Kawasaki ZZR600 progress thread

Valve cover finally cleaned up and fitted. Before:

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After:

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Wanted it a lot better but I've already spent about 6 hours on it and it looks good enough.

And back on the bike again, starting to look like a motorcycle again:

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Also had some more stuff delivered:

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It's quite bad how dirty some of the bits are. This is the air flow shroud for the rad before and after cleaning and refitting:

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Also emptied the tank and filled it with vinegarto start chewing away at the rust.

I then started looking at rebuilding the carbs, and noticed that one of the needle jets has been chewed up by the ultrasonic cleaner:

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Naturally I can't find these anywhere, so I've had to spend another £120 on a complete carb rebuild kit which contains four of them. Gutted, means I can't finish the carbs this weekend.
 
I found some more old pics of me and my ZZR600 from around 1994. I stuck them in my post at the beginning of the thread to avoid cluttering your thread up (which I'm enjoying by the way).
 
Rilot said:
I found some more old pics of me and my ZZR600 from around 1994. I stuck them in my post at the beginning of the thread to avoid cluttering your thread up (which I'm enjoying by the way).
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Such cool photos :D

I'm wondering why I didn't do a little YouTube series on it tbh.
 
Gave the tank a good slosh after work today and the rust is literally floating in the vinegar, couldn't believe it. Will leave it until the weekend before draining, but it's quite alarming how effective the vinegar is.

Also, the carb rebuild kit turned up today, and I'm really glad I got it. The quality vs. the Aliexpress stuff is night and day, I reckon most of the Aliexpress bits will end up in the bin. Of course the irony of this one being made in China isn't lost on me.

If all goes well I should have the carbs back on this weekend, and maybe even the tank. Then it's time to give it a start and see what happens :D

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Good luck balancing a 4 cylinder bike with 4 rebuilt carbs. It’ll be like trying to pleasure 4 women simultaneously with two hands and your mouth. I guarantee you will use your mouth.

It gets easier once warmed up a bit but going from a cold start is quite the challenge. Good luck!
 
Diddums said:
Gave the tank a good slosh after work today and the rust is literally floating in the vinegar, couldn't believe it. Will leave it until the weekend before draining, but it's quite alarming how effective the vinegar is.
Click to expand...
Literally one of the first things to do when buying an old unused bike.
The problems and false diagnosis tiny specs of rust can cause is enough to drive anyone completely mental.
 
Scuzi said:
Good luck balancing a 4 cylinder bike with 4 rebuilt carbs. It’ll be like trying to pleasure 4 women simultaneously with two hands and your mouth. I guarantee you will use your mouth.

It gets easier once warmed up a bit but going from a cold start is quite the challenge. Good luck!
Click to expand...

I'm used to trying to kick start knackered old two strokes, I'm sure I'll figure this one out :D

JonRGV250 said:
Literally one of the first things to do when buying an old unused bike.
The problems and false diagnosis tiny specs of rust can cause is enough to drive anyone completely mental.
Click to expand...

Yep, seems to be the consensus. My only concern is getting all the vinegar out and the tank dry before more rust forms, need to look in to ways to do that.
 
ffs, realised last night that I don't have any new diaphragms for the carbs. I ordered some on Sunday but they won't be here until next week earliest. I've found some on ebay and messaged the sellers asking if they can do guaranteed next day delivery, but despite the ad saying "delivery 31st of May-3rd of june" they said "2-3 weeks" in their messages, so they're clearly just dropshipping from China :mad:

Will have a proper look at the existing ones tonight and see if they're salvageable, otherwise it's another week of waiting :rolleyes:
 
Diddums said:
Yep, seems to be the consensus. My only concern is getting all the vinegar out and the tank dry before more rust forms, need to look in to ways to do that.
Click to expand...
Throw a load of IPA (not the beer) in and give it a good slosh around to wash off all the vinegar should then dry pretty quickly once you empty it.
 
Hoping I can still make these work over the weekend. They're a bit deformed from being squashed on a tray full of other carb bits, so I took them out and left them on the shelf like this, hopefully they regain their shape. The rubber itself still feels perfect. We'll see.

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Hoping this makes life a bit easier too, if not I'll be cursing @Scuzi all weekend :D

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Just in case you haven’t had the pleasure yet, I place firing up a bike after rebuilding and balancing carbs up there with the birth of my first son. I can’t explain why but it will satisfy your most primal male instincts. Savour it.
 
Well, if ever there was a cruel reminder of how quickly things can turn, this is it. That jet was absolutely under no conditions coming out, no matter what I tried. Seized solid. Pretty sure the ultrasonic cleaner made it a lot worse. Expensive lesson to learn!

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Ah well, found a new set of bodies in Doncaster for £110, off to pick them up tomorrow. 8h round trip :eek:
 
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