Topic: my FZR 1000 project - cosmetic work now

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks for asking.  Wish I had more to report.  I did find the shutoff valve, but unfortunately there are more gas leaks. 

I've got fuel pouring out both carb overflows (thought it was a stuck float - but they look ok  ) and leaking float bowl gaskets.  It sounds good when running but my fuel mileage leaves something to be desired.

I am lucky to have garage space, but unfortunately it's directly below my youngest daughter's room.  Need to sort out the fuel issues before I blow up my family with the fumes.

FCR carb parts are insane...$15 for a single float bowl gasket.  I just spent a chunk of change on my 400F wheels, so I'll let that blow over before I attack these problems.

If you ever get too sick of that damned money pit, you can send it to me mate!

[tortelvis]

It has roller bearings, not ball and race.

[tsflstb]

Back to it now after flirting with cashing out and buying a newer bike.  I wanted to put it up for sale, so I got it running as best I could and rode it a couple of miles.  I got a taste of the power this thing puts out. I'm hooked.  By the way, that's a 1/4 turn throttle - wish I'd noticed that before I scared myself senseless.

I still need to order some gaskets to stop the fuel leaks and learn how to tune those carbs, but it does start, idle and thankfully shifts like it should.  I had my wife thinking I was buying a new bike and selling this one, so I can make this project seem like a bargain now.

After I get the carbs sorted I need to rip off those forks and see what's going on.  I don't think there's any fluid left in there, and one of the triple clamp bolts is broken off.

It's not the prettiest bike in the raw.  Kinda looks like the air conditioning unit for my house, but faster.

[tsflstb]

Here it is, running and kind of street legal.  As you can see I'm doing a concourse quality restoration using only the finest components.

I used my original 400F turn signals on the rear.  Splurged for a trailer brake light at WalMart ($5.37) - mounted right up using leftover hardware from a ceiling fan.  That and 4 spark plugs ($9.39) amounts to my total investment.  Oh yeah, 4 gallons of premium fuel ($16).  I make sure to inform my wife of the running total on this one.  It brings down my average.

[youtube=425,350]Xbt27-HnSW0[/youtube]

I've been running around the area in short bursts since I don't have tags on it.  There are still a couple flat spots in the carbs, but when it clears up the front end gets very light.  It needs fork seals and front brakes gone over.  Need to e-z out one of the lower fork clamp bolts, but other than that it's in good operating condition.  The tach didn't work in the video, but it did pick up once on the road.

Kinda torn at this point whether to dump more money into it or not.  Might need a few more bursts of full throttle to make up my mind.

[tsflstb]

Thought I'd dig this up again.  I had to sell my BMW because it ran great and was practical, so now I'll focus on this totally ridiculous machine.

Since the last installment it has new tires, fork seals, steering head bearings, rebuilt slave cylinder, rear caliper, I cut the ugly off of the exhaust and will so something with the front breaks and rear subframe soon.  This will probably end up as a streetfighter/track day bike for the bigger places the 400F doesn't go.






Right now I'm attempting to synch the carbs and realized I don't know what I'm doing.  I've used the Morgan Carbtune before, but I don't see a vacuum port anywhere on these Kehin flatslides.  Am I missing something?




I expected a small port down here somewhere.

[DME]

Hey, good to see that FZR is still around 

The holes for the carb sync is located on lower side of the intake spigots (see pic).
Just remove the 6mm allen bolts and attach your carbtune.

Cheers
Dan

[tsflstb]

Aha!  Had to really twist my neck in there but I see them now.  I think we found the cause of some of my carb issues too.  Cylinder #3's allen bolt is missing in action.

Thanks DME.  I'm sure there will be more questions to come.

[tsflstb]

Check that.  The #3 allen plug was in place on the intake spigot.  I know because I stripped it out trying to remove it.  It's buried beneath the thermostat housing and some oil lines.  I'll need a better combination of wobble extensions and luck next time I'm dealing with that little SOB.

Anyway, so I've removed the carbs, thermostat housing, and drained all the coolant.  The bolt came out easy once I could get a socket squarely on it.

Since I've got it all apart I'll probably remove and flush the radiator which leaves pretty good access to the cam cover.  It would be a good time to adjust the valves now too.  Never done a shim-under-bucket valve before, much less 20 of them.  Are there any good tricks to that?

[DME]

I would recommend getting a good workshop manual first.

Otherwise, it goes like this:

Remove cam cover.

Measure clearence on all valves and write them down.

If not within spec, remove camshafts.

Lift up buckets on offending valves and check what the size of the shim underneath is. The shim is marked with numbers that tell the size, if the numbers has worn off you can measure it with a micrometer. Calculate what size shim you need and go see your local dealer.

Also make sure every bucket goes back in the same place it came from!

Installation in reverse order.

[tsflstb]

Thanks again.

Waiting on the manual now...

[tsflstb]

Got the valves adjusted.  I had a bunch of projects to do around the house, so I ended up having a shop do it.  It takes less skill to trim trees and patch the chimney than adjust valves anyway.  The owner used to race a '91 FZR and is pretty good with them.  I think 16 of the 20 valves were tight.

The front brakes were giving me fits, so instead of messing with a rebuild on the stock calipers I went with the R1 brakes.  Found them on Ebay for less than the cost of new brake pads.  I thought they'd bolt right on - I guess they would if the fork lower wasn't in the way.




It took a couple of hours with my trusty hand files to get enough relief for that front piston to clear.  They work great now.



I also flushed the cooling system and installed new hoses.  I've still got to tune the carbs to work in the 1/4 throttle range.  It's hard to say if it's the needle taper or the slow jet sizing that's off.  I think my slow fuel jets might be too large.  I can adjust the fuel screws all the way in and it doesn't affect idle at all.

[cbr-eric]

what a cool old sportbike, and what a freaking SCREAMING deal jsut for the carbs lol!!  I am sure you will have some serious fun when its done!

[tsflstb]

It's still moving forward.  I think I've got it sorted out mechanically now - knock wood.  The carbs are tuned, oil changed, valves adjusted, coolant flushed, subframe bent back to be useful for now, and wiring is at least doing it's job and not shorting out any more.

One big question.  What do you do with all that power?  I've been doing a lot of test rides around the neighborhood and haven't really been above 7K on the tach.  Already lofted a couple of power wheelies. Never had to worry about that on the 400F.  I'm looking forward to a track day in March with this beast.



I've got some very half assed work going on just to get this thing on the road.   Running the stock headlights until I find the right setup.  Used some old ceiling fan hardware to mount a trailer light on the back.   I cut off some of the subframe but am still kicking around a few ideas there.  I should have a Ducati 916 tail on Monday and will see how that looks and what it takes to mount it.  The coolant overflow will get redone and reloacated soon.



I was working on my 400F this weekend too and had the seat off.  It's a Manx Norton replica.  I laid it up on the FZR just to see what it looked like.  It's kind of growing on me.  I also thought about one of those Harley XR750 dirt track type seats.  I need to stare at it a while and drink a few beers to get some inspiration.

[DME]

Hey now, that looks really interesting 

The seat flows really well with the tank and the subframe, and I think it could work out well.
The trick will be to find enough space under the seat to be able to fit the electrics... But it´s doable.

These bikes also benefit from a slight raise of the rear ride height, to sharpen up the somewhat cumbersome steering.
Easiest made by manufacturing new, 5-10mm shorter "dogbones" out 6mm iron flatstock.
Real easy to do as they do not have to have the dogbone silouette, they can be made with straight edges.
Do not go any shorter than 10mm as the rear shock will start to grind on the swinging arm.

There are hundreds of FZR streetfighters (including my own), but I have never seen a FZR1000 caferacer!
Spoked wheels, stock tank zink plated, frame polished or powdercoated black, clipons (stock or older chrome style), big round headlight, that seat you´ve got....

Mmm, looks great in my mind 

Keep up the good work!

Cheers
Dan

[KARamsay]

I like the manx style...

I had a FZR 600 for a few years and a buddy still has a 1000.  They are fun bikes - you got a hell of a deal.   

Lots of info available on the FZR forum: 
http://fzrarchives.com/ 

[tsflstb]

Got a few more things accomplished.  It's registered and inspected for use on the street now so I've taken a few longer rides.  It's running great, but the float bowl gaskets are way beyond shot.  I should have those in this week sometime.  While I'm waiting, I've started with a few cosmetic things...

CB750 headlight:


Relocated ignition switch, shaved down the triple tree and removed speedometer...still need to fabricate an aluminum bracket.  I'll probably get a small digital bicycle speedo to fit in on the left side.


I think I'll just cut down the stock subframe, shorten the seat and add a rear cowl.  Sometimes you use what's on hand.








I need to heat and form this one or find a trash can about 2" larger in diameter for the final version, but this seems like it would work.

[cbr-eric]

that thing must FLY   looking lik eit is getting there

[tsflstb]

Yes, yes it does.

Is there a temporary fix for getting float needles to seal up.  I think the carbs were sealed with mostly old gas varnish until I ran a tankful of SeaFoam through it.  I have float bowl gaskets, but the little rubber tipped needles are on backorder until the 15th of Feb.

I hoped to make a track day on the 14th.  The overflows just pour gas as soon as the fuel pump comes on and I can't even get it fired now.  Float height is correct - floats themselve do "float".  Is there anything else I can do?