Kawasaki ZZR600 progress thread

Diddums

Diddums

Diddums

Caporegime
Joined
24 Oct 2012
Posts
26,765
Location
Yer nan's knickers
So as you will all know, I've got a 1990 ZZR600 on the way. It was bought as a project as I love tinkering with stuff and really need something to do over the summer, so I thought I'd start a thread for my musings and questions.

Resources:
Specs / service stuff / general info
Salvage parts
Wemoto parts
Torque settings - REQUIRES VALIDATION
Haynes Manual - PDF

Keep in mind that this is a 35 year old bike, so I'm keen to keep the costs down as there's almost zero chance I'll recoup any of it, this is very much a learning bike.

On the list to purchase:

(✓ = ordered)
  • Oil ✓
  • Oil filter ✓
  • Spark plugs ✓
  • Fuel filter ✓
  • Air filter ✓
  • Workshop manual ✓
  • Owners manual ✓

Checks to be made and parts ordered if necessary:

  • Chain
  • Sprockets
  • Shock
  • Fork seals
  • Plugs caps
  • HT leads
  • Discs
  • Pads
  • Tyres
  • Caliper refurb kits
  • Carb rebuild kits

Gonna need to learn how to fix up old paint too, any tricks welcome!

EDIT:

Adding in a shopping list, looking for deals however:

Compression tester
Carb balancing kit
Torque wrench
Ultrasonic cleaner
 
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Looking forward to watching this one, I think I enjoy the tinkering more than the riding sometimes :cry:
 
Used to have a ZZR600 in the stable… I’m also looking forward to seeing how this progresses, and to gain some nostalgia
 
This'll be fun! It's nice to see parts that aren't stupid money! If you need specific tools maybe post on here first as some us may be able to lend :).
 
I would highly recommend getting the balancer and also reading up on carbs, they have the potential to be a major pain in the ass.
One of the 1st things I’d do is check inside the fuel tank for any rust, and if there is any get that sorted first.
 
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"Too tired to do anything" quickly turned in to "gotta get home before it gets dark so I can take a few snaps at least" :p

Anyway, she's rough. Like proper rough. Gonna need a lot of love. Here she is in all her glory:

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Good points first:

Chain and sprockets don't look too bad. A thorough clean and relube and I reckon I'll get a few more miles out of them:

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Front discs look almost new, if a bit old. A good scrub and they should be right up there:

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Less-good bits:

Dunno if this is too far gone. I'll have a closer look over the weekend. The meat actually looks decent, just loads of surface rust, of course helped by the fact that the back brake doesn't work, and the exhaust is in the way of the back brake:

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Light rusting in the tank. Will likely have to take it off and give it a good clean:

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On to the cosmetics, this is where it really falls flat. It's an absolute dog. Going to need a ton of work to get it looking decent again. In no specific order, some shots:

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The brake light works, indicators all work, neutral indicator works, it starts. No rear brake, the clutch is almost non-existent. It has no fuel gauge, only a couple of fuel lights which click constantly. I suspect this is a warning sound rather than something wrong, as it stops for the brief few seconds that the engine runs. Vid.

Next up is to check the wheel bearings and tyres. The tyres actually look rather good, but I'll let the manufacturing date be the deciding factor.

Gonna start with a proper scrub on Friday and go from there. Overall the bones are good, but it's tatty and scabby, and very clearly been owned by people who have no idea about this stuff as evidenced by the broken bits on the plastics everywhere. Maybe I'll turn it in to a Mad Max style rat bike or something, we'll see.
 
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Griffo said:
What purpose does that waist band thing serve? And is it metal? Those cracks look weird.
Click to expand...

I *think* it's a frame part that holds the engine in place, however the knackered bits is just plastic trim which screws on to it. I'll see once I start disassembly.

Next jobs are a nice good deep clean, pull the battery and stick it on charge, and remove the tank to fill it with vinegar. Then I can start cleaning properly and evaluating what needs doing.

Question: valve clearances. If I'm pulling the carbs off to clean and eventually reset them, that's half the access to the valves, and as I'm fully intending to learn to do this stuff myself, I'd like to give it a shot. For this I'll need to buy a torque ratchet I'll be borrowing some feeler gauges from @bloodiedathame (just FYI btw :D), and purchasing replacement gaskets and stuff. I've done some googling and it looks like it'll be quite a few hours, but then I'm in no rush so may as well give it a shot. The question is, if the shims need replacing then I need to pull the cams, which is where my confidence will start waning. Anyone done this? How hard is it? Worth a shot, or pay a man?

This is also a shim-over-bucket engine which apparently needs doing twice as often.

Any other tips appreciated, this is the most daunting automotive job I'll ever start so keen to get it right.

Loving learning all this stuff.

Cheers :)


EDIT: @haaammit help me :D
 
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yeah that waist band is cosmetic, and I think it is a nice way to split the fairing, if I remember right you can do the oil filter jsut removing the lower section.

I didn't get into the engine, but for the carbs if you've not got an ultrasonic bath, then depending on the state of things when you get in there I'd probably get a 3rd party to do that first clean up, and with the single exhaust can it'll benefit from aftermarket jets.

For the shims, just take lots of photos as reminders as you go and you should be ok.
 
Allo - when I did the shims on the ZX9 I had the advantage that I had already dropped the engine, so it made working on it much easier. The actual job is easy enough if you are methodical in your approach! Checking the gap is as easy as inserting the feeler gauges and rotating the engine to various points to make sure the valves you're checking are fully closed. You usually do this by looking at the timing marks at the bottom of the cam chain. Note down the gaps and see if they're within spec. Pulling the cams will probably consist of STOPPING AND READING THE PROCEDURE SEVERAL TIMES OVER!!! Then rotate the engine to whatever point it needs to be on the timing marks and note the positions of the cams, then remove the tensioner and remove the camshaft bearing caps and pull the cams out. You can then see the top of the buckets.

I would then get a big piece of cardboard and map out the valves so when you pull the buckets off they can go on the card so they go back in the right place. You'll need to measure the thickness of the current shims then work out what thickness the new ones will need to be - that'll be shown in the haynes manual. Order the new ones, install them, then put it all back together. Like I say it's easy, but daunting at the same time. Be patient and methodical and you'll be ight! Photos photos photos. You'll also need someone to laugh and point.

Re carb cleaning - ultrasonic cleaning is really good for cleaning, but the tiny air passageways will more than likely need chemical cleaning as well (
)

Edit - just had a look a the pdf of the manual and ye, main difference between yours and mine is the camshaft sprocket is in the middle of the shaft, not the end.
 
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Thanks @haaammit . Daunting is certainly the word! Hoping to start work on it this weekend, but as we've now planned in a BBQ on Saturday that means prep on Friday, BBQ on Saturday, lick wounds and clean up on Sunday. I might only be able to play on Monday.

Still, BBQ and beer :p
 
Here's me, on my ZZR600 in around 1994. Check out the phone I'm holding.
Great bike it was. Lobbed it up the road though.

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[edit]Found some more pics of the bike from around the same time.

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We can see the reg in that last shot: G889CLC so I looked it up. Currently SORN. Last MoT was March 2007 when it had done 46,893 miles, I think it was on something like 15k when I lobbed it up the road. I guess someone decided to fix it up.
 
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Had a nice BBQ yesterday, @Hades and @bloodiedathame came over so naturally we had to give it a shot. Put some fuel in it and this was the result:


It will only run on the choke, touch the throttle and it stalls instantly. So work began today:

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Things like this aren't gonna be doing anyone any favours:

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I've sorted all the various screws in to bags with labels to try and keep things organized (gonna order some Ziploc bags for this purpose):

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Anyone know how this tap works?

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Fuel filter didn't look too bad actually:

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This white plug was just hanging loose like this, no idea what it's for, will have to check the wiring schematics:

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Also need to review all the little hoses on the carbs, looks like they've all just been bodged on to whatever opening will take them. The carbs have now been removed and are ready for cleaning, I was very lucky that @bloodiedathame brought me his ultrasonic cleaner yesterday so will bag up the carbs and clean them one by one.

I must say, despite being taught that "Haynes manuals are for crap mechanics", it saved me an immeasurable amount of time due to not having to faff about too much. The access to the engine is generally quite good too, despite it all being quite a compact package. Of course the only screws that are a nightmare to remove are the ones next to the front wheel holding the front fairing on so I'm gonna need to mess about getting those out. It's also quite funny how much of this bike was held together with whatever crap the owners had lying around, I think I pulled out more gutter bolts than actual original bolts. Will definitely be ordering a ton of fasteners.

@Griffo this is the plastic band thingy removed from the fairing, it's actually quite clever as it conceals the screws holding the main fairings on:


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Tomorrow the cleaning begins, provided the weather is decent. And putting together a list of all the stuff I need to order or repair. The plastics have broken lugs and all sorts all over the place so I'll need to get some tough filament for the 3D printer and some fibreglass glues and stuff.
 
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