Zed 900 road racer .

[Royalratch]

This bike is going to be awesome. A breath of fresh air against all this cafe racer mollox that is everywhere at the mo.

I love the mad max engineered metal muscle of this style.

have you seen this?

[zed1015]

Not seen that before but it is very much the vision i have for the 1428 moriwaki that i'm also working on.

[Tonto]

Rob, that frame is a work of art - really like following this thread - can't wait for the next stages !

[t0ne]

What a cracking thread and top skills Rob, looking forward to seeing the next steps.
Must be a lot of confused looking people between Scunny and Goole what with the lack of road signs up there

[zed1015]

Finally got the crankshafts indexed and welded.
Top one is big pin mk2 for the 1428 and the lower is 1000A for the cafe racer.



Nothing to stop me building the engine now so time to spend an hour or two on the cases in the blasting cabinet






Then a waft over with some satin case paint.


I like to get the cases painted asap after blasting so a quick blow over with the air line then lightly preheat the cases to sweat out any moisture and they are done.
I stand the spray can in some hot water too so there isn't a heat difference between the two.
I will leave the cases to cure overnight then bake them in the oven for a tough solvent resistant finish.
Only after that will i proceed to thoroughly flush out any remaining grit and run a tap down all the threads ready for the rebuild.
If everything goes smoothly i should have the bottom end ready to drop in the frame sometime this weekend

[750steve]

Oh im LOVIN this!! Very meticulous Rob, love the attention to detail

[zed1015]

The Missus was out all day so the perfect opportunity to bake the cases :D



Then run through EVERY thread wth the appropriate tap to remove any blasting media.
Just blowing them out with the air line won't shift it.



Next step will be a hot soapy bath,high pressure water jet through the galleries, a flush out with solvent then another stint with the air line and it should be good to go with the re-build.

[zed1015]

Bath time.
Welding rod with cleaning cloth crimped on the end is perfect for getting down all the oil galleries and bolt holes
Grandson donated his bottle brush for the larger holes.
Rinse and repeat.



Spotless.
After another blast with the airline and flush out with solvent it's nearly ready to go .
Just need to remove the stubborn remains of the original rubbery factory sealer from the front wall


Double check i've got everything needed for assembly



Then in goes the freshly indexed and welded crank from Mr Upperton, HD camchain, slightly beefier Mk2 gearbox and new crankcase 'O'ring.



Ball bearing for oil pressure release in lower case needs a light tap with brass drift to reseat


Once the selector drum and forks are in it's time to bolt up the cases.
On disassembly i always slot the bolts into these card templates to save time rummaging for the correct length bolts later on.

[Padders]

Looking good

[Is Vic There]

Very good, love the detail, going to use the can of paint in warm water trick

[Z1parR]

Very good, love the detail, going to use the can of paint in warm water trick

Not too warm though , all aerosols are hot water bath tested to 55C .
This is a safe maximum temp , you can go hotter but it can get messy when the top blows upwards

[zed1015]

Finally got the bottom end buttoned up this morning after a trip to Teds monthly meet and receiving strict instructions from Padders to " Get on with it" so here it is, on its side ready to drop the frame on.


Some three handed juggling later it's in


And bolted up with some one off stainless fasteners i made earlier.

[Padders]

Superb Rob cannot wait to see how this progresses one of my favorite builds todate.

[Is Vic There]

Very good, some great tips, keep it coming.
Vic

[zed1015]

The same blast, paint, bake and soapy bath treatment for the barrels.
New wiseco circlips, front guide and rings.
These are 900 barrels bored out to 1015 with some unknown ART pistons that came with a manzano head and other ex race parts i bought around 16 years ago.
I couldn't find any rings to fit these so machined the grooves to take the closest i could find at the time which were for a H**** 500 twin
I ran them for around 500 miles on my Z1R then boxed them up when i changed to 1075 wisecos so they are barely run in.
On retrieving them from under the bench i found one top ring on number 1 piston had somehow got chipped so had to buy a full set ( 2 pistons worth )
just for the one ring. Luckily they were only 35 quid delivered from Australia



Another stroke of luck.
The new ring gaps drop straight in the lower end of the recommended range without any adjustment.


So on with the pistons.
I decided to spread the rest of new rings over the other pistons to equal things up.
New top rings on 1-4 and second rings on 2-3 plus one fresh oil scraper ring on each.
Placcy shopping bags are much better than rags for closing up the crankcase mouths against errant circlips etc as there's no possibility of fibers and thread getting where they shouldn't



New bottom roller and rubber blocks in there and base gasket greased both sides.
This allows it to shift and settle evenly when everything is tightened down and makes for easier removal at a later date.
Then the piston skirts are given a light coat of Graphogen assembly compound to give maximum lubrication on start up.
A little goes a long way and it sticks like shit to a blanket so i usually end up wearing more than the pistons