Z650 build, mix of Zephyr, GPZ and B3 650.

[Crofty]

Now have a frame courtesy of a swap of engine spares I had stashed for another build with GPRD. A B3 frame, swingarm, yokes and Z750L forks. Spent this morning cleaning up the usual frame untidyness, bits of mig wire from factory, blobs of weld etc. Going to have it blasted and refinished. The last 2 I have done in powdercoat, considering paint this time. Going for more std this time,tyre sizes, bodywork, but with more attention to looks than performance.

[Aztec Warrior]

[quote="Crofty"]Now have a frame courtesy of a swap of engine spares I had stashed for another build with GPRD.

Well done, like those pictures. That engine looks very impressive, especially the cam cover mimicking the early Zeds. A lot of hours spent there no doubt. You've done well. But I don't envy all the polishing you'll have to do, as I bet you'll hate to see that stonking finish get fouled with our lovely summer weather.

[Crofty]

Been trawling for parts and have now got a old stylespoked rear wheel, footrests, rechromed rear brake lever, new needle roller swingarm bearings and taper roller steering bearings for the project.

[Crofty]

Have now got 2 spoked wheels, battery box and a suitable sidestand. Main metalwork being powder coated gloss black, decided to p/c in the end as the last two have been fine and tough.
Some dyna coils on the way with leads, plus a rear drum brake complete.
POR15 tank paint also in post.

[Crofty]

Busy this morning warming up the engine with hair dryer and heat lamp to apply the paint. Right up to masking everything off I was alternating between silver or black. I did my first 650 in silver and tbh it looked too bright. I have always liked black engines from the Z1 and my first Kawasaki a GPZ550.
So black it was

[Crofty]

Things are moving along again. All the blackwork is coming back from powder coating and I will also be getting the fork lowers back from Blue Haze Engineering. The lowers needed the axle hole enlarging to accept the 650 axle ends. I am using Z750L4 forks which differed in that respect. The advantage is they are air adjustable and should give better handling.
I have sourced a few more parts I need and managed to pick up one of these.

[Bonneville]

Looking good, sir. What engine paint did you use?

[Crofty]

Thankyou, I used Plasticote BBQ paint. It has held up well on the 810 conversion I did and seems to go further per can than the old type PJ1 I used to use before it went enviro friendly.

[Crofty]

Managed to get quite a bit done today. Picked up the frame and bits from powdercoating at Yorvik Engineering and got them home. Put the frame onto the engine, fitted the swingarm and steering bearing kits. Started to fit some of the new chrome nuts and bolts and realise I will need to get some of the old stuff rechromed before carrying on. Also need to fit centrestand and get bike up off floor, but not strong enough to do it without help. Brother in law is round tomorrow so will get a lift. I am going to paint the clutch cover black to the edge of the outer circle like the 810 as I do not like the way it looks.
The 750 fork lowers are now modified to accept the 650 axle, so hopefully will have them back tomorrow and I can get on with polishing them up before rebuilding.




Also painted the clutch cover up to outer circle.

Forks done, new seals and oil. The springs have been changed to progressive ones. Hoping for better handling with those and the air adjustment the 750 forks have as standard.
New wheel bearings too.

[Crofty]

What an afternoon, started by dismantling an old seat to get the base welded and powdercoated, that went all OK. Then I thought I would degree the cams in. Did the exhaust cam and then tried to do the inlet cam. No matter how I moved the cam it would not degree in close enough. I double checked the number of pins in the chain to set the timing and was just about to try rotating the cam a tooth, when I noticed I had the exhaust cam in the inlet and vice versa. I had mixed them up when slotting the cam wheels.
Swapped them over and the exhaust was spot on first try at 105 degrees and took 3 adjustments to get the inlet to 105 also. Have fitted cam cover and tensioner.


You can just see the tacho blank on the lh cam.


Old cutaway cam cover to hold chain down in correct position.


I bolt a steel plate to the head to fix the magnetic dial gauge stand to.


Seat base ready to repair.

[Crofty]

Have been busy taking parts from the 810 and putting them over onto this one. Will be going to stay the same colour for a while, but liking the spoked wheels.

[trikerdrew]

Looks great.

Might seem like a dumb question , but..

As you are incorporating so many Zr7 bits would not the whole engine be easier to start with?

That points cover looks great.

Slotted cam sprockets? Used them fast road car engined trikes before(fiat 131), aftermarket stuff. Are yours stock machined or aftermarket?

One of the reasons I hunted down a csr650 was the spoked wheels. Spokes look just so right on older bikes

cheers

drew

[Crofty]

Hi Drew, wanted to make it look like one of the older bikes plus the 650 bottom end requires no spacers to fit in the frame and retains the clutch cable on the lh side. The 810 i did had a kickstart, this one is going to be without one. I have replaced all the starter parts with kawasaki spares so should be ok for a while.
The cam sprockets i had machined and then hand filed the holes, they need machining to get rid of the recess around the bolt head.
With the spoked wheels, the last 2 bikes i built had mag wheels and fancied a change

[Crofty]

Getting close to finishing now. I put oil and plugs in it and was surprised it fired up straight away, even without setting the Dyna S up properly.
Have recovered the seat and ordered a V and H exhaust.
Need the calipers back from powdercoaters, a few bits from the chromers and platers.
A few little bits like petrol cap, rear footrests, cable guides, which I may have sorted.
Tank now painted, another top job by Flying Tiger.