Topic: Terry's NEW big Kawasaki build, the "Lockdown 1428" special.

[grcamna2]

Why the non-functioning aluminum rotor,I thought this is going to be a street bike ?

Thanks mate, yep, it'll be a fully functional street bike, but if you reread my earlier posts you'll see that I don't have the correct Z1 alternator rotor or starter clutch assembly yet, so I made this thing just so I can start it on the button while I wait for the correct items to arrive.

I've been waiting for weeks, and no sign of them arriving any time soon, so this will at least save my leg and arthritic knee until I can install the correct part. Plus I enjoy making cool stuff that actually works. I bought an old Evinrude 4 cylinder magneto a few weeks ago, and am thinking it might be cool to build a trick belt driven magneto at a later date. I've got a couple of ARD's here, but they're not all that interesting to me as making my own.

I understand,you want to hear it fire when you've completed assembly.I think it's a fair bit of work to machine-up those pieces and then never have need for them again after you finally receive the authentic oem Kawasaki parts.

[Terry in Australia]

Why the non-functioning aluminum rotor,I thought this is going to be a street bike ?

Thanks mate, yep, it'll be a fully functional street bike, but if you reread my earlier posts you'll see that I don't have the correct Z1 alternator rotor or starter clutch assembly yet, so I made this thing just so I can start it on the button while I wait for the correct items to arrive.

I've been waiting for weeks, and no sign of them arriving any time soon, so this will at least save my leg and arthritic knee until I can install the correct part. Plus I enjoy making cool stuff that actually works. I bought an old Evinrude 4 cylinder magneto a few weeks ago, and am thinking it might be cool to build a trick belt driven magneto at a later date. I've got a couple of ARD's here, but they're not all that interesting to me as making my own.

I understand,you want to hear it fire when you've completed assembly.I think it's a fair bit of work to machine-up those pieces and then never have need for them again after you finally receive the authentic oem Kawasaki parts.

Yep, well my options were, A. doing a days work with zero material cost, or B. wait for another month or so for my parts to arrive before I can start it? I'll take option A............

[grcamna2]

How's the bottom-end after this,all buttoned-up ?

[Terry in Australia]

How's the bottom-end after this,all buttoned-up ?

Yeah mate, I haven't bolted on the ignition and clutch covers yet, but the bottom end is done, it's selecting gears, so all good. I'm tempted to pull the clutch apart as it was dragging in the other engine, but it might have been the crappy oil I'd used, so this time I'll spend a little more cash and buy some proper bike oil, and see if that helps.

I was happy a moment ago when I went to my letter box and found my package of new APE cylinder stud nuts, I remembered that when i removed the GPZ1100 head there were several washers under each OEM nut, probably because the head's been shaved, so with the APE studs and the APE (longer) nuts, I shouldn't have any head leaking issues.

1428 cylinder stud APE nuts by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[grcamna2]

They look great:Max 'head room' ?.. 

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, very good. I'm a bit worried about them rusting, if they're like Unbrako bolts, they'll rust as soon as they get wet, hopefully they won't.

[grcamna2]

Ha ha, very good. I'm a bit worried about them rusting, if they're like Unbrako bolts, they'll rust as soon as they get wet, hopefully they won't.

APE uses some type of black treatment to those,the ones I had were in my 1983' GS1100ED engine and very much extra-strong construction:of course going inside the engine with the oil should keep'em from rusting.

[754]

I would not put a flange on a taper, unless it's for pulling it off later.
 Tapers have to be precise , these..self holding.. if they are not god rotor will likely spin and score up the crank. It happened to a buddies Suzi dragbike.
 Dialing i a btaper is  pretty easy , but best done on scrap piece first. Is it single taper or double.
 I have a trick I use for setup, make  make it easier. , let me know if you want more info.

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, I finished up "working from home" around 3.30pm, and wandered out to the sheltered workshop. I took some quick measurements, drew myself a picture of what was needed, and it took around 30 minutes to machine up the last piece, with the 5 degree internal taper, no problems at all, I pressed one end into the aluminium "flywheel" and the internal taper I cut made the end piece fit like a finger in a bum. Holding the cam chain out of the way, I hooked the starter to a battery and spun the whole dealio, and there was no wobbling, so I'm calling it a success.

1428 starter finito 29 jun 2020 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I'll pull it off again tomorrow and drill a couple of holes in the steel sleeve for the oil from the crank to lubricate the bearing for the starter gear, and loctite the 8mm screws that secure the starter clutch to the alloy "flywheel" then I'll install the alternator cover, clutch cover, ignition cover, and think about installing the rings onto the pistons, and carefully inserting them into the bores. Geez, if the weather stays good, I might have it together by the weekend? Gotta love "working from home"!  

[PeWe]

It is a small but significant difference between "working FROM home"
vs
 "working AT home", right?

[Terry in Australia]

It is a small but significant difference between "working FROM home"
vs
 "working AT home", right?

Why Per, I don't know what you mean by that veiled slur? I'm a hardworking man don't you know? But after 8 hours of toil over a sweaty keyboard I stagger the 5 or 6 metres out to my workbench in my sheltered workshop, and am revitalised for a good couple of hours motorcycle building joy!

Oh and G, sorry mate, missed your comment re: the Ape head nuts, on a Kawasaki engine they're exposed to the elements (or Elephants, perhaps, if you lived in India, or Africa) hence my concern about them possibly rusting.

APE Head Nuts Mounted by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[PeWe]

I thought you crawled into the garage more frequently  
Lunch time and your coffee breaks you have your fully right to have.

I swapped pistons, cylinder and made head work last week. It has been a pain to wait until after work hours. Especially during the heatwave we got here with 30C.

Better to get things done before too hot in the garage

Thanks to this work swapping on a longer lunch or 2 or 3 a successful motorcycle ride yesterday with wife that loves the comfy K2 now runs better than ever!
Work @ home.... Both jobs done.

[Terry in Australia]

Yeah mate, it's great, I wanted to retire this year, but did the sums and realised that I can't afford to, plus I'm making more money now than ever before, so working from home is definitely a close second, to not working at all. My boss is great too, he's more than happy for me to disappear now and then as long as the work gets done, so it's a win/win.

I've been meaning to strip the paint off the cam cover of the 1428 engine, so I'll lay some paint stripper on it tomorrow during my "morning tea" break and let it bubble away for a couple of hours then when I have my lunch break, I'll either wire brush it off, or put it in the ultrasonic cleaner @ 50 deg C for 30 minutes, that really got my sump pan looking like new!

OK, it's 11 pm here, so I better crawl into bed. 30 deg C is a nice summer's day here mate, wait until it gets to 48, that's when you know you're hot!

[grcamna2]

Oh,right,they are out in the open:you might want to get them plated.

[PeWe]

48 is not MY temperature! I have been on vacations in Greece and Spain and got hit of that temperature. No working only relaxing. Have a deep inhalation of air and feel how my lungs burns inside. Had to jump into the sea direct when dried up from last swim.

Had to store wine in fridge serving it very cold and drink quick before it becomes too warm. Red wine on balcony was not a hit. Ice cold rose would have been better!

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Per, we had a few days where it got pretty hot like that last summer, it's hard to believe that the worst bushfires we've had in Australian history were only 6 months ago when we're all worried about getting Covid-19 now? To quote Bob Dylan, "The times, they are a changing"......

Anyhoo, back to the bike. I double and triple checked my starter farter device, drilled a couple of holes in the sleeve betwixt the crank and the needle roller bearing for the starter clutch gear to allow oil through, loctited the 8mm allen screws that secured the starter clutch to the alloy "flywheel", and loctited the 8mm screw that holds the whole assembly onto the crank, via the internal taper. I installed the alternator cover with a new gasket, and called it good.

There are a couple of 10mm OD knock pins that locate the kick starter cover to the engine case that I couldn't remove from the black engine without mangling them, so I machined up a couple on the lathe. Same/same for the solid 6mm steel locating pins for the ignition cover, then installed all the covers. I couldn't bring myself to re-use the rusty old unbrako's that the PO had used, so ratted thru my stainless steel screw collection (I do have a complete stainless kit for the Z1-B, but didn't want to break into it) and after shortening only a couple of screws, all the covers were on.

1428 Engine build 30 Jun 2020 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I mentioned earlier that I needed to strip and paint the cam cover. I used paint stripper and a wire brush, in my ultrasonic cleaner @ 50 deg C, mainly because it was bloody cold, and so sticking my hands in 50 deg C water was much nicer than using the garden hose and drenching myself with icy cold water. It'd be awful if I gave myself a cold and got shoved in hospital as a potential CV case. Once I got every little scrap of black paint off I washed it thoroughly, stuck in my industrial oven @ 100 deg C, got it nice and warm and hit it with some etch primer.

1428 Engine build 30 Jun 2020 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Back in the oven for a few more minutes @ 100 deg c again, and the etch primer was dry. Out again, a couple of nice quick coats of VHT engine enamel, and back in the still hot oven (switched off) to dry overnight. Tomorrow I'll crank it back up to 100 deg c for 2 hours as per the instructions to cure properly and become oil and fuel proof, apparently.....

1428 Engine build 30 Jun 2020 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

By this time it was dark, freezing cold, and I was half drunk. I decided that I needed to be fully drunk, so went inside. My 91 year old Ma is quite worried about me getting Covid 19 as there's been a spike in the last week or so due to stupid people ignoring the social distancing rules, and she even sent me some paper masks to wear. I didn't like them, so I bought my own, and took a pic to show her. I sent the pic to her via FB messages, and she hasn't responded yet, so I'm guessing I've given her a heart attack and killed her. Ooops...........

Terry's mask 30 Jun 2020 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr 

[754]

Terry try the tap trick on the dowels... find a right size tap , let it just start to  cut into dowel. Then  slightly wiggle and turn, and it will often come out..

[Tintop]

Terry try the tap trick on the dowels... find a right size tap , let it just start to  cut into dowel. Then  slightly wiggle and turn, and it will often come out..

+1

[grcamna2]

Terry try the tap trick on the dowels... find a right size tap , let it just start to  cut into dowel. Then  slightly wiggle and turn, and it will often come out..

+1

I like this,going to use this procedure.I've ruined a few knock pins/dowels before..

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Frank, I hadn’t thought of that, I’ll give it a try if I need more dowels when the Z1 cases finally arrive.

[grcamna2]

Terry,
What compression ratio numbers do you think you'll get with those pistons ?

[Terry in Australia]

Terry,
What compression ratio numbers do you think you'll get with those pistons ?

G'Day G, well according to the specs quoted when I did some googling in 2018 when I bought them, with a stock Z1/1000 head, 13.5:1. I've got to check the valve to piston clearance with the GPZ1100 head, the raised domes just fit inside the combustion chambers of the other head, and I think the GPZ head has been shaved, so that might bring the numbers up a tad more, but I can always use a thicker base gasket if necessary, the main thing is that there'll be sufficient valve clearance, due to the possible differences in valve angle between the Z1/Z1000 and GPZ1100 heads and the bigger Webb cams I'll be installing.

If the worst becomes the worst I'll install my ported Z1 head and buy another head for my Z1, but I'm hoping that won't be necessary, because the GPZ head flows a lot better than the earlier heads.    

[PeWe]

It's a good idea to have extra of various knock/dowel pins.
I ordered some to CB750 when order parts from Yamiya.
The oil pump dowels can easy become mangled when changing oil pump with engine in frame. Some pins sit like they have grown stuck into the case, like side covers.

[Terry in Australia]

It's a good idea to have extra of various knock/dowel pins.
I ordered some to CB750 when order parts from Yamiya.
The oil pump dowels can easy become mangled when changing oil pump with engine in frame. Some pins sit like they have grown stuck into the case, like side covers.

I'm not too worried about keeping spares Per, I have a lathe, and it takes a couple of minutes to make a knock pin/dowel for $0.00, as compared to paying those sharks up to 5 bucks for a 5 cent item, then waiting, and waiting, and waiting for them to arrive. Anything I can make and save a few bucks keeps me out of the poor house, and I like making stuff anyway, or I wouldn't be building bikes, I'd just buy one ready to ride. (yawn.....)

[grcamna2]

Terry,
What compression ratio numbers do you think you'll get with those pistons ?

G'Day G, well according to the specs quoted when I did some googling in 2018 when I bought them, with a stock Z1/1000 head, 13.5:1. I've got to check the valve to piston clearance with the GPZ1100 head, the raised domes just fit inside the combustion chambers of the other head, and I think the GPZ head has been shaved, so that might bring the numbers up a tad more, but I can always use a thicker base gasket if necessary, the main thing is that there'll be sufficient valve clearance, due to the possible differences in valve angle between the Z1/Z1000 and GPZ1100 heads and the bigger Webb cams I'll be installing.

If the worst becomes the worst I'll install my ported Z1 head and buy another head for my Z1, but I'm hoping that won't be necessary, because the GPZ head flows a lot better than the earlier heads.

Yes,good day to you Terry    When you mock-it-up with clay,you'll know what will work.Do you think this will be your most powerful engine streetbike ??