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

[mick7504]

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?

It'd rip the fork outa ya nightie if it was cactus mate.
It should be no worries though.
What about this oiling issue?
Might have to get onto Mike and ask him what he did to sort it out.
Otherwise, this is gonna end up in the Pissed Off Thread. 

[Terry in Australia]

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

Ha ha, well you might be right Sean, sometimes we do let our emotions get in the way of common sense, but luckily I don't have very much invested in this bike, and apart from some main bearings, I now have everything I need to put it back together. I do have to buy new tyres for it, but hell, that's just maintenance.

Of course there's no comparison between the POS vf500/750/1000 though, they were nothing bikes that will only ever be remembered as Honda's greatest failures, whereas the mighty ZZR1100 was famously the world's fastest production bike for a very impressive 6 years.

Like the legendary Z1 before it, it caught the other Japanese manufacturers napping, and it took Honda 6 years of dwindling sales to finally release the Blackbird, but only held the title for a year until Suzuki released their 1300cc bike (Hayabusa) to take the crown. By then, Kawasaki had made it's point, the ZZR1100 became the ZZR1200, and was re-branded as a sports tourer, and sold very well.

The other thing of course, is that there are still plenty of good ZZR1100's still on the road, with big miles. If mine hadn't been thrashed mercilessly by it's previous owner it might well have lasted longer than only 8 years and 65000 miles, but if it's only going to do another 65000 miles before this happens again, well, I doubt if it'll be me rebuilding it next time.    

[Terry in Australia]

It'd rip the fork outa ya nightie if it was cactus mate.
It should be no worries though.
What about this oiling issue?
Might have to get onto Mike and ask him what he did to sort it out.
Otherwise, this is gonna end up in the Pissed Off Thread. 

Ha ha, she'll be right Mick, the oil starvation issue was only really an issue in bikes that were flogged (spent too long on their back wheels) and while there were some equally dodgy "fixes" out there, the general concensus from the ZZR/ZX guys now is to just clean out all of the oilways and the oil cooler, then run good quality synthetic oil right up to the "full" mark on the oil sight glass, and you won't have a problem.

Anyway, as I said in my previous post, it lasted for 65,000 miles first time around, which would take me about 100 years to do nowadays.......

[BobbyR]

To put this in perspective the potential top speed of your bike is practically the same as a Cobra Gunship.  With better fuel economy. 

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Bobby, and yep for a 28 year old bike, it'll still blow away a lot of modern bikes, on paper at least. Wouldn't it be great to have access to a closed off test track like the one in the vid, for a day? My first encounter with a ZZR1100 was on an advanced riders course at Phillip Island in '92, and the owner was rounding up everything in sight on that big black beast, I enjoyed watching him almost as much as I enjoyed punting my old BMW R100RS around, wobbling and wallowing at stupid speeds. Great fun!

[MRieck]

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?

What about this oiling issue?
Might have to get onto Mike and ask him what he did to sort it out.
Otherwise, this is gonna end up in the Pissed Off Thread. 

The bearing shell oil feed holes did not line up with main bearing holes.....stupid stuff. The oil passages were about 50% occluded secondary to the bearings. I know people who simply corrected that (after losing #3 rod) and all was well. The 4 I did ....2 used Superbike Mike mod and the other 2 Mr Turbo (Terry Kizer) mod with me working the cases and main bearing shells.
 As I mentioned earlier I never liked the bikes...the bodywork fit like crap and they were heavy, wallowing Wilde beasts (and that's not being nice to Wilde beasts).. They were fast and looked cool but the #3 rod problem and the second gear problem happened a lot. Dropping the engine was easy which turned out to be a good thing.

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Mike, I'll check that bearing hole on #3 rod journal, and if it's occluded, I'll take my dremel to it. Big fast wallowy bikes are my favourites, that's why I've been a CB750 fan for over 40 years!

[vfourfreak]

I was dozily driving out of Intermarché this morning onto a roundabout (rondpoint here) when a geezer flies by on a ZZR1100 ! I tried calling to him to check his #3 journal but he was gone in a flash.

Better oil here in France perchance ?

Kev

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, yeah, probably Kev, it seems that there are still thousands of them out on the road, maybe I should buy me some of that beaut French oil? If only we had an Intermarché here in Oz......... Hey look at all these ZZR1100's parked outside the Ace Cafe last month, is it possible that they all broke down in the same spot?    

ZZR1100's at Ace Cafe Apr 2018 by terry prendergast, on Flickr

[MoMo]

or maybe you are a photoshop expert, Terry?

[mick7504]

Or just shoe horn the donk into a Mini Minor 

[Terry in Australia]

or maybe you are a photoshop expert, Terry?

Ha ha, no, that was from a post on the ZZR1100 Appreciation Society's FB page Larry, or should I call you "Doubting Thomas"?!

[Terry in Australia]

Or just shoe horn the donk into a Mini Minor 

Nice one Mick, I wonder how one would go in the wife's old Hyundai Excel?

[mick7504]

Or just shoe horn the donk into a Mini Minor 

Nice one Mick, I wonder how one would go in the wife's old Hyundai Excel?

I reckon it'd give these young fellas a bit of a touch up in their make believe WRX Subarus with the 3 inch burble pipe hanging out the back. 

[Terry in Australia]

Well my used piston arrived yesterday, and I'm happy to say it looks great! (it was packed really well, too) I also received a message from Wemoto to say that my new sleeve has been made and is on it's way from Japan, so things are looking up. I'm driving the 200 miles to my home town to visit my ma this weekend but if the weather's good when I get back on Sunday, I'll split the cases in anticipation of replacing the crank. Good times!

[vfourfreak]

How did the tank turn out Terry ?

Kev

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks for the reminder Kev, I need to turn it over again! I've had the rust remover in it since I removed the tank, and have been turning it every few days. I just got back from visiting my Ma, so I better go out and take a look. if it hasn't eaten thru the tank, I'll take a pic. Back soon.

[Terry in Australia]

Well no holes in the tank, so that's a good thing, but this rust stuff is pretty average, IMHO.

Here's my tank a month ago, after sitting for 18 years in a shed. No fuel, just dry loose rust:

Terry's ZZR1100 Rusty Tank 1 by terry prendergast, on Flickr

This is what it looked like when I first opened the lid today:

ZZR1100 Rust 1 by terry prendergast, on Flickr

I took my little brass wire brush to the loose stuff around the filler:

ZZR1100 Rust 2 by terry prendergast, on Flickr

The tank itself is sound, it needs a good buff and a couple of little touch ups, but nothing serious:

ZZR1100 Rust by terry prendergast, on Flickr

I don't think the rust stuff will get much more out without some assistance. I wish I had an old tumble dryer, then I could tip some gravel or nuts and bolts into the tank, then wrap it in foam and rags, and throw it in the dryer for an hour or so to allow the rust remover and nuts/bolts/gravel to bounce around and remove any remaining loose rust and scale. I might have to buy a used one on Ebay or Gumtree etc, just for that purpose.

I was going to split the cases today, but I got lazy, it's Sunday afternoon and I need to get up at 5am, so I thought I'd have a nap instead. Oh well, maybe tomorrow after work........  

 

[Terry in Australia]

Well my shiny new cylinder sleeve arrived today from Japan, woohoo! I hope the weather's reasonable this weekend, I've got some wrenching to do!

ZZR1100 new sleeve by terry prendergast, on Flickr

ZZR1100 new sleeve1 by terry prendergast, on Flickr

Yeah I know, Leo's about as interested as everyone else...........

Leo 31 May 2018 by terry prendergast, on Flickr

[mick7504]

I'm interested to see the oil feed hole alignment in the shells Terry.
Or can I hear the Dremel getting fired up? 

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, well I had to re-read Mikes post Mick, because (as I should have realised) the big end bearing shells don't have oil feed holes, it's only the main bearing shells that do, just like on a CB750. So no dremel work required on the big ends.......

ZZR Rod Bearing 4 by terry prendergast, on Flickr

But what did piss me off was when I checked my shiny new Wemoto Japanese made sleeve, to discover over 1mm racing clearance!

ZZR Sleeve too big! by terry prendergast, on Flickr

The ZZR1100 has 76mm bores, my pistons are fine at 75.89,

ZZR Sleeve too big! 1 by terry prendergast, on Flickr

But the sleeve is a wee bit big @ 77!

ZZR Sleeve too big! 2 by terry prendergast, on Flickr

I double checked the box, it does say ZZR1100, so someone's stuffed up..............

ZZR1100 new sleeve1 by terry prendergast, on Flickr

Being a Japananese Ebay seller, I imagine whoever was responsible will be made to commit harakiri, which might seem a little extreme, but I'll accept it as an expression of their genuine remorse for fcuking me around, and hope they don't get any blood on the right sleeve, as that stuff really causes steel to rust!

No biggie, I've gotta crack the case(s) and work out what main bearing sizes I need so I can get the big black beast back together again, and as the new fork seals have arrived I'll replace them while the engine's out and all the weight is at the back of the bike. More tomorrow!    

[mick7504]

Those liners are listed for a 79mm piston mate.
http://vi.raptor.ebaydesc.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemDescV4&item=163059100933&category=177980&pm=1&ds=0&t=1527845948892&cspheader=1

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, well that'll teach me for buying something with my iPhone without reading the fine print! Bugger.

[mick7504]

Or buy 3 more and a set of pistons to suit.
What was that Eagles song again?
Take It To The Limit 

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, I did think about that Mick, just for a moment though, I'm trying to get out of the habit of hotting up bikes, you can spend a lot of money on something that you'll never need, bragging rights aside, of course. Anyhoo, I did an Ebay search and found a shiny new genuine Kawasaki 76mm sleeve for cheap, and did the "buy it now" thing, so no biggie. Don't ya love Ebay?

ZZR1100 Cylinder Liner by terry prendergast, on Flickr