GPZ

[irhobotolo]

Picked up my new plaything last Friday and did about 70 miles on it on Sunday. Apart from freezing my knackers off it was great to get out for a ride and I am realy impressed with the bike.
Here is a few pictures of the beast.....






I did my impression of " Pip Higham " after that last picture

Questions:

Some of the "black chrome " has faded / gone. Does anyone do black chrome anymore. Can I get it redone ?

The forks dive under hard braking. How do you pump them up and to what pressure ? Never come across air in forks before.

Is there anything to watch for with the EFI ? I know these early bikes had a bad reliability issue with it and the service record shows that this bike had a new " computer " in 1991 ? Does it gum up like carbs. Again another first for me. Seems fine at the moment. A mate says use an injector cleaner in the petrol every few months ?

Anyone have a Kawasaki service manual they want to sell or know where I can get one ?

The pipes underneath are rusty so I am going to take the lot off and clean them up. Whats the best paint to match up with the existing paint ? Dont want to spray the lot as silencers are fine but the underside needs redoing and maybe the headers as well. I tried cleaning up the pipes and that why the "ends" of the silencers look cleaner in the pictures

The bike has new Pirelli Demon tyres and it seems quite " Skittish " at speed over white lines or on rough roads ? Maybe its just me and I need to get used to the bike ???????

There are some standard shocks on US Ebay to replace the Hagons but they need tidying up. Do the standard shocks come apart like early Z shocks or are they sealed units ?

Any info appreciated

[z1bman]

THE B1 NEVER HAD BLACK CHROME EXHAUST'S THEY WHERE PAINTED MATT BLACK. YOUR FRIEND IS SPOT ON ABOUT ADDING FUEL INJECTION TREATMENT INTO THE FUEL MAX AIR PRESSURE IN THE FORKS IS ABOUT 11 PSI

[jphaynes669]

The gpz looks great..a firm in daventry are doing some black chroming, I will get the details and send a pm. As for the black exhaust paint.. halfords satin engine enamel is ace, its brush on but you, d never know it and its the perfect match for touching up the wheels too,
Ive researched the fuel injection and generaly its best left alone.. and if it ran into problems people just ditched it for carbs, because of the lack of technical advice at the time I presume..but it may be different now. Still think it was a good buy.. well done.

[london calling]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GENUINE-KAWAS ... 35c43a9242

[Z1parR]

Super tidy example that
This grate polish will bring up black but not black chrome exhausts a treat ,
it can buff up to a shine just with a cloth used to be called Zeebrite then name changed to Zebo ,
and now it seems it's changed to Stovax .


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/stovax-firepl ... 337f90b373

I had my B1 plugged into the machine at the Kawasaki dealers to diagnose the rough running and they told me air leaks in the injection system was the problem ,
but they couldn't identify just where from , a set of J carbs were swiftly fitted as the cheaper option , that was 1985 though .

[BRIAN S]

very clean original b1 looks great Would not worry to much about all the horror stories about the fuel injection,i have run mine for 3 years now with very little problems,though i do add injector cleaner from time to time

[oldzed]

Check your tyre pressure for the skittish problem.

Modern tyres run much higher pressures now

Probably about 2.5 and 2.9 bar

[ruffle]

AFAIR, most of the injection problems came down to poor connections. It's an analogue system on the B1 and the signal from the flappy air valve to the ECU needs decent connections and the position sensor on the air flow meter is just a contact sweeping across a PCB which can get grubby.

Couple that with the reluctance of so many, otherwise mechanically very competent, people to tackle electrical issues and that's why they got junked.

On the tyres, I'd have a look on the manufacturers web site for suggested pressures and if they don't publish them, ring the technical dept and ask. The pressures from 1981 in the handbook are probably wrong (tubeless motorcycle tyres were novel in '81).

Also remember that the suggested pressures are designed to cope with leaving the services on an Autobahn in mid-december, two up, loaded with camping gear. Solo pressures for a nice sunny day can be significantly lower.

If your brain doesn't get used to the front end dive, they all do that Sir, then maybe a set of progressive springs (Hagon?) would help; the originals are 32 years old now. However, these bikes never were 'razor sharp' in the handling dept; you just have to modify your riding style to suit. qv Messrs Lawson. Crosby et al

[irhobotolo]

Thanks for the replies and the PMs. I appreciate the info.
I know my way around old zeds pretty well but this one has stuff like EFI and air forks and electric shoebox in front of the handlebars. All of this is new to me. At least it all seems to be working !!!!
Have ordered some Stovax stuff and what I dont use on the bike will go on my woodburner
Tyre pressures are correct but tyres are brand new so will have to see how it goes with a few more miles.
Will have a look at the forks and check oil / springs / air as just trying the forks with it parked up shows they are way too soft. The back shocks are rock hard so will have a play about to get it to handle better than a pogo stick.
Manual now sorted.
Jeff, if you can supply info on the black chrome then I would be grateful as the grabrail needs redoing.

[pluto]

I've put Hagon progressive springs in my B2, it's a considerable improvement. It still dives under braking but not as bad, the new oil helps too. Other advantage is I can run it with zero air pressure and it be ok, the air used to leak out past the rubber seals as soon as the brakes were applied.

[knut]

lovely bike irhobotolo,well wear lad,
when checking front fork air pressure make sure
to have the front wheel off the ground,to get a true reading.
i run mine one at 8-10 psi max,
they do dive a bit on the brakes but otherwise solid as a rock
enjoy.

[johnA]

northampton and midland plating do black chroming with a turnround time of two weeks hope this helps.
John

[big green bus]

THE B1 NEVER HAD BLACK CHROME EXHAUST'S THEY WHERE PAINTED MATT BLACK. YOUR FRIEND IS SPOT ON ABOUT ADDING FUEL INJECTION TREATMENT INTO THE FUEL MAX AIR PRESSURE IN THE FORKS IS ABOUT 11 PSI

z1bman is spot on they never were black chrome so they are easier for the chap in the street to look after. Also the "dry joint" is usually the problem if the fuel injection has a prob and is a case of unplugging the connections and usually that sorts it. Nice bike by the way, well done.

[z1bman]

https://www.z-power.co.uk/merchantmanag ... php?pId=35

[Tonka]

The gpz looks great..a firm in daventry are doing some black chroming, I will get the details and send a pm. As for the black exhaust paint.. halfords satin engine enamel is ace, its brush on but you, d never know it and its the perfect match for touching up the wheels too,
Ive researched the fuel injection and generaly its best left alone.. and if it ran into problems people just ditched it for carbs, because of the lack of technical advice at the time I presume..but it may be different now. Still think it was a good buy.. well done.

Hi, is the firm in daventry still doing black chroming?