while it's still mounted on the bike, so the first problem was that someone had previously butchered the lid screws:

ZZR1100 BRAKE MC REBUILD by terry prendergast, on Flickr

ZZR1100 BRAKE MC REBUILD 1 by terry prendergast, on Flickr

ZZR1100 BRAKE MC REBUILD 1A by terry prendergast, on Flickr

No biggie, I just introduced the MC to my "Little Friend", Mister Dewalt..........

ZZR1100 BRAKE MC REBUILD 2 by terry prendergast, on Flickr

I took a little bit more material than I would have liked, due to using the one sharp drill bit that I own. Oh well, it doesn't need much.

ZZR1100 BRAKE MC REBUILD 3 by terry prendergast, on Flickr

It wasn't hard to see where the fluid had been leaking from:

ZZR1100 BRAKE MC REBUILD 4 by terry prendergast, on Flickr

The banjo bolt was nice and shiny though!

ZZR1100 BRAKE MC REBUILD 5 by terry prendergast, on Flickr

Anyhoo, I took it off the bike without incident, and using a scriber, as opposed to a dozen different sized circlip pliers, was able to pop the circlip and the whole piston assembly out.

ZZR1100 BRAKE MC REBUILD 6 by terry prendergast, on Flickr

In the past I've had a sh1t of a time getting the circlip out, but after I removed the protective rubber donger, using the scribe's pointy end it popped right out, took maybe 30 seconds? I installed the new rubber piston seal on the new piston, and checked it against the old one to make sure I had it assembled correctly:

ZZR1100 BRAKE MC REBUILD 7 by terry prendergast, on Flickr

I cleaned the cylinder out with a little brake cleaner and paper towel, squirted a little through the bleeder hole to make sure it wasn't blocked, and reassembled it. I think it looks a little better now.

ZZR1100 BRAKE MC REBUILD 8 by terry prendergast, on Flickr

OK, so I re-installed it on the bike, and bled the MC. Once again, bleeding the MC is a must before bleeding the whole system, as if there's air in the MC, you'll spend forever trying to pump it all the way down into the calipers. Within 5 minutes, I had a rock hard lever! Not bad for a 26 year old bike, or a 58 year old man, for that matter........

ZZR1100 BRAKE MC REBUILD 9 by terry prendergast, on Flickr

I was lucky to find 2 new stainless screws that just needed shortening, and they finished the MC off nicely. I'll bleed the whole system later, I need to change the fork seals (as soon as the new seals turn up) so I may, or may not need to strip the calipers too. We'll see. All in all, it was a nice easy job for a miserable Saturday afternoon.

ZZR1100 BRAKE MC REBUILD 10 by terry prendergast, on Flickr   

[mick7504]

Ha ha, me too Spotty! Well Wemoto pissed me off this week, I bought the new sleeve from them on Ebay because it was the "Last One left" so I did the "Buy it Now", then 2 days later they sent me a message saying that they'll need to get it made, and it won't be ready to send for 2 weeks? WTF?

As happy as I'm sure I will be to have a shiny new sleeve to install, what happened to the sleeve that I bought? Or is it OK to sell stuff that doesn't actually exist? Hmmnnn, I think I might have to start selling some new Vincent Black Shadows, then once I've got the buyers money, explain that I'll need to get them made up, so they might have to wait a little while? Arseholes!

Anyway, it looks like my replacement piston and crankshaft will be arriving this week, so at least I'll be able to get the bottom end sorted out. I presume the crank and cases are marked like our CB750's are so I can determine which main bearings I need, I better check my factory manual to confirm. If I can drag myself out into the cold, I might rebuild my front brake MC, if I can only remember where I put the new reco kit? Damn my short attention span!

Have you still got those Kwaka sleeves I sent to you mate?
There might be a candidate sitting in the shed that could be spun up.
Fcuk Wemoto. 

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, me too Spotty! Well Wemoto pissed me off this week, I bought the new sleeve from them on Ebay because it was the "Last One left" so I did the "Buy it Now", then 2 days later they sent me a message saying that they'll need to get it made, and it won't be ready to send for 2 weeks? WTF?

As happy as I'm sure I will be to have a shiny new sleeve to install, what happened to the sleeve that I bought? Or is it OK to sell stuff that doesn't actually exist? Hmmnnn, I think I might have to start selling some new Vincent Black Shadows, then once I've got the buyers money, explain that I'll need to get them made up, so they might have to wait a little while? Arseholes!

Anyway, it looks like my replacement piston and crankshaft will be arriving this week, so at least I'll be able to get the bottom end sorted out. I presume the crank and cases are marked like our CB750's are so I can determine which main bearings I need, I better check my factory manual to confirm. If I can drag myself out into the cold, I might rebuild my front brake MC, if I can only remember where I put the new reco kit? Damn my short attention span!

Have you still got those Kwaka sleeves I sent to you mate?
There might be a candidate sitting in the shed that could be spun up.
Fcuk Wemoto. 

G'Day Mick, how are you mate? I do, but sadly they're not big enough, the ZZR has 76mm bores, so the old Z1000's 70mm sleeves might be a bit loose in the cylinder block? I did look at my spare CB750 engine and thought "Geez that'd just about bolt straight in", but I reckon I might have noticed the 80 BHP deficit? Oh well, the weather's turned to sh1t now anyway, so no biggie!  

[mick7504]

Going good mate.
I didn't think about the hole size in those sleeves.
That picture of the BE bearing is ball tearer.
Plastiguage has got fcuk all on that mate. 

[vfourfreak]

The lid is on the wrong way round Terry !

Kev

[MoMo]

The lid is on the wrong way round Terry !

Kev

Maybe because Terry flipped his lid?

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, who says the lid was around the right way before I started? Yeah, I noticed that when I looked at the pics, but didn't think anyone here would be so anal as to mention it, but then of course, I'd forgotten about Kev! How are you Kev, hows life as a married man living in the Phillipines? Did you take your RC30? Cheers, Terry.  

[Terry in Australia]

As opposed to the rest of the free world, in Oz, on a weekend everything stops. It was only recently that the various state governments legalised Sunday Trading, before then, if you forgot to restock your toilet paper supplies on a Saturday, you'd be using newspaper until the stores re-opened on Monday. Same/same for the Postal service, apart from extended deliveries during the pre-Christmas rush.

So, I was surprised when I received a text message on my mobile phone to tell me that DHL (Germany's Postal Service) were delivering a box to me, today, on a Sunday? "Bullsh1t", I thought to myself, it must be an error. In fact, so sure was I that it wasn't gonna happen that I didn't bother standing by my mailbox hopping from one foot to the other in anticipation, like I usually do when I know there's a box on the way.

So I almost fell over when my missus staggered thru the door with a box almost as big as her! I found my favourite box opening knife, and gleefully tore the box open. It was my new(ish) crankshaft! Hows that eh? I only bought it on Monday of last week, so 6 days from England to Oz? Excellent! And the good thing is that the crank is perfect too, so all I need to do now is try to determine which bearings to use?

Anyway, here it is, in all it's greasy glory!

ZZR1100 new(ish) crankshaft by terry prendergast, on Flickr

[mick7504]

Are you going to have a look at No 3 shells and journal mate?

[Terry in Australia]

Are you going to have a look at No 3 shells and journal mate?

Yeah I suppose I should Mick, there's no up and down movement at all, so I'm sure there's no issues with it, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to pull it apart?

[seanbarney41]

Terry, are you sure you are not dropping a bunch of time and money on the Honda vf500/750/1000 of the Kawasaki world?

[spotty]

I too was amazed to receive my clutch slave cylinder rebuild kit in less than a week from the states. Unfortunately it has pissef down with rain both weekends since then so I haven't been able to persuade myself to lie on the ground in a wet open carport just yet...maybe next weekend
On a plus note I did manage to get it back into the carport today by putting it in gear , pulling the unconnected clutch lever  in to fool the safety switch and hit the starter button bunny hopping it back up the hill