z1 st or not?

[moe]

After languishing in and around my house ,garage,garden shed and garden for about 7 years , I have finally started to do something about my ST.
I bought this bike off my mate (the only owner) years ago with all good intentions of putting it back to it's former glory, I removed the engine and stripped the head off it then apathy got the better of me

Anyway, I have now found some enthusiasm and have started working on it again Only this time I have decided not to put it back to original and instead I am going to try and convert it to chain drive. This will give me more choice with wheels and swing arm and I prefer the looks of the chain drive zeds. I've already sourced a Fazer 1000 arm and rear caliper, just hope I can get it to fit! Don't know what to do with the front end yet, but I would like to use RWU forks to try and keep it looking like the originals. If anybody has any suggestions , let me know please !

I got a gear cluster off that auction site a couple of weeks ago, the guy who sold it thought it came out of a Z1 J . First problem I've found is the bearing on the output shaft is 68mm, whilst the ST shaft bearing is 62mm, so I will need to get the cases bored out to fit.





Next problem I had was trying to remove the old swing arm, after 3 days of dosing it in penetrating oil, applying heat ,trying various size hammers and swearing excessively ,I resorted to the good old disc cutter.


Might try to get to Stafford this weekend and see if I can pick up any cheap bits. If I do I'll amble over to the club stand to try and muster up some more enthusiasm.

I'm sure I will be on here quite a lot in the future , asking for advice and tips. So please be patient with me

[Redbeard]

hi moe, got an ST also so very interested to see how you get on with your chain drive project. best of luck and keep us updated with progress.

[moe]

Cheers mate ! I feel progress will be fairly slow, as time and money allow.

Almost had a coronary when I saw the prices of camchain tensioners

[Ginger Bear]

Moe,
I spoke to Steve at Debben's some time back about converting these to chain drive, and while I can't remember exactly what he said, I do remember it being a relatively simple procedure. He does post on here, so hopefully he (or someone) will point you in the right direction. My suggestion is 'dont bore out those cases 'till you are sure'. Good luck!

[moe]

Thanks for the advice GB, I will concentrate on the frame for now until I get a definite answer . I maybe need an earlier shaft from a z1 B ?

[Mick Hayward]

Hi Moe

Took my ST out for the first time today. Complete with Redbeards red body work. Finally sorted out all the fuel problems. It went like a dream and smooth as silk. I explored the conversion posibilities earlier this year but concluded it was too much effort. To be honest the consensus at the time was I would probably be better off buying a chain drive bike and ditching the ST. However, I,m glad I didn't do either and just stuck with what I've got. There's some good ST owners out there, Redbeard and John Dally to name a couple and the bikes are quire rare too.

Regards

Mick

[moe]

Hi Mick,
Glad to hear your bikes running well and your happy with it .

I understand what your saying ,it might be better buying a chain drive bike or keep the ST as it is.

Thing is, the bike has quite a lot of sentimental value. my mate has owned it from new, so I know all it's history, not all of it good Also, when I removed the bevel box, the output shaft locknut complete with the end of the shaft fell out So if I was going to keep it shaft driven, I would need to find another output shaft as the original is fubarred.

I've always fancied putting different running gear in it , so when the Z1J gear cluster came up on Ebay I thought i'd give it a punt.

Cheers
Moe

[Mick Hayward]

Hi Moe

Understand where you are coming from. There have been some ST final drive bits on ebay and this site which haven't moved, so may be worth seeing what's out there before finally deciding. I must admit I had aspirations to build a special out of mine with all the bits and bobs but couldn't justify the cost. Good luck anyway on which ever route you take. It'll be fun and interesting. Keep us in the picture.

Mick

[moe]

Made a little bit of progress this weekend. Found a bit of tinworm in the frame either side of the rear shocker mount, so I got the Dremel out and cut back to good metal.


Then cut a couple of patches out of some sheet steel I had lying around.


Pigeon shat welded in place ( must get the welder sorted one day) Then ground welds down and just sprayed some etching primer on for now, doesn't look too bad , at least it's underneath the frame rail out of sight.

Next ,I decided I didn't like the looks of the brackets at the rear end, so the disc cutter was pressed into action again.



I haven't picked up the Fazer swing arm up yet , so I just stuck in a slabby arm that I had lying around, it gives me some idea of how it will look. I may even use the slabby arm if the fazer one doesn't look right. Apologies for crap picture,

Lastly, I knocked up an engine cradle from a few bits of scrap steel I had in the garage, think it was the remains of an exercise bike thing?


Working away for part of next week , so I won't be able to collect swing arm and possibly a front end until thursday/friday at earliest.

Moe

[hillbilly]

ive just measured my casings ,and they are 62mm at the bearing jurnal,would it not be better to put the bearings off a z1 on ,or the whole shaft,instead of boring it out.

[moe]

Thanks for that Hillbilly !

I'm now wondering what this shaft is that I bought ?
The overall length of the shaft is different, the J shaft is longer, but I wasn't too concerned ,as I figured that this would compensate for the bevel gear and coupling on the ST.the bearing and splined shaft are also a bigger diameter (28mm as opposed to 25mm), did they beef them up on the J model?

I tried to get a bearing to fit the shaft with a 62mm O.D and 28mmI.D. but nobody does one.

Heres a picture of what I bought sat next to the original shaft, hopefully somebody can shed some light on what this shaft is , is it from a J or something later?


I may be in the market for another output shaft, anybody got one with a 25mm O.D. ?

[moe]

Picked the Fazer arm up today, should have been working away but the jobs gone Pete Tong, so that left me free to play around Also found a wheel for it but won't get that until the end of the week, hopefully I'll be able to line it up properly then and get the measurements for spacers etc.

Can't decide whether to monoshock it or keep it looking traditional with twinshocks. I've got a pair of nearly new Koni dial a rides off a Katana that have been sitting in my garage for years , so I'm tempted to use them and keep cost down a bit.

Waiting to hear from local college to see if they have got any old lathes for sale, wife works there so I might get some discount , but I doubt it. I've been threatening to get one for years and now seems like the opportune time, it will pay for itself in no time.

Heres a couple of pics of arm, I think it will look ok,especially if I get it anodised black.

[zed1015]

Hi moe. J and GPZ shafts are indeed bigger. You need the earlier shaft. Anything from the Z1/9 up to the Z1R or MK2 then everything should drop in easily.

[moe]

Hi moe. J and GPZ shafts are indeed bigger. You need the earlier shaft. Anything from the Z1/9 up to the Z1R or MK2 then everything should drop in easily.

Hi Zed,
Thanks for confirming that

I noticed on the APE website last night that they do a bearing that allows fitment of the GPZ shaft into the Z1 / 9. I've emailed them to see if the bearing will do the same job for the J shaft. Hope so , it will save me looking for another shaft.

[zed1015]

Debben list that bearing on their website, it is £66.95 + vat.

P.S. You do know that the ST crankcases are cast different to the std chain drive zeds in the area where that selector cover bolts on don't you ?