How I wish I had the time, talent, energy and skill to embark on something like this (not a lot stopping me then!).
Very impressed indeed.
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Z650/old school triumph/Z1100 Chimera.
Moderators: KeithZ1R, chrisu, paul doran, Taffus
You are right rich, but by the time the problem was obvious I had already fitted the Kawasaki flasher unit.
Its just another thing on my list of to-dos.
Another waste of time was my fuel level sensor. I fitted one of those thermistor type level sensors in the tank and worked out how to drive it.
Then fitted an idiot light to the dash to tell me when the fuel was low- as you dont have a reserve tap on FI.
Anyway, with an ali tank (bright and shiny inside) and the fuel cap fitted to one side of the top.... its easy to flip open the cap and look in to see how much fuel I have.
As for the log book, I sent off for the original for the frame shortly after I got it off ebay- and was pleased to get it back without a hitch.
Because there is a possibility that the bike will need to be inspected I could not amend the log book straight away, but when it was sufficiently built I sent off the paperwork with the new colour, engine size and engine number.
Got the whole lot sent back with an instruction to get a covering letter from a motorcycle engineer. I got a letter draughted and signed and sent it off again, this time it came back without a hitch.
Then, I sent it off again, this time changing the number plate to a personal one.
You see one of the motives of doing this bike was to end up with a bike that was the way I wanted it and totally legal. The older bikes don't have to comply to the same exhaust regs as a modern bike- so no need to change the silencer when getting an MOT, they dont have to conform to the same emmission regs- so no catalytic converter, however they do have to comply to the number plate regs- and I like small plates. So after some study of the relavent regs, I found that the size of the plate is not defined in the regs- only the character size, spacing, layout, material, corner rads, borders and identification.
In this way you can have a fancy shaped number plate for the back of your Rover.... and also get a small plate for your bike!
How?
Just buy a cherished number plate that has "narrow" characters. Obviously most of the characters are the same width- but not the 1 or the I. Yes, they used an I for the northern Irish plates.
You are not going to get a plate I1 for your bike... unless you have tons of money, but you can find cheap cherished plates with 5 or 6 characters, that have two 1 or I on each line of the plate. This allows you to make a narrow plate (same height as a standard one) and get that small plate look entirely legally.
Because of new regs plates have to be made up by specialists and you have to send away your docs- Craigs plates do this and are one of the few makers who dont just use standard blanks that accomodate the largest text- but will customise down to the smallest legal size- and still put their name and id against it (most others dont even have a copy of the regs).
The bike looks neat with the small plate- worth the cost for me- in all about £400.
Once the bike was running ok I took it to the MOT guy and got the ticket.
With tax and insurance I took it to Britona for its first run.
I made it there and back ok- a few problems- an oil leak and it ran madly rich. Still, otherwise it rode lovely.
Its just another thing on my list of to-dos.
Another waste of time was my fuel level sensor. I fitted one of those thermistor type level sensors in the tank and worked out how to drive it.
Then fitted an idiot light to the dash to tell me when the fuel was low- as you dont have a reserve tap on FI.
Anyway, with an ali tank (bright and shiny inside) and the fuel cap fitted to one side of the top.... its easy to flip open the cap and look in to see how much fuel I have.
As for the log book, I sent off for the original for the frame shortly after I got it off ebay- and was pleased to get it back without a hitch.
Because there is a possibility that the bike will need to be inspected I could not amend the log book straight away, but when it was sufficiently built I sent off the paperwork with the new colour, engine size and engine number.
Got the whole lot sent back with an instruction to get a covering letter from a motorcycle engineer. I got a letter draughted and signed and sent it off again, this time it came back without a hitch.
Then, I sent it off again, this time changing the number plate to a personal one.
You see one of the motives of doing this bike was to end up with a bike that was the way I wanted it and totally legal. The older bikes don't have to comply to the same exhaust regs as a modern bike- so no need to change the silencer when getting an MOT, they dont have to conform to the same emmission regs- so no catalytic converter, however they do have to comply to the number plate regs- and I like small plates. So after some study of the relavent regs, I found that the size of the plate is not defined in the regs- only the character size, spacing, layout, material, corner rads, borders and identification.
In this way you can have a fancy shaped number plate for the back of your Rover.... and also get a small plate for your bike!
How?
Just buy a cherished number plate that has "narrow" characters. Obviously most of the characters are the same width- but not the 1 or the I. Yes, they used an I for the northern Irish plates.
You are not going to get a plate I1 for your bike... unless you have tons of money, but you can find cheap cherished plates with 5 or 6 characters, that have two 1 or I on each line of the plate. This allows you to make a narrow plate (same height as a standard one) and get that small plate look entirely legally.
Because of new regs plates have to be made up by specialists and you have to send away your docs- Craigs plates do this and are one of the few makers who dont just use standard blanks that accomodate the largest text- but will customise down to the smallest legal size- and still put their name and id against it (most others dont even have a copy of the regs).
The bike looks neat with the small plate- worth the cost for me- in all about £400.
Once the bike was running ok I took it to the MOT guy and got the ticket.
With tax and insurance I took it to Britona for its first run.
I made it there and back ok- a few problems- an oil leak and it ran madly rich. Still, otherwise it rode lovely.
Last edited by j.wilson on Sun Dec 11, 2011 8:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
z650/1400 bonneville hybrid.
Once I had the bike back home I fixed some of the problems.
I had the wheels balanced and changed the rear view mirrors and fiddled with the FI again.
After conversations with DTA who make the ECU, they told me that there was no problem with making FI breathe well and run at wide open throttle- or any throttle opening for that matter- the main challenge was to make the bike ride smooth thru all the transitions in traffic. So it pulls away nice, cruises, pulls cleanly from low rpm etc. For this the said that I would need to connect the lap top and put it on the passenger seat and make fine adjustments while test driving.
I said it was fitted to a motorbike.
They said- …..oh.
My solution?
Once you get used to it… well its hardly noticeable!
Actually, it’s a complete pain as the wind tries to close the top all the time. Anyway, it was enough to get the system to run smooth at small throttle openings and when pulling away, this really transformed town driving and gave me a bike that was a pleasure to ride. And I get over 40mpg and a useful 150 mile range on the tank.
One thing to note here- the FI uses tables to define the injector pulses. The main fuel table has rpm along one axis and throttle opening along the other.
Its worth noting that the scale on these axis does not need to be linear. Its worth making small steps at the low end and big steps at the high end. Note that the first few throttle opening columns are 0, 1, 3, and 6% whilst the top end ones are 55,66,79 and 95%. The same is true for the rpm scale. This allows you to have fine adjustment at those really small throttle openings and low rpms when you are around town and cruising, and make do with course adjustment at wide open throttle.
The only other restriction I have noticed that is a pain on the FI is that the temperature table does not allow for the very high temps that are experienced in air-cooled engines. 130 deg is the highest it is allowed to manage.
I had the wheels balanced and changed the rear view mirrors and fiddled with the FI again.
After conversations with DTA who make the ECU, they told me that there was no problem with making FI breathe well and run at wide open throttle- or any throttle opening for that matter- the main challenge was to make the bike ride smooth thru all the transitions in traffic. So it pulls away nice, cruises, pulls cleanly from low rpm etc. For this the said that I would need to connect the lap top and put it on the passenger seat and make fine adjustments while test driving.
I said it was fitted to a motorbike.
They said- …..oh.
My solution?
Once you get used to it… well its hardly noticeable!
Actually, it’s a complete pain as the wind tries to close the top all the time. Anyway, it was enough to get the system to run smooth at small throttle openings and when pulling away, this really transformed town driving and gave me a bike that was a pleasure to ride. And I get over 40mpg and a useful 150 mile range on the tank.
One thing to note here- the FI uses tables to define the injector pulses. The main fuel table has rpm along one axis and throttle opening along the other.
Its worth noting that the scale on these axis does not need to be linear. Its worth making small steps at the low end and big steps at the high end. Note that the first few throttle opening columns are 0, 1, 3, and 6% whilst the top end ones are 55,66,79 and 95%. The same is true for the rpm scale. This allows you to have fine adjustment at those really small throttle openings and low rpms when you are around town and cruising, and make do with course adjustment at wide open throttle.
The only other restriction I have noticed that is a pain on the FI is that the temperature table does not allow for the very high temps that are experienced in air-cooled engines. 130 deg is the highest it is allowed to manage.
Last edited by j.wilson on Sun Dec 11, 2011 8:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
z650/1400 bonneville hybrid.
So this is the bike today wearing its sticky radial rubber.
There are still a few things to do-
I want to remove the gel pad I had put in the saddle- I thought it would be more comfortable, but because the foam is not thick at the front, there is not much foam left under the gel pad- so its actually quite hard- being mainly gel pad- conforming but not spongy.
I have some hard luggage I want to modify to fit the bike- it’s a great tourer- and I would like to go to Europe in the summer.
The forks are Z650, the bike handles remarkably well with them, but I do have a set of nice long ninja 900c forks to replace them- and callipers to match. Of course this means new yokes, and there is quite a bit of work and expense to deal with. I may swap the speedo for an electric analogue type with integral idiot lights- something nice and retro but simple.
I need to go back to PDQ to get the top end of the map a bit better, and perhaps invest in a tablet pc to mount on the tank for testing.
I have to complete the tank badges too- these are a bit of a pain to make but they are slowly making their way to me.
I want them done before I do any fancy photos.
Swap the taylor HT leads for black ones and put on one of those lithium batteries- good for a 5kg weight saving.
Repaint the tank because the white section to the front of the badges slopes down rather than being parallel to the road.
I’d also like to find some of those sexy long radius exhausts… Yoshi are they?... they look really sexy- perhaps with a low level end-can- or even a reverse cone triumph style muffler.
Finally I’d like to fit an air box to it- I don’t really like the noise the K&Ns make.
So still lots of stuff to do, but that’s the fun of projects like this.
As an ending note, first I’d like to thank Ray and Mikey for their input.
I’m sure I’ve left loads out, so if you have any questions fire ahead.
Lastly, I recommend the Z650 based bike to anyone. I’ve ended up with a truly nice bike.
A comfortable, practical, good handling, light, fast and iconic bike; its just what I wanted. I look forward to riding it whenever I think about it and would rather be on it than anything else. And when I’m on a long ride, it’s so easy and normal to ride it’s just like a “shop bought†bike.
To me, it was well worth the effort and money.
I’m sure what I’ve done is not to everyone’s taste, however if you ignore my cosmetic changes- I believe the Z650 makes the best chassis base for a custom bike- it’ll take the big motor and it’s rigid and light (ish).
There are still a few things to do-
I want to remove the gel pad I had put in the saddle- I thought it would be more comfortable, but because the foam is not thick at the front, there is not much foam left under the gel pad- so its actually quite hard- being mainly gel pad- conforming but not spongy.
I have some hard luggage I want to modify to fit the bike- it’s a great tourer- and I would like to go to Europe in the summer.
The forks are Z650, the bike handles remarkably well with them, but I do have a set of nice long ninja 900c forks to replace them- and callipers to match. Of course this means new yokes, and there is quite a bit of work and expense to deal with. I may swap the speedo for an electric analogue type with integral idiot lights- something nice and retro but simple.
I need to go back to PDQ to get the top end of the map a bit better, and perhaps invest in a tablet pc to mount on the tank for testing.
I have to complete the tank badges too- these are a bit of a pain to make but they are slowly making their way to me.
I want them done before I do any fancy photos.
Swap the taylor HT leads for black ones and put on one of those lithium batteries- good for a 5kg weight saving.
Repaint the tank because the white section to the front of the badges slopes down rather than being parallel to the road.
I’d also like to find some of those sexy long radius exhausts… Yoshi are they?... they look really sexy- perhaps with a low level end-can- or even a reverse cone triumph style muffler.
Finally I’d like to fit an air box to it- I don’t really like the noise the K&Ns make.
So still lots of stuff to do, but that’s the fun of projects like this.
As an ending note, first I’d like to thank Ray and Mikey for their input.
I’m sure I’ve left loads out, so if you have any questions fire ahead.
Lastly, I recommend the Z650 based bike to anyone. I’ve ended up with a truly nice bike.
A comfortable, practical, good handling, light, fast and iconic bike; its just what I wanted. I look forward to riding it whenever I think about it and would rather be on it than anything else. And when I’m on a long ride, it’s so easy and normal to ride it’s just like a “shop bought†bike.
To me, it was well worth the effort and money.
I’m sure what I’ve done is not to everyone’s taste, however if you ignore my cosmetic changes- I believe the Z650 makes the best chassis base for a custom bike- it’ll take the big motor and it’s rigid and light (ish).
Last edited by j.wilson on Sun Dec 11, 2011 8:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
z650/1400 bonneville hybrid.
Can't see why not, drop Dave a line, I see he's buying some titanium now. Much too much £££ for my tight wallet (and a bit too big diameter for my liking if it's 1 5/8)
4 - 2 with upraised reverse cone meggas - and you're worried about the intake noise from the K&Ns
4 - 2 with upraised reverse cone meggas - and you're worried about the intake noise from the K&Ns
Rich
diplomacy is a form of art - I was never any good at art
diplomacy is a form of art - I was never any good at art
oh, I thought there used to be somewhere on this forum you could post shed building sort of stuff.
I guess I'm getting confused with the Old Skool performance site.
I posted the shed stuff here
http://z1ownersclub.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... sc&start=0
I guess I'm getting confused with the Old Skool performance site.
I posted the shed stuff here
http://z1ownersclub.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... sc&start=0
Last edited by j.wilson on Wed Mar 27, 2013 10:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
z650/1400 bonneville hybrid.
j.wilson wrote:oh, I thought there used to be somewhere on this forum you could post shed building sort of stuff.
I guess I'm getting confused with the Old Skool performance site.
I too thought the Bottom shed was for that sort of thing and non kawasaki projects but it looks like just another place for posting crap like the Back yard.
Maybe someone like admin/moderators should sort it out as most of the stuff posted there is already catered for in the back yard and disscussion.
Oh! and nice write up by the way
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