Author Topic: Maui Z1 1973 (Read 50203 times)

RAFster122s · « **Reply #75 on:** July 13, 2021, 07:22:57 PM »

Have you followed the brown with white compound?
That is the usual method for polishing aluminum…
But, if you have the effect you want, then leave it as is…

seanbarney41 · « **Reply #76 on:** July 13, 2021, 07:30:24 PM »

I do agree that Kawi aluminum polishes somewhat different than Honda...slightly different alloy? harder? softer? I don't know but I also have noticed a difference

ken65 · « **Reply #77 on:** July 13, 2021, 07:55:52 PM »

l've only polished 1 kawasaki from late 73 and thought it polished easier than yam and honda. Weird.

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #78 on:** July 13, 2021, 09:03:58 PM »

Quote from: ken65 on July 13, 2021, 07:55:52 PM

l've only polished 1 kawasaki from late 73 and thought it polished easier than yam and honda. Weird.

Yep, the Kawasaki alloy engine covers come up really well normally, I bought a used set from an Ebay seller in the US for my Z1-B and was impressed with how shiny they are? I've got some chromed ones for my 1428 engine too, but they might be after market because they're much lighter than the OEM covers I have.

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #79 on:** July 13, 2021, 09:28:41 PM »

Quote from: ekpent on July 13, 2021, 08:10:34 AM

My buddies 74 Z1A I store for him has had the higher comp 1015 I think big bore kit in it for many many years and has been driven hard and never burned up or had any problems. Sean was down at my shop once when we were going to start the beast but the battery was low. I tried prodding the kickstart with my wrong foot (left foot standing on right side) and the #$%* fired a little and kicked back so hard my foot/ankle was messed up for a half of summer ! OH THE PAIN
As seen in the pic he is a shorter more rotund fella and loves the King/Queen seats to keep him planted under hard acceleration. Somebody out there likes them.

Is that your buddy, or Sean Eric? That's a nice looking Z1-A! (apart from the seat, obviously) My 1428 engine was originally an 1100cc Moriwaki drag bike engine when I bought it, and the previous owner was an idiot. He'd installed a GPZ1100 head on it, and rather than buying the APE camchain top guide sprocket he "shortened" the chain by threading it through the OEM camchain tensioner assembly, so after I bruised the sh1t out of my right foot kick starting it, (no electric starter) I decided to pull it apart to rebuild it, and install another crank with and end on it so I could mount a starter clutch and an alternator, and I was very lucky I did, I reckon one more start would have been enough for the camchain to saw it's way through the last mm's of the camchain adjuster's sheet metal body and then, with no tension on the overly long chain, the chain would have no incentive to stay in contact with the cam sprockets and spectacular devastation would have ensued.

I really must get off my arse and finish putting both of those bikes back together, I got sidetracked first with the F2, then the K0, the K2 Bitsa's engine rebuild and the Suzuki T350 build. Hmmnn, maybe I'll wait until the weather's a bit warmer.........

seanbarney41 · « **Reply #80 on:** July 14, 2021, 01:51:27 AM »

Ha ha Terry, that is not me!

ekpent · « **Reply #81 on:** July 14, 2021, 06:13:40 AM »

His name is Art and he was a lifelong long heavy diesel mechanic at a dealership till all the heavy work took his shoulders out Terry. Always a good idea to have a tooled up mechanic as a good friend !!

He has owned the Kaw for close to 40 + years and we put on a lot of miles together in our younger years. He has switched over to fast muscle cars now in his golden years

While were on the topic here is my Z1B I picked up for a very fair price on August 31st of 2014. Even though its been suggested I do not have any plans right now to restore it. It runs well and everything works. If I sell it I think I would make as much actual profit as is then putting in a lot of money and time making it 'new' again. Plus I am not really into doing really high end resto's. I like to find original paint bikes when I can and keep them as stock and original as possible and let new owners someday take them to the next level if they want to.

seanbarney41 · « **Reply #82 on:** July 14, 2021, 08:20:18 AM »

But Eric, all that bike needs is either new paint or a nice body set, pipes and some detailing.

MauiK3 · « **Reply #83 on:** July 14, 2021, 08:26:41 AM »

I'll have another go at polishing the parts, I have a larger wheel I'll set up and put some more work into it, maybe they'll come up a little higher.

craz1 · « **Reply #84 on:** July 14, 2021, 02:44:21 PM »

Jeff's company offers these at a very good price but looks like it is out of stock...

https://www.z1enterprises.com/bodywork-z1-painted-1973-brown-orange.html?fits-motorcycle=Kawasaki%2FZ1%2Fall-models%2F1973

https://www.z1enterprises.com/z1-kz900-replica-4-4-exhaust-system.html?fits-motorcycle=Kawasaki%2FZ1%2Fall-models%2F1973

Back in the late 70's/early 80's, a lot of guys wanted cruiser bikes with a lowered rear end, hence the popular 16" wheel.
[/quote]

Nice find on the Oct 72 bike. I also have a 10/72 along with a 74 and two 75 Z1's. Im in the process of rebuilding my friends late 73 which has needed a lot of work. It had 73,000 miles and was in horrible shape.
For your information Jeff has not owned Z1 Enterprises for quite sometime. It's owned by the same group that owns Mikes XS650, Dime City Cycle and several others. Z1E still has some of the best prices and selection for the bike. My 10/72 is about 99% original and my 74 is all original. The other bikes have some repo parts. The repos are actually pretty nice. I would tend to rechrome but the prices are getting ridiculous.

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #85 on:** July 14, 2021, 05:46:47 PM »

Quote from: ekpent on July 14, 2021, 06:13:40 AM

His name is Art and he was a lifelong long heavy diesel mechanic at a dealership till all the heavy work took his shoulders out Terry. Always a good idea to have a tooled up mechanic as a good friend !! He has owned the Kaw for close to 40 + years and we put on a lot of miles together in our younger years. He has switched over to fast muscle cars now in his golden years
While were on the topic here is my Z1B I picked up for a very fair price on August 31st of 2014. Even though its been suggested I do not have any plans right now to restore it. It runs well and everything works. If I sell it I think I would make as much actual profit as is then putting in a lot of money and time making it 'new' again. Plus I am not really into doing really high end resto's. I like to find original paint bikes when I can and keep them as stock and original as possible and let new owners someday take them to the next level if they want to.

To be honest Eric, I like that bike a lot more than I do "factory original" restorations, your bike looks tough, and if it was mine, I'd leave it just like that too. Steve's '72 needs to be restored as it's a very rare bike, but yours looks great as is.

I didn't have a choice with bodywork for mine, I had to buy the repro stuff because I'm building mine from a bare Z1-B Ebay frame and a set of bare cases I bought that are within the numbers range for my frame, so it was easier for me to buy a painted set of repro "tins" than try to find good original OEM parts. My bike won't be original anyway with it's hotrod 1100cc engine, and Delkevic pipe, I just hope it looks as tough as your bike!

I thought Jeff had sold Z1 Enterprises, he just confused me with his avatar.

MauiK3 · « **Reply #86 on:** July 14, 2021, 06:33:16 PM »

The Z1 site now seems to be teamed up with Dime City, Randakks, MikesSXS.
On another note, when I did my K3 I found a source for those little wire circles on fuel line, vent line, etc. at great prices. I can't remember where I got them and i can't find my extras, at least I thought I had extras.
EBay wants over $6 us for those little buggers, anyone have a suggestion?

Did some more polishing today, I'll post photo later when I shrink it. I took the sprocket cover off and worked on it.

MauiK3 · « **Reply #87 on:** July 14, 2021, 09:26:20 PM »

I removed the sprocket cover to give it a polish, I think I’m improving.
I’m going to try to determine what o rings go in the chain oiler pump so I can refresh it. The parts book does not have the info.

grcamna2 · « **Reply #88 on:** July 14, 2021, 09:58:19 PM »

subscribed

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #89 on:** July 14, 2021, 10:19:23 PM »

Gotta love Kawasaki's chain oiler, they realised that they didn't need it and discontinued it by the time the Z1-B was released, which is a pity as I would have liked one.

ekpent · « **Reply #90 on:** July 15, 2021, 06:06:41 AM »

Quote from: MauiK3 on July 14, 2021, 09:26:20 PM

I removed the sprocket cover to give it a polish, I think I’m improving.
I’m going to try to determine what o rings go in the chain oiler pump so I can refresh it. The parts book does not have the info.

Does your still have the oil tank ? That would be a bonus. If your get super hard up for some of the cb750 wire clips for stock fuel lines I probably have some kicking around here as I don't use them with the line I replace with.

Jeff.Saunders · « **Reply #91 on:** July 15, 2021, 07:16:25 AM »

Quote from: Terry in Australia on July 14, 2021, 05:46:47 PM

I thought Jeff had sold Z1 Enterprises, he just confused me with his avatar.

The ownership changed hands 5 years ago. I stay involved as a consultant working from home - sourcing parts and handling arrangements with overseas suppliers.

Over the next couple of years, I'll gradually fade out of the picture as I move more into retirement now I'm 65+ years old.

Jeff.Saunders · « **Reply #92 on:** July 15, 2021, 07:38:07 AM »

Quote from: ekpent on July 15, 2021, 06:06:41 AM

Quote from: MauiK3 on July 14, 2021, 09:26:20 PM
I removed the sprocket cover to give it a polish, I think I’m improving.
I’m going to try to determine what o rings go in the chain oiler pump so I can refresh it. The parts book does not have the info.
Does your still have the oil tank ? That would be a bonus. If your get super hard up for some of the cb750 wire clips for stock fuel lines I probably have some kicking around here as I don't use them with the line I replace with.

Chain technology changed - the advent of O-ring chains eliminated the need for that messy chain oiler. It was an interesting approach - Kawasaki adapted the 2-stroke oil pump for the chain oiler pump.

The Z1 has a number of innovations / differences to the SOHC Hondas.

- Cam Bearings.... even today that's a rarity with motorcycles.
- Jack bolt holes in the engine cases that you thread bolts into to split the cases.
- straight cut gears from the crank to clutch to transmission. No nasty primary chains.
- over-engineered to a staggering degree - there's not many bikes you can punch out from 900cc to 1500cc - and still run stock rods.

MauiK3 · « **Reply #93 on:** July 15, 2021, 08:07:33 AM »

Yes, I have the oil tank too. I'm going to put it all back on but I may have it turned off and just lube the chain myself since we don't do big miles here on small Maui. I also won't be slogging through rain storms.
It has 630 o ring chain and I'll likely revert to standard 630 chain and sprockets to eliminate the contact with the chain guard, the chain damaged the guard which I'll try to save.
Yes, this looks like an over engineered motor to say the least, it's fun to slowly explore it and discover things. I really have to figure out what I'll use to compress a video once I get it running.
Z1 just answered my question about chain and sprockets, their answer was great, I was a little confused with all the options. There is even a conversion to 530 chain option that I've seen. That seems like a bad idea with the size of the engine.

Jeff.Saunders · « **Reply #94 on:** July 15, 2021, 09:35:49 AM »

530 chain has plenty of benefits, and really no negatives. New generation chains are excellent. The top sport bikes sold over the past 20 years use 530 or 525 chain.

- 530 is slightly lighter than the 630 chain
- Comparable strength - even better strength is you go premium XW chai
- much more available. You can find 530 chain at most motorcycle shops. 630 chain you won't. 630 chain is no longer used on any production bikes. I think the last bike using it was the 2000 KZ1000 police bike - but other than those cop bikes, nothing's used 630 since the middle 1980's.

One advantage of using 630 non O-ring, you can get the front and rear sprockets to align perfectly. When Kawasaki first switched to O-ring chain, they had a raised boss on the back of the front sprocket to move the wider chain away from the transmission cover - and put a spacer behind the rear sprocket. Kawasaki continued to do this for a year or more before eventually changing the sprocket carrier sprocket mount to be offset about 1/8".

MauiK3 · « **Reply #95 on:** July 15, 2021, 02:37:03 PM »

Ok, that’s good news. If I go 530 I need to find correct sprockets, chain and spacers to align everything. I’ll do some looking into that, the 630 chain is pretty bulky stuff, I agree. Thank you for the help.

Stev-o · « **Reply #96 on:** July 15, 2021, 03:34:54 PM »

Quote from: MauiK3 on July 15, 2021, 02:37:03 PM

...the 630 chain is pretty bulky stuff, I agree.

Hey Steve....I saw no need to change to the 530 chain, I kinda like the look of the bigger chain.

ekpent · « **Reply #97 on:** July 15, 2021, 04:49:31 PM »

Your getting to the stage as to how original to the year and model do you want to be. In a perfect stock resto it may need the 630. If it was a rider the 530 would be more practical. So many decisions down the road depending on har far you want to take this thing.
If you owned the bike Jeff how close to stock factory would you take this early example and do some more modern mods like the chain etc.effect the value much at the end in your opinion ?

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #98 on:** July 15, 2021, 07:03:13 PM »

Yep, for a daily rider like our Z1-B's, a new 530 chain is the smarter alternative as a modern 530 chain can handle up to 200 BHP nowadays, but the 1972 "Holy Grail" Z1 needs to be a nuts and bolts original bike, including the heavy power-robbing 630 chain that it rolled off the showroom floor with.

MauiK3 · « **Reply #99 on:** July 15, 2021, 07:14:19 PM »

Yikes, so many considerations. I see the point of staying 630. This bike really can’t be totally stock if only because I have a bashed in original tank that’s a conversation piece. Also, the stock shocks are shot so do I get the stock reproduction shocks that are likely not very good or do I get Hagons?
I’m also facing the fastener question. Not many are original or very usable.
More to come.

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Author Topic: Maui Z1 1973 (Read 50203 times)

ken65