Z1OwnersClub GB

Now I'm stuck as far as the motor goes (see thread in Bike Help ) I thought I'd get stuck into the other bits that need sorting out. At some time in the not too distant past someone spent a lot of money on the Z650 (powder coated frame, paint, a few trick bits and bobs etc.) and also skimped on a few bits

One of the skimped bits being the wiring loom. Which always amazes me as this is the bit that normally causes most avoidable breakdowns. Anyway......


(And I will be replacing those rusty screws in the clock covers with nice shiny stainless ones.....)

The whole loom is / was covered in carpet tape ( ) but not wrapped in it, whomever, had cut it into little squares and then stuck them onto the loom like a patchwork, perhaps they were

So, started on the left hand switchgear and removed all the carpet tape, and the layer of 2 inch wide insulation tape under that, and the layer of normal insulation tape under that, and the original plastic sleeving under that



Nearly filled a carrier bag with just the tape off the left hand switch gear

Had to repair a couple of the leads (even under all that "insulation" ) in the switchgear loom, re-sleeved it and replaced the bullets where needed. The switchgear had already been painted by previous owner / "restorer" so why did they then bodge it with carpet tape

Here's the end result....



Right hand switchgear is the same. More later

You can go the whole way and put new wires in as well. they just solder to the switches. Vehicle Wiring supply the wires / connectors but if you want the shiney flexible sleeving then the man at Newark autojumbles does that.

Thought it was about time to give you an update on progress with the 650, not much to report ..........



As today I have mostly been digging up spuds

................... I hope its CHIPS.... its CHIPS................

Not much work has taken place on the engine front other than collecting a few more. I think I need a bigger garage / work bench



Crank case on the bottom right is the set I'm using for the rebuild. Will strip out completely soon and send for blasting. I'm hoping the barrels of the top right motor will be okay and can re-use them, along with cam chain tensioner etc. Then it's the head of the top left motor, lots of new bits and a mixture of internals from all three where required. Geez what a bitsa!

Still working on the wiring loom. Getting all that carpet / duct tape, whatever you call it, off is a nightmare. The loom is left covered in a horrible sticky ( ) residue which I'm hoping white spirit or similar will remove.

Back to the garage........

I've been using brake cleaner on kitchen roll to remove sticky stuff/dirt/just about anything on recommendation of a friedn who's ex AA - works brilliantly, don't know if that helps...

mothra wrote:I've been using brake cleaner on kitchen roll to remove sticky stuff/dirt/just about anything on recommendation of a friedn who's ex AA - works brilliantly, don't know if that helps...

Just the ticket started on it tonight......amongst other things.

Took the clocks off to diagnose no idiot lights....



and found a little rewiring was in order to repair corroded crimps in the loom. Took the clocks apart and found a bodged accident repair to the speedo.



So stripped it down, removed the bodgery, drilled out bent and snapped stud, fitted new studs and reassembled. Was so excited putting it back together forgot to take a picture .

Anyway, repaired loom and polished up clock covers, glued broken plastic cover behind centre console.



Refitted to bike....



Ta Da

Then took the headlamp to pieces just to paint the shell. I wondered why the bulb had a load of sticky tape round it......



)Pictures a bitr small to see - had H4 bulb sticky taped into lamp! - ??)By this point, as you can see, the cup of water was replaced by lager so apologies for any spelling mistakes and typos.

Whoops, almosyt , forgot - todays collection of blasck sticky nastiness

Update on the lack of progress in the 650 department. Just when I thought I had some spare time / cash this happened......



My wee truck let go big style on the way home from work.



Cest la vie! One burnt out valve. Head is at the machine shop having valves refaced and seats recut. luckily the bit of valve that detached went straight out the exhaust and didn't damage anything on the way - phew! I see a busy weekend coming up

Well, after the Christmas, New Year, back to work, snow and flooding I've eventually got out in the garage again to re-start on the 650.

I finished stripping the motor and split the crank cases only to find the crank is b****red. So it seems not a lot of the original motor is any good, thanks to the F*** wit who had it apart last time.



The main bearing journals are scored badly, and as no oversize bearings, no re-grind allowed!



The main bearings are not just worn but pitted and scored heavily.



But funnily the big end bearings / journals are not scored / pitted. As the engine has recently been apart for a cam chain to be fitted all the mains were disturbed but not the big ends. Maybe workshop cleanliness wasn't too high on the agenda

And that is horrible red hermatite everywhere so quite a struggle getting the cases to separate.

Oh well, I have two other motors with possible donor cranks. More spanner work.

Got the next donor motor fully stripped and have found what appears to be a good crank! Still have to measure it with micrometer to confirm but looks good at the moment.





So it looks like it's time to start spending money on some new bearings etc! Hurrah!

Looks like you are making some progress now!

So assuming no other catastrophes, when do you think you might be ready? Fancy the Ace on the 19th April?

Not too sure about making any commitments in the near future as I now have to contend with moving house, while rebuilding the bike. And not lose any bits in the process!

House move now being more or less complete, that is we know where everything is in the boxes, attention turned back to the Z when a replacement motor came up on E-Bay!

Picked it up having done a compression test and cleaned it all ready to fit.



Had to finish off a bit more wiring ready to slot the motor in.....



And do something with a bodge or 2!...



Then worked into the night to get the motor in the frame. Having done that couldn't resist hanging the exhaust on to what it looked like!



Then had to take it off again to fit a new oil filter - Doh

Anyway, new day dawned and with added enthusiasm set to it to get the motor running. Stripped carbs and cleaned. Couldn't find any info on setting float height other than using special tool number something, and filling them with fuel to check it - so set all the floats to 24mm as a starter. Is that about right anyone?

Points plate fitted to it was a bit odd as the second set of points didn't have an independently adjustable mount. So robbed the points plate out of a spare engine and fitted it. Robbed battery off the 550 and made up some leads to connect it. Fit fuel tank, add some fresh go juice, prod starter button and was rewarded with an instant roar from the Yoshi pipe. Its alive

House move now being more or less complete, that is we know where everything is in the boxes, attention turned back to the Z when a replacement motor came up on E-Bay!

Picked it up having done a compression test and cleaned it all ready to fit.



Had to finish off a bit more wiring ready to slot the motor in.....



And do something with a bodge or 2!...



Then worked into the night to get the motor in the frame. Having done that couldn't resist hanging the exhaust on to what it looked like!



Then had to take it off again to fit a new oil filter - Doh

Anyway, new day dawned and with added enthusiasm set to it to get the motor running. Stripped carbs and cleaned. Couldn't find any info on setting float height other than using special tool number something, and filling them with fuel to check it - so set all the floats to 24mm as a starter. Is that about right anyone?

Points plate fitted to it was a bit odd as the second set of points didn't have an independently adjustable mount. So robbed the points plate out of a spare engine and fitted it. Robbed battery off the 550 and made up some leads to connect it. Fit fuel tank, add some fresh go juice, prod starter button and was rewarded with an instant roar from the Yoshi pipe. Its alive