Topic: Terry's new Kawasaki Z1B build, the OCD special...........

[Alan F.]

Agreed, I'll take better odds any day. If you buy a 2nd lottery ticket your odds stay the same, this is a no brainer.

[RAFster122s]

Tucson instituted mask mandates again for everyone indoors in public. Problem is about 1/2 the people ignore it and Sheriff and I think Tucson Police won't enforce the mandate. Governor had earlier passed a declaration or decree or whatever it is called forbidding cities and counties from doing so after they lifted the state mandate. Crazy place we live in.
People can be pretty hostile now about wearing or not wearing a mask. I think it isn't the mask they are really objecting to but the fact some are breaking rules and being disobedient.
Someone not wearing a mask, stay away from them...but some people are bold or stupid enough to engage in trying to make or shame them into compliance.
I started wearing a mask again and ordered some N95 masks. (All KN95 masks are made in China, in case you didn't know...was it FDA or CDC that tested a ton of the KN95 masks and has stated that 70% of them don't meet N95 requirements like they are supposed to be....).
I have my three shots of Moderna.
BTW Terry, our vaccine cards document the location and the vaccine lot number. Same data is logged by state in their vaccine database which I can access for my records.

[Alan F.]

There will be plenty of used Harleys to choose from in 2025. At this point I'm just hoping this will be over by then.

[Terry in Australia]

Yeah I'm hoping that it will have "Disappeared, as if by magic......" by 2025 Alan, I'll still be doing my Route 66 ride regardless, but it'd be nice if we could all be mask-less by then. Interestingly, my niece and her boyfriend have covid, they had the first and second pfizer jabs, but not the booster. They don't feel sick, apparently they felt like they had a mild cold. The rest of my sister's family have had the booster, and are all negative. The boyfriend is a nice kid so he's staying at my sisters, as his sister is about to give birth, so he didn't want to give it to her and the baby.

Yep the CX500 may well come back to life. They were quite popular here back in the day, that relationship to a Moto Guzzi with the engine layout interested a lot of folks, and if you could live with the ugly looks and lack of power, was a nice enough bike to ride. I'm hoping the engine isn't seized and I can get it going again, and sell it on. Spotty pointed out the irony that the hipster who ends up with it will probably cut the frame again, so maybe I'll throw in the cut frame to save him (or her) the effort......

Wet and humid here today so no riding, we'll go pick up the frame and I'll go back to bolting things onto the Z1 frame. It's going a lot slower than some of my previous builds, but that's OK as I'm waiting for a few things before I can ride it anyway.

[grcamna2]

You're making progress Terry:have you ridden your T500 lately ?

[Terry in Australia]

No Bill, the two Suzuki's are tucked away in the garage and won't be coming out until the Z1-B is done. The smaller T500 front sprocket that either you or Alan linked me to arrived yesterday along with an OEM front brake and clutch cables arrived yesterday to replace the "pre-stretched" repros that I don't like much, so I'm just waiting on the new OEM speedo to arrive from Holland and I'll think about taking it in for a Roadworthy inspection, the first phase of legally putting it back on the road. I'm hoping the Titan Performance pipes pass inspection, if they don't I might be in trouble....

[Terry in Australia]

Well I came home from my 130 mile pie run on the mighty K0, and once I'd changed into shorts and a T shirt, decided to sort out the electrics on the Z1. I had to remove the charging system from a KZ1000 plate, which is the reverse of the Z1-B, then lengthen some wires to make it all work, but I'm pretty confidant that I've gotten it right. Well, there may be one wire not needed, but I'll double check it against a pic of a Z1 electrical panel first. I do have to say how neat the electrical panel on a Kawasaki looks compared to Honda's efforts, I like those big multi pin plugs, they make a lot of sense to me.

Z1 Sunday 9 Jan 2022 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[MauiK3]

Will you be putting an oil cooler on it?

[grcamna2]

Well I came home from my 130 mile pie run on the mighty K0, and once I'd changed into shorts and a T shirt, decided to sort out the electrics on the Z1. I had to remove the charging system from a KZ1000 plate, which is the reverse of the Z1-B, then lengthen some wires to make it all work, but I'm pretty confidant that I've gotten it right. Well, there may be one wire not needed, but I'll double check it against a pic of a Z1 electrical panel first. I do have to say how neat the electrical panel on a Kawasaki looks compared to Honda's efforts, I like those big multi pin plugs, they make a lot of sense to me.

Z1 Sunday 9 Jan 2022 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Heavy duty 

[Terry in Australia]

Will you be putting an oil cooler on it?

Yes Steve, both engines (the 1428cc Arias engine and the 1100cc Moriwaki engine) have oil cooler fittings, and I have some new cooler radiators in a box in the garage, or at least one good used Lockhart hanging up.

[spotty]

 in a box in the garage........

 

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, I just read Spotty's "I blame Terry" line, and it's true, I am a bad influence......

[BenelliSEI]

Ha ha, I just read Spotty's "I blame Terry" line, and it's true, I am a bad influence......

We should all add that tag line!

[Terry in Australia]

Well I'm starting to run out of excuses, it's all getting very close.

Z1 Tuesday 11 Jan 2022 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I kind of ran out of things to do on the frame before the engine can go back in, so installed the oil pump and sump pan on the engine, plus the ignition case and cover. I squirted some oil down the spark plug holes and onto the cam lobes and bearings, and cranked the engine over, and it all seems good. I thought I had an issue with valve clearances 2 years ago, but they all seem pretty close to where they're supposed to be. I didn't have a rear sprocket or a good clutch lever so I ordered 2 new sprockets (I have a new chain in a box) and a lever. I took the kick starter pedal off the Arias engine and put it on the Z1 engine as I couldn't remember if I've ever kicked it over, and was happy that it feels fine.

Z1 Tuesday 11 Jan 2022 5 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I'm waiting on all new engine mounting bolts, the sprockets, the front brakes, and the battery. Hopefully they won't be too much longer.   

I do have a thing for Japanese girls with short skirts........

Z1 Tuesday 11 Jan 2022 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[grcamna2]

Hi Terry,I'm looking forward to hear that big engine run.
Did you have any progress on parts deliveries yet ?

[Terry in Australia]

Well I'm glad you asked Bill, to cut a long story short, news at 11!

I've been meaning to post my progress over the last few nights, but what with returning to work (even though I'm working from home) and working up to 9pm to get this thing done, I've been too tired to post anything. I lifted the 90 Kg (200 pound) engine off the bench and shoved it into the frame on my own on Saturday, Spotty dropped by on Friday and offered to help me lift it in, but it was a spur of the moment decision, I'd checked my cam timing and coated the cams with assembly lube, installed the oil pump and sump pan, installed a new 15 T 630 front sprocket to match the 35T sucker on the back, removed the exhaust studs, and after that I kind of ran out of excuses, so I put the bike on the centre stand, put my gloves on picked up that heavy lump and shoved it into the frame. I was actually surprised at how easy it was.

Z1 Saturday 15 Jan 2022 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I filled it with some fancy schmancy Penrite 10-40 semi synthetic motorcycle oil and a new K&N (no expense spared) filter and cranked it over yesterday to see if the Honda CB750 starter motor would crank the engine. (which it does fine) Today I went to the gas station and bought some fresh 98 RON gas and a sandwich (I know, I'm weird, but I love the sandwiches from my local 7/11) and as soon as I'd finished work tonight I jury rigged a temporary tank and poured in some fuel, pulled the choke, hit the button, and it fired right up!

The smoke was from all the oil I squirted down the bores, but it dissipated after a few minutes. The vid doesn't really capture how raw this engine is, it sounds just like the original dragbike did, and for good reason, it has the Moriwaki 1100cc pistons, cylinders, and cams from the original dragbike. (refer page 1) That thing was a wild ride, kickstart only with no electrics, so this bike is luxurious with an electric leg (from my tub of CB750 starters) and an alternator, so I'll be able to ride further than just the volts in the battery will allow. I've also connected up most of the wiring, so apart from the horn and headlight not working (no power going to them?) everything else is working.

As mentioned in the vid, I still haven't seen hide nor hair of the reconditioned front brake calipers, lines, splitter and MC, but hopefully they're in Australia, and I'll see them soon. I did connect up my back brake and bolted on my footpegs tonight, so along with my new seat, I was able to sit on my own Z1-B for the very first time, which made me smile. Like a lot of stuff I was able to buy rather than all repro, was a re-chromed original brake pedal and linkages.

Z1 Tuesday 18 Jan 2022 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I roughly "modified" my sidecovers to fit around the K&N pods. I don't want to chop up my nice new painted ones, so these ones will have to do. Personally, I quite like them. More tomorrow.

Z1 Tuesday 18 Jan 2022 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[ekpent]

 Was that "1100" side cover badge/decal supplied with the big bore kit when it was purchased ? Hopefully the rest of the stuff shows up so we can get a ride report !

[BenelliSEI]

Looking very good!

[RAFster122s]

Did you miss a lobe on the cam shaft to the left? Non-symmetrical application of assembly lube.

[MauiK3]

Looks great, what a beast!

[Kelly E]

Did you miss a lobe on the cam shaft to the left? Non-symmetrical application of assembly lube.

The cam on the right has the tach drive gear.

[RAFster122s]

Thanks Kelly.

[Terry in Australia]

Was that "1100" side cover badge/decal supplied with the big bore kit when it was purchased ? Hopefully the rest of the stuff shows up so we can get a ride report !

Thanks Eric, no, I bought those from a seller in the US in 2020, because they looked cool in the same script as the OEM badges. Interestingly, the engine got a bit hot after I took that vid, and wouldn’t start. I checked the Dyna 2000 ignition and it was working fine, and it was obviously getting fuel?

I gave up trying to start it and instead fitted the rear brake and footpegs etc. Just before I finished for the day I hit the starter again and it fired right up and ran better than it did in the vid! Weird. I woke up in the middle of the night and had that lightbulb moment. When I built the engine in 2020 I had 2 heads to choose from, one with regular shim valve adjustment and another with “Under bucket” shim conversion. I went with the head with the stock 29mm shims as the other head had some damage from being packed poorly.

I didn’t have any spare shims and when I checked them last week the clearances were much tighter than I would have liked. All that had happened yesterday was that once the engine got hot the valve clearances closed up and the valves weren’t sealing. Once it had cooled down, I had valve clearances again, and the engine fired right up.

I sniped an Ebay auction for a box of 84 shims from Oink Johnson, and coincidentally I’ve just received notice that they’ve arrived at my shipper in Florida. I’m having them sent out via FedEx 3 day shipping (which, from experience will take upwards of a week at least) and as soon as they arrive I’ll be swapping out the shims so I have 4-5 thou clearance on each valve.

I was hoping to have the bike on the road by the end of this month, but it might take a little longer. No biggie, there are several small jobs that I need to sort out before I take it in for a Roadworthy inspection, so probably a good thing, it’ll give me a bit more time to do them properly.

[RAFster122s]

Glad you figured out the issue. What I can see looks good
Keep up the good work, soldier on...

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks David, yep the wait for the remaining parts will give me ample time to tidy up a few things. When I'm this close to finishing a project I'm often tempted to cut a few corners, which occasionally come back to bite me.

With plenty of time on my hands I'll tidy up my wiring, get the headlight and horn working, install an oil cooler, finish trimming the sidecovers to fit the K&N pods, sort the speedo drive, properly mount the Dyna 2000 ignition control box to insulate it from vibration, adjust the clutch, and sort the speedo drive. Lots of little jobs, but that's OK, all the hard work is over.