Z1OwnersClub GB

Hello all, my Z1 restoration is finished at last! Ive had the bike a few years now, bought it from Steve Thomas. It's had a full restoration to more or less standard spec, except for a few pattern bits & stainless bolts. Rather than fill the post with lots of duplicate info (cause there's lots of good info & pics on here already), I've added a pic of the complete bike below. However, I have been on a six month carb restoring & setting crusade in my limited spare time. If anyone is interested what Ive done to the standard carbs to restore them to at least as new, if not better working condition (as well as the normal cosmetic stuff), let me know and I'll do a write up. I've restored a few Z1s over the years but I've always been dissappointed with how they run when finished, particularly the erratic & inconsistent idle and the hassle & time consumed with vacuum gauges only to chase the settings back & forth accross the carbs without any real improvement. My goal was to achive a snappy shutdown from any throttle position to a steady consistent tick over on all 4 cylinders. I'm pleased to say I've got the sweetest idling Z1 ever! I did briefly consider hiding fuel injection inside the carbs, something I would still like to do but for now I'll stick with the carbs.
Keep up the good work, Chris.

Absolutely stunning work.

Wow! excelent job

i would be interested in the carb info, i have never had a Zed that idled perfectly

Amazing Chris......

I think it'd be a great idea to do a write-up.... Maybe keep it JUST for the NewZletter

Looks great Chris. I'm sure many of us would be interested to know how you set up your carbs.

OK, I'll write up what I did but theres quite a bit, so I'll break it down into 3 parts. If we assume tha carbs have had all the usual cleaning ie ultrasonic, flushing thru, compressed air etc. This would be the point at which I would normally assemble the carbs. However, I decided to do some extra:

1) Make some equipment to check & adjust the operation of the carbs on the bench (ie not fitted to the engine). This allows me to check that the slides are actually capable of regulating the flow of air through the carb down to virtually nothing. Also used for synchronising the slide heights and synchronising the pilot screws.
2) Make several mods to the carbs & linkages to improve setting, operation & synchronisation, also to reduce air leaks.
3) The actual methods used to set the carbs, what your trying to achive (in hands on terms, I'm not going to try to educate everyone in the laws of Physics!) Also some of the reasons why I did the various mods.

This all assumes a healthy standard spec engine with good compression, good valve sealing and clearances and correct ignition timing.

I'll get snapping and add some more info tomorrow.

Cheers, Chris

Good idea for the news letter, I'll get cracking..............

Welcome back. Very nice Z1 and I bet it runs like a Merc hopefully not like schumis I meant Swiss watch. Get cracking as I'm interested too especially in any test equipment you have to test carbs off bike.

Regards Mike

great looking zed.good job.
Look forward to your carb build post

Stunning job Chris. Cant wait to read your carb experiences

No matter how many times I see a restored Z1 my first thought is always 'Fook me thats a pretty looking bike'

Well done..

That's all very well having the sweetest idling Z1 ever, but look at the moss that has grown on your drive while you've been fettling .......

Cracking looking bike .

Thats a lovely looking bike credit to you Chris, i have seen a photo of one of these on another forum and wonder if it's the same bike are you in Rainham Kent.

Hi Chris,
I'm very interested to learn how to set carbs for the Z-Series to
your perfect standards... is the info. in a Newz Letter mag?

I'd be very interested in this as well, I have the same erratic tick over problems you mentioned.
Cheers, Phil.