Topic: What did you do to your non-SOHC4 motorcycle today?

[BenelliSEI]

Cliff…. looks great! What’s it need?

[Terry in Australia]

Yay, it's alive! After 4 Saturdays and 1 Sunday of tinkering with the 1981 Kawasaki GPZ1100, we finally got it going yesterday. The process involved the usual carb strip and ultrasonic clean, oil and filter change, checking valve clearances and replacing 7 of the 8 valve shims, including having to buy some custom shims because the Kawasaki dealership doesn't sell parts for bikes as old as mine, then after discovering that cylinders 1 and 2 had zero compression due to a blown head gasket, modifying a KZ1000 copper head gasket (boring the cylinder holes out from 70 - 73mm) because, once again, parts were N/A locally.

There was also a lot of head scratching along the way. The head gasket was blown between cylinders 1 and 2, hence, no compression. While I've seen that before with cars, I can't remember seeing it on a bike, so my assumption (never assume, etc etc) was that I had a couple of burned valves, but luckily, it just needed a head gasket. The cam timing needs to be spot on, and as we discovered yesterday, if the intake cam is slightly retarded, not as much air is drawn into the cylinders to give a good compression number, so it took a couple of goes to get the timing right, but eventually, we got it right.

We had to replace a lot of scabby looking bolts, install one helicoil in the head after one of the cam saddle bolts snapped (thank God for left handed drill bits..) and replace one electrical connector so far, but the smokey (as a result of soaking the pistons in ATF/liquid carb clean, plus oil sprayed down each cylinder, oil mixed with gas in the tank, plus carb cleaner in the gas) first start, made us both very happy. Still have lots of work to go (tyres, brakes, etc) before we can ride it, but it should be on the road by Spring, and just in time for some nice weather. I was so thrilled I immediately ordered a new Delkevic exhaust system!

[Kelly E]

Nice job!
Delkevik's sound awesome on Kawasaki's.

[spotty]

Hit the carbs on the VMAX, they stopped pumping petrol out so that's fixed then
There was a pile of stuff on the bench, rearranged it and new idea for the digger build.

[spotty]

Further to above, to go with the katana fairing should I convert the matching dash to full digital display

[BallAquatics]

Pulled the side cover on the 70 SL175 for a look see and to clean out the oil filter.  Looks like the PO didn't know how to remove the cover on the oil filter and wrecked it trying to pry it off...



Looks like I'll be tracking down one of these.  Luckily, the part is used on the 160, 175, and 200 line covering many models.  I'm pretty sure it will still function with the o-ring in place, but still want to make it right...

[Terry in Australia]

Nice job!
Delkevik's sound awesome on Kawasaki's.

Thanks Kelly, yep, I also have one on my Z1B, they're great systems, as good as anything else out there, and I like that they're available here in Oz, so I'm not paying shipping fees from the US, etc. Hopefully it'll arrive by this weekend, so we can install it.

[Magpie]

John, what does the Bonnie need? Fortunately the motor seems in good condition inside. the outer cases will need polishing, the oil tank and left side cover need painting, lots of small pieces need paint, the wiring certainly needs to be cleaned up, the fenders need painting back to stock like the tank, a stock US market tank came with the bike. The frame should be painted, front forks rebuilt, new spokes as a final touch. Lots of small things to freshen up. As this may be my last build I should do it right. The late 60's and 1970 Bonnies are considered the best of the line and have become iconic. I've had a lot of "nice bike" from my friends that are British bike owners and they will be watching. Cliff.

[grcamna2]

John, what does the Bonnie need? Fortunately the motor seems in good condition inside. the outer cases will need polishing, the oil tank and left side cover need painting, lots of small pieces need paint, the wiring certainly needs to be cleaned up, the fenders need painting back to stock like the tank, a stock US market tank came with the bike. The frame should be painted, front forks rebuilt, new spokes as a final touch. Lots of small things to freshen up. As this may be my last build I should do it right. The late 60's and 1970 Bonnies are considered the best of the line and have become iconic. I've had a lot of "nice bike" from my friends that are British bike owners and they will be watching. Cliff.

CLASSIC ! 

[BallAquatics]

Wiped off the dust, gassed her up, and did about 50 spirited miles on twisty state routes.  Been riding other bikes and she had been sitting since late May...

[Stev-o]

John, what does the Bonnie need? Fortunately the motor seems in good condition inside. the outer cases will need polishing, the oil tank and left side cover need painting, lots of small pieces need paint, the wiring certainly needs to be cleaned up, the fenders need painting back to stock like the tank, a stock US market tank came with the bike. The frame should be painted, front forks rebuilt, new spokes as a final touch. Lots of small things to freshen up. As this may be my last build I should do it right. The late 60's and 1970 Bonnies are considered the best of the line and have become iconic. I've had a lot of "nice bike" from my friends that are British bike owners and they will be watching. Cliff.

CLASSIC ! 

Truly a classic.  My brother almost bought one back in the day but ended up with a Kawasaki [that I ended up buying from him]

[grcamna2]

John, what does the Bonnie need? Fortunately the motor seems in good condition inside. the outer cases will need polishing, the oil tank and left side cover need painting, lots of small pieces need paint, the wiring certainly needs to be cleaned up, the fenders need painting back to stock like the tank, a stock US market tank came with the bike. The frame should be painted, front forks rebuilt, new spokes as a final touch. Lots of small things to freshen up. As this may be my last build I should do it right. The late 60's and 1970 Bonnies are considered the best of the line and have become iconic. I've had a lot of "nice bike" from my friends that are British bike owners and they will be watching. Cliff.

CLASSIC ! 

Truly a classic.  My brother almost bought one back in the day but ended up with a Kawasaki [that I ended up buying from him]

A W650 Stev-o ?

[Stev-o]

John, what does the Bonnie need? Fortunately the motor seems in good condition inside. the outer cases will need polishing, the oil tank and left side cover need painting, lots of small pieces need paint, the wiring certainly needs to be cleaned up, the fenders need painting back to stock like the tank, a stock US market tank came with the bike. The frame should be painted, front forks rebuilt, new spokes as a final touch. Lots of small things to freshen up. As this may be my last build I should do it right. The late 60's and 1970 Bonnies are considered the best of the line and have become iconic. I've had a lot of "nice bike" from my friends that are British bike owners and they will be watching. Cliff.

CLASSIC ! 

Truly a classic.  My brother almost bought one back in the day but ended up with a Kawasaki [that I ended up buying from him]

A W650 Stev-o ?

No, a '78 KZ 1000 Ltd.  Great bike...

[grcamna2]

John, what does the Bonnie need? Fortunately the motor seems in good condition inside. the outer cases will need polishing, the oil tank and left side cover need painting, lots of small pieces need paint, the wiring certainly needs to be cleaned up, the fenders need painting back to stock like the tank, a stock US market tank came with the bike. The frame should be painted, front forks rebuilt, new spokes as a final touch. Lots of small things to freshen up. As this may be my last build I should do it right. The late 60's and 1970 Bonnies are considered the best of the line and have become iconic. I've had a lot of "nice bike" from my friends that are British bike owners and they will be watching. Cliff.

CLASSIC ! 

Truly a classic.  My brother almost bought one back in the day but ended up with a Kawasaki [that I ended up buying from him]

A W650 Stev-o ?

No, a '78 KZ 1000 Ltd.  Great bike...

Similar to the one Kelly E has posted in the past ?
He also has a KZ1000 LTD.

[Magpie]

Started on cleaning up the wiring with a new harness.

[Terry in Australia]

The GPZ1100 is coming along nicely. Spotty and I replaced the wheels with new Stinko 712 tyres fitted, then cleaned and reinstalled all 3 brake calipers, and bled them, and installed a new Delkevic exhaust. On Saturday we ditched the troublesome CV carbs, and replaced them with a set of 33mm Mikuni smoothbore carbs that I had in a tub in my garage, along with K&N pods.

We turned the fuel on, and disaster, fuel dripping out everywhere! Fark! After a little head scratching, we realised that the jet removal plugs in the float bowls were all loose! We tightened them up, put the choke on, and hit the button. VAROOM! Yay! Before I can go get a Roadworthy Inspection certificate we need to sort out the wiring, which is disgusting, with bare wires just twitched together, multiple loose wires that don't seem to go anywhere, and so far we haven't even found a fuse box. Obviously someone had to do some temporary wire joining to convert the wiring to delete the digital fuel injection (DFI) but it's almost like they got the bike running with the CV carbs, and didn't bother to go back and permanently clean up the wiring.

Anyway, we're around 2/3 of the way to getting it ready for long reliable rides, and I think it's going to be a rocket. We'll see.

[grcamna2]

The GPZ1100 is coming along nicely. Spotty and I replaced the wheels with new Stinko 712 tyres fitted, then cleaned and reinstalled all 3 brake calipers, and bled them, and installed a new Delkevic exhaust. On Saturday we ditched the troublesome CV carbs, and replaced them with a set of 33mm Mikuni smoothbore carbs that I had in a tub in my garage, along with K&N pods.

We turned the fuel on, and disaster, fuel dripping out everywhere! Fark! After a little head scratching, we realised that the jet removal plugs in the float bowls were all loose! We tightened them up, put the choke on, and hit the button. VAROOM! Yay! Before I can go get a Roadworthy Inspection certificate we need to sort out the wiring, which is disgusting, with bare wires just twitched together, multiple loose wires that don't seem to go anywhere, and so far we haven't even found a fuse box. Obviously someone had to do some temporary wire joining to convert the wiring to delete the digital fuel injection (DFI) but it's almost like they got the bike running with the CV carbs, and didn't bother to go back and permanently clean up the wiring.

Anyway, we're around 2/3 of the way to getting it ready for long reliable rides, and I think it's going to be a rocket. We'll see.

Terry, was there a model/year GPZ1100 that came with carbs;possibly buy a good,used(or repro?)main wiring harness and use it to replace the butchered one you have on there ?

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Bill, if it wasn't for the Kawasaki ignition I'd scrap the lot and install a Z1 or KZ1000 harness, but to my knowledge none of the later GPZ1100's were carbed, although I think the 1990's GPZ900/750's had carbs, but they were also water cooled and were much different from mine.

Today was icy (for Australia) cold and overcast. A job I've been putting off was stripping off mm's thick paint on my 2013 Harley 103 Dyna that I bought for peanuts back in March. A previous owner thought it a good idea to sand back everything including the chrome and slop several gallons (or so it seems) of various colours of paint all over everything, wheels, frame, engine, wiring, cables, you name it, it's covered in crap.

Spotty and I had a go at it back then with paint stripper, but it was too warm, and it just dried on the paint, so we basically gave up on it and moved on to other bikes.

Dyna Monday 18 August 2025 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Today was perfect paint stripping weather, cold and miserable, so I took the bike cover off it, and began. I sprayed paint stripper all over the engine, then left it for an hour or so.

Dyna Monday 18 August 2025 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I then hit it with my pressure washer, but surprisingly, that wasn't really the best method of moving the crud, so I dried it with compressed air, sprayed another nice wet coat of stripper on, and this time, after an hour or so, I used a little wire brush to really get into the nooks and crannies, then I power washed it. Much better result this time.

Dyna Monday 18 August 2025 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I'm not going to bother stripping the paint off the frame, as it'll get bead blasted once I've welded the rear section on, as the same dumb sh1t who got all artsy with his house paint cut the rear frame section right off, and I had to buy a section off a bery nice Hells Angel who came to my rescue when I needed some parts. Tomorrow I guess I'll turn the bike around and do the other side. Good news is that the engine isn't seized, I pulled the plugs and put it in gear and rolled it back and forth with some WD40 sprayed into each cylinder, and the engine happily turned over, so that's great news.

This thing had wiring harnesses an inch thick for all of the electronic wizz-bangery (EFI, ignition, ABS etc) but I'm going back to bare bones, a home made harness (or maybe an early Sportster harness) with a carb (probably a HSR48 Mikuni) and a Dyna electronic ignition, and none of that other crap. Wish me luck.....

[BenelliSEI]

Terry….. you are a glutton for punishment. I think I would have walked on by……

[Terry in Australia]

Terry….. you are a glutton for punishment. I think I would have walked on by……

Ha ha, yes mate, most normal people would, but I’ve never been accused of being normal. The “carrot” for me was a late model Harley big twin for $1800 (AUD, about $1170 USD) which is about 1/8 of the price of a nice clean unmolested 103 Dyna here.

Harley people love their bling, so I scored lots of OEM “takeoffs” for cheap, plus some new, unused OEM parts left over from other folk’s projects. So far it owes me less than $3500, $2350 USD) and apart from another $1K or so converting it to carb/Dyna ignition, with luck it’ll cost less than half the price of a good used one. I’m building it for me, so not looking to flip it for a profit, it’s just another labour of love, like all my bikes. Maybe I should start a build thread?

[ofreen]

Maybe I should start a build thread?

Either that or put it here.  I'll follow along either way.  I'd go find an Evo project myself if I didn't already have too many projects.

[MauiK3]

Oh my, I see many hours of love being needed on that one! I'll follow too! Yikes!!!!!!

[grcamna2]

Terry….. you are a glutton for punishment. I think I would have walked on by……

Ha ha, yes mate, most normal people would, but I’ve never been accused of being normal. The “carrot” for me was a late model Harley big twin for $1800 (AUD, about $1170 USD) which is about 1/8 of the price of a nice clean unmolested 103 Dyna here.

Harley people love their bling, so I scored lots of OEM “takeoffs” for cheap, plus some new, unused OEM parts left over from other folk’s projects. So far it owes me less than $3500, $2350 USD) and apart from another $1K or so converting it to carb/Dyna ignition, with luck it’ll cost less than half the price of a good used one. I’m building it for me, so not looking to flip it for a profit, it’s just another labour of love, like all my bikes. Maybe I should start a build thread?

Labour Intensive Project.   

[Magpie]

The tear down begins. New wiring harness has arrived, package of a bunch of small stuff should arrive today.
Next, pull the motor out of the frame.

[jas67]

I dug into the carbs of my recently-purchased CB450K1 to see why it was running poorly.   Long store short, the floats were not properly set.   They were at 25mm, spec is 20mm.  That results in 5mm too low fuel level int he bowls, causing lean running.

She's running very well now!