Kawasaki ZZR600 progress thread

[tom_e]

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!

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

That's dedication to the hobby project

 

[Diddums]

That's dedication to the hobby project

Honestly I've tried controlling the budget as much as I can, but now I'm getting to the point that I just want to try and get it started, so the wallet just got a bit looser. And the wife was like "ah sweet, road trip!".

We'll see what she thinks after 8 hours in the car

 

[Diddums]

Well, 9.5 hours driving, £110, a tank and a half of fuel, and I now have another set of carbs, so the fun can continue tomorrow. Popped in to Matlock Bath on the way home, saw gazillions of bikes. I've now committed to not driving any more this weekend

 

[Diddums]

Finally some actual progress. Carbs all cleaned, completely rebuilt, ready to go back in the bike.

The missing screw is driving me nuts so I'll need to sort that before it goes back in.

Next time sort the tank, rebuild the petrol tap, start reassembling it all, chuck some fuel in it and see what happens


That brings the total cost of ownership so far to £1353.

 

[haaammit]

Do you know where the takeoffs for the vacuum lines for balancing are? I had to take the carbs off the 9 to get to mine, yours might be equally hidden when the bodies go back on!!

Edit - that doesn't look too bad at all!

 

[Diddums]

Do you know where the takeoffs for the vacuum lines for balancing are? I had to take the carbs off the 9 to get to mine, yours might be equally hidden when the bodies go back on!!

Edit - that doesn't look too bad at all!

Yeah they're really easy to get to. Problem is that I've no idea where those hoses are meant to go, forgot to take photos when I took them off, so now I need to figure that out. Also have no idea where the other hoses on the carbs are meant to go and can't find any answers in the Haynes manual so now I need to research all that too.

Also, as the excitement is mounting, I couldn't help myself and connected up the throttle and choke cables and screwed the carbs back on.

I also need to figure out what this little fella is for. It wasn't connected when I started stripping the bike so god only knows. It lives under the tank, I wonder if it's something to do with the California bikes as they had additional emissions stuff.

I'll grab a multimeter from work and see if I can suss it out.

Getting close

 

[haaammit]

Fuel level sender I think mate - yours is a D innit?

 

[Diddums]

Yep, that looks like it! Cheers @haaammit

I sussed out some of the hose palaver too, just need to confirm where the three vacuum hoses on the intakes go. Pretty sure it's the vacuum petcock, will need to confirm.

 

[Diddums]

Something I hadn't even considered when reassembling the carbs was float height. So now I can either gamble, or take them off and do it properly. It's gonna be the latter isn't it

 

[Diddums]

Float heights done, new plugs, reassembled and then this happened

And then this happened

So now I've gotta figure out how to sort that too. Still, it ran, on its own, genuinely chuffed with that for now

 

[Diddums]

I posted on Bikechatforums about the oil leak and someone pointed out that the bike only leaks when it's running which points towards a blocked crankcase breather which blew the seal.

When I started working on the bike I cable tied a plastic bag over what I think is the crankcase breather and forgot to remove it prior to starting, so it's very possible that this leak is entirely caused by me.

I've ordered a new seal, should be here in a couple of days, and apparently it's quite an easy job if taken slowly and gently.

I'm surprised at how easily it blew though, then again it's a 35 year old bike with 27k miles at tons of owners so it probably didn't take much. Rather it happen today than when I'm out and about tbh.

The lessons continue

 

[Diddums]

Bit of an update. I posted about the oil leak on a few different sites and had quite a few people saying that it's normal. So today I pulled the pulse generator wheel off and had a close look, and it does indeed look like there are oil scavenging channels behind the wheel:

This coupled with the rather old looking oil stains in the case itself, meant I was gonna give it a shot. Bolted the cover back on, topped it up with oil, and she ran once again:

So this weekend I'll run it for a bit, pull the cover off again and see what's going on underneath. If all is well then it's time to sort the tank, clean the airbox, bolt it all together and balance the carbs. Then an engine flush, drain it again, replace the clutch and oil filter, fill it up with the "real" oil, and see what happens.

Oh I also found out today that the chain rubs against the centre stand I fitted, so that'll need sorting too. Then the rear caliper. Then tyres. Then maybe MOT time.

 

[haaammit]

Getting there, although it does sound like she's only running on two or three cylinders to me, but that might just be the audio. Might be worth just pulling the plugs and seeing what they're like?

 

[Diddums]

Getting there, although it does sound like she's only running on two or three cylinders to me, but that might just be the audio. Might be worth just pulling the plugs and seeing what they're like?

Yeah she runs rough as nails, but then I've not spent any time tuning or tweaking, and there's no airbox fitted, so it's to be expected. I'm hoping to make some decent progress this weekend!

 

[Diddums]

Gave the airbox a thorough clean over the weekend, it was full of mold and cat hair, looked rather tragic!

Before:

After:

All reassembled ready to go back on the bike.

Now the tank. I vinegar'd it again and the results were much better this time, however the vinegar also ate the cap lock and the fuel level sensor, so I ordered a new lock (arrived yesterday) and I need to figure out something with the sensor. The shiny bit here is meant to be screwed to the grey bit, but as you can see the vinegar dissolved some of the grey metal so it needs repairing or replacing. I also relined the tank with Por15 tank sealant, it'll have been setting for 96 hours tomorrow so I'll start reassembling the tank over the weekend hopefully.

How much? £100 for a new sensor. Taking the mickey I reckon, fortunately I remembered we have a full-on machine shop at work, with lathes and mills and all sorts of stuff, and when I told the guys in there that I was reviving and old bike, their response was "aren't we all"

I said I'd bring them a box of donuts and a knackered sensor and they'd see what they can do, so that might be an easy fix.

After what @haaammit said about running rough I messed around a bit more and found that contrary to what I learned when I was tuning 50cc two strike singles, the vacuum connections actually matter on these 600cc four bangers

Ordered some vacuum caps and popped them on the connections this afternoon, and it sounds much better already:

I now need a thermometer to see if the pipes are all getting equally hot, then balance the carbs, do the engine flush, replace the clutch, pop a new oil filter on and fill it with oil. Pop the airbox and tank back on, fill it with fuel, and then start on the back brake.

This weekend I'll carry on, gotta rebuild the vacuum petcock too come to think of it.

 

[Diddums]

Well, I *think* the engine is ready for the most part:

Carbs balanced:

Engine flushed, oil drained:

Old clutch out:

Dunno what these marks are on the inside of this clutch cover, seems harmless enough:

Couldn't get the clutch basket off unfortunately, but had a look and it looks plenty good enough:

The old clutch plates didn't look too bad tbh:

Random photo midway through all today's work:

New clutch fitted, new oil and oil filter, and this is the result:

Random point, the cooling fan works too which was good to hear!

Next up: sort the tank, the rear brake, new tyres, finishing touches and get ready for MOT time!

 

[JonRGV250]

Those marks are rust spots, just wet’n’dry them off

 

[Diddums]

Those marks are rust spots, just wet’n’dry them off

That'll have to happen during the next oil change, I didn't have any to hand and I certainly didn't want the bike standing dry. I figured if that was 35 years of rust, another year should be fine

 

[Diddums]

That'll have to happen during the next oil change, I didn't have any to hand and I certainly didn't want the bike standing dry. I figured if that was 35 years of rust, another year should be fine

Spoke too soon, it's got an oil leak from that exact gasket

Not a major leak, just a tiny drip, but I've never owned a vehicle that leaks oil and I'm not starting now! Will order a new gasket and more oil and do it again.

Mounted the airbox back on today, and flushed the coolant system properly using vinegar and distilled water, then drained again and filled with proper coolant.

Also removed the back brake assembly to start getting that to work, and, well, I'm not surprised the back brake didin't work

Given the absolute sorry state of this, I'm going to get quotes for a professional refurb of both the master cylinder and the caliper, I think this bike deserves it tbh.


Also started testing some of the stuff for the MOT, the headlight works, tail light works, brakes light works on both front and rear brakes, indicators work, the only light that doesn't work is the main beam, so will need to figure out what's going on there. Still need to check all the suspension too, hopefully the forks and rear shock will pass as-is, I'd like to do those in winter so I can enjoy the bike a bit this year still.

 

[bloodiedathame]

At last the oil is so fresh just drain and reuse!