Author Topic: Z1 as a project?  (Read 25978 times)

Offline Lobo

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Re: Z1 as a project?
« Reply #75 on: September 08, 2020, 10:48:36 AM »
...thanks gents. I initially thought, ‘chain oiler?’, but then dismissed it due the size of the tank (ie “too big” me thoughts).

Offline MrDavo

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Re: Z1 as a project?
« Reply #76 on: September 08, 2020, 02:28:01 PM »
I think after Honda's experience with the CB750, replacing many engines wrecked by wayward chains, Kawasaki were being very wary. They introduced the biggest chain ever seen on a road bike, made it endless, which makes changing it a right pain, and then pumped 90W oil at it. Of course that went everywhere.

I don't think the chains were known for breaking, although there is a 'just in case' piece of boiler plate that fits outboard of the gearbox sprocket, but until the O ring option was introduced later, Z1s had a reputation for getting through them (as well as rear tyres) at a rate of knots.

There is a sticker which explains they will let you have one free chain if it needs replacing under warranty.



1969 Honda CL450 'Scrambler'
1974 Kawasaki Z1A
2005 Harley XL1200R Sportster
1985 Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera Sport
1978 VW Bay Window camper van

Offline AshimotoK0

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Re: Z1 as a project?
« Reply #77 on: September 08, 2020, 03:14:47 PM »
Massive thanks for taking the effort posting all of this Dave. I am soaking it all up.Even though I will never get one now, its  always nice to compare with the early CB750.The closest I ever got was a Z650B1 ..if they had done it with four pipes I would probably have added one to my collection for nostalgia's sake.

Month date coded Takasago wheel rims ... aaaagh!!!!  ;D
“Alright friends, you have seen the heavy groups, now you will see morning maniac music. Believe me, yeah. It’s a new dawn.” Grace Slick, Woodstock '69 .. In the year of the Sandcast.

Offline MrDavo

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Re: Z1 as a project?
« Reply #78 on: September 08, 2020, 03:50:06 PM »
Month date coded Takasago wheel rims ... aaaagh!!!!  ;D

I'm glad you're enjoying it Ash. For the really anal there are month and year codes stamped on the rims, handlebar switches, discs, swinging arm and torque arm (to my knowledge, there may be more!), and even more scary there are people who care! The bikes that are really top dollar, and win prizes at shows are the ones where these all match.

I'm not going to use the front rim, I'm quite happy with the new Hagon replica, (typically the offer to swap my spare front wheel for a rim from the right month as per the swinging arm came after I'd sent the hub away to have the wheel built) but when I come to sell it I'll include it - it will make a difference to someone who can be a***d to take off a perfectly good new rim, rechrome the Takasago and rebuild the wheel again. That's not me though, I do have a life. :) I will keep an eye out for the right rear rim though, but you could wait a lifetime.

Anyone pointing out my discs and torque arm (If you can be bothered to lie under the bike to see it) are 'wrong' will be poked in the eye and told to feck right off.

Here is the chain oiler pump, a little gem of a thing, its made by Mikuni. There is a control at the right where you can turn it up and down, depending on how much mess you want to make. Oil comes in via a banjo attached to the threaded boss on top, and leaves via a rotating shaft at the rear, which plugs into the end of the gearbox output shaft. Used ones are £150 a pop on Ebay, plus P&P from the US.

« Last Edit: September 08, 2020, 05:03:10 PM by MrDavo »
1969 Honda CL450 'Scrambler'
1974 Kawasaki Z1A
2005 Harley XL1200R Sportster
1985 Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera Sport
1978 VW Bay Window camper van

Offline royhall

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Re: Z1 as a project?
« Reply #79 on: September 08, 2020, 04:34:48 PM »
Glad to see you making a first class job of the rebuild without being anal about it. In my view I would rather have a bike on the road with 5% wrong parts than wait 10 years for that last one in the world item. Bikes are for riding not rivet counting.
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Offline MrDavo

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Re: Z1 as a project?
« Reply #80 on: September 10, 2020, 12:51:22 PM »
And the winner is.... royhall!!!!!

I may have found the cause of my spindle problem, Roy suggested the bottom yoke as a likely culprit, and I think he may be right.

Having lined and tightened everything up as best as I could,I took my measuring stick and put it across the forks at the top, so the blades of the vernier just touched the fork tubes just under the yoke.



 Then I slid the vernier, without adjusting it, down to just above the oil seal... and there's a gap!



I cant measure it, as the vernier is at the extreme of its travel, but clearly the fork tubes aren't parallel. Obviously by the time you get to the bottom of the fork leg, the gap is much bigger. I have ruled out bent stanchions bu loosening the tubes and turning them, nothing happened. Assuming the top yoke is correct (my only evidence is that it came with the bike, and the clocks fit straight on) the culprit has to be the bottom yoke I think.
1969 Honda CL450 'Scrambler'
1974 Kawasaki Z1A
2005 Harley XL1200R Sportster
1985 Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera Sport
1978 VW Bay Window camper van

Offline MrDavo

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Re: Z1 as a project?
« Reply #81 on: September 14, 2020, 01:24:57 PM »
I stripped down the front end again, and swapped the yokes for the set that came with the bike. I had to drill out the screw for the steering lock, I'm going to tap it then find a grub screw the next size up. I hadn't wanted to use the original yoke, as the stem has been nicked by an angle grinder while removing the lower bearing. However I reckon if it ever snaps there I've already hit a tree or something equally solid. anyway, mission success, the spindle now fits perfectly, no mystery gap any more.

Putting a straight edge along the bottom of the yoke that came off, the cause of all my problems became obvious, I really should have tried this before I fitted it to the bike.  :roll:



Front end all put back together I might have a go at building the brake calipers next. I need all the seals and pistons, I've seen full sets advertised on eBay. Brake pads seem hard to find (out of stock at places like Z Power), surprising as they are something that wears out.
1969 Honda CL450 'Scrambler'
1974 Kawasaki Z1A
2005 Harley XL1200R Sportster
1985 Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera Sport
1978 VW Bay Window camper van

Offline AshimotoK0

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Re: Z1 as a project?
« Reply #82 on: September 14, 2020, 03:31:31 PM »
Well sorted Dave ..looking good.

Anyone follow up on the two 1973's this guy mentioned? (and before anyone asks ... NO!   I was not interested in buying,  just thought it a good lead for someone and the bike he sold here looked genuine...no idea if it was good price though  ;) )
.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KAWASAKI-Z1A-1974-Z1-Z1B-Z900/174332327500?hash=item289704364c:g:WYQAAOSwK2Re-dmR

Here is what the seller said: - "I also have the following which could be up for Sale 1972 h1b 500 resto , 1972 s2 350cc ready to go, March 1973 Z1 Resto, April 1973 Z1 light Resto, 1970 cs3 Yamaha & 1969 YAS1 Yamaha. "


« Last Edit: September 14, 2020, 03:51:32 PM by AshimotoK0 »
“Alright friends, you have seen the heavy groups, now you will see morning maniac music. Believe me, yeah. It’s a new dawn.” Grace Slick, Woodstock '69 .. In the year of the Sandcast.

Offline MrDavo

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Re: Z1 as a project?
« Reply #83 on: September 14, 2020, 06:47:50 PM »
You know you really want the H1, Ash. 20mpg and explosive terror, what’s not to like!!

I had a go on one once, before I knew what a power band was. Wide open throttle, it was gutless. Suddenly I was doing my first proper wheelie, which nearly turned into a backflip.  ::) ::) ::)
1969 Honda CL450 'Scrambler'
1974 Kawasaki Z1A
2005 Harley XL1200R Sportster
1985 Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera Sport
1978 VW Bay Window camper van

Offline SteveD CB500K0

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Re: Z1 as a project?
« Reply #84 on: September 14, 2020, 06:59:08 PM »
20mpg?

You obviously weren’t riding it properly

A guy in the bike club at Uni had one (all the engineering students had SOHC fours).

He never came out on our runs as he claimed 14mpg and couldn’t afford the fuel.


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Offline Spitfire

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Re: Z1 as a project?
« Reply #85 on: September 15, 2020, 05:26:55 PM »
Had to fit a 6 gallon Read Titan fibre glass tank to my H1 to keep it running and only used 5 star, it would wheelie when changing to top if you had it in the power band.

Cheers

Dennis
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Offline MrDavo

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Re: Z1 as a project?
« Reply #86 on: September 28, 2020, 01:14:09 PM »
I have fitted the front brakes, here are the parts ready for building. All parts were new other than the caliper bodies, which had been professionally painted.



A trail build of one of the calipers, with new pads was too tight to fit on the disc on the side for the extra disc. A bit of head scratching made me realise I could get a bit more of a gap if I removed the paint from the mounting face for the inboard pad as the paint was quite thick. I also had to get paint out of the sliding bushes as they were tight. The calipers now fit over the discs, but only just.



Mounted on the bike, the wheel turns but they feel a little draggy. I don't see how I can possibly get more clearance, the pistons are pushed right back and the inner pad mounts now are paint free, I can only hope they will be free once they have worn in a little, but don't turn the discs blue first!



Before I fit the new four way splitter, I had to address the steering lock screw, I had to drill the old one out. here I am cutting a new thread in the hole, furtunately I hadn't used too big a drill. That all worked, I will fit the hoses and try bleeding the brakes once I get a new flexible hose to replace one that came with the bike and had the wrong fitting.



I'm starting at the front and working my way back, next I have to put some oil in the forks and fit the indicators and headlamp, to see what's what, and work out what parts I haven't got yet.
1969 Honda CL450 'Scrambler'
1974 Kawasaki Z1A
2005 Harley XL1200R Sportster
1985 Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera Sport
1978 VW Bay Window camper van

Offline taysidedragon

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Re: Z1 as a project?
« Reply #87 on: September 28, 2020, 03:44:15 PM »
I think I would have tapped the steering lock thread and put oil in the forks before assembling the front end
Easy for me to say when sitting in front of the tv! 😉
Gareth

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1965 T100SS

Offline MrDavo

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Re: Z1 as a project?
« Reply #88 on: September 28, 2020, 05:08:44 PM »
I don't know why, but as the forks were all assembled, I somehow assumed that there was oil in them already! Last night on a whim I whipped out one of the fork drain screws, and of course not a drop came out! At least now I'll know what grade oil is in - the book says 10W but as I am going with twin discs I am using 15W to firm up the front end under braking and to deal with the increased unsprung wight. I can always go 20W if its all too squishy, but one step at a time.

When I tried the other set of bottom yokes to see if the front end really was on the p*ss, I didn't have any metric taps, I've since borrowed a set from a mountain biker mate (who's never used them). At least I'd drilled out the old (stuck) screw in the vice rather than on the bike.

Anyway, to misquote the late great Eric Morecambe, I'm doing all the right jobs, but not necessarily in the right order.... :)
1969 Honda CL450 'Scrambler'
1974 Kawasaki Z1A
2005 Harley XL1200R Sportster
1985 Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera Sport
1978 VW Bay Window camper van

Online K2-K6

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Re: Z1 as a project?
« Reply #89 on: September 28, 2020, 05:38:40 PM »
For the brake pad clearance,  double sided tape some 120 grit aluminium oxide paper to a piece of glass ( flat not wine bottle  ;D ) and sand the friction faces a small amount to increase the floating clearance.

Will influence just enough to prevent initial heat problems if they are definitely touching all the time.

 

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