XZ in NZ

Here's my XZ just before it was earthquake damaged.

Fairing, sidecovers, tank, engine case, luggage, mirrors, exhaust, indicators and handlebars were all busted. Rather that try and get it back to fixed I've decided to have some DTT fun with it. Apart from the engine case, the motor should still be good - The plan is to go through the whole bike from front to back with some performance and cosmetic mods along the way - pretty much what I did last time, but with DTT eyes on.

I like the cafe racer look, but that's going to be difficult on this bike - there is a massive frame spine / airbox under the tank so either a custom tank (that I don't have skills for), modify the stocker (also no skills), or use the original. We will see how I go.

The frame I'm doing last - when I know everything fits, and am sure I don't want to go back to stock

Decided to start from the front and work backwards. I've got a few days work off this week so I tidied the garage and got dirty.

The fork inners are kind of rusty where the pinch bolts go, but still serviceable. I'd like to go the inverted fork route one day, but the XZ has a large offset for tank clearance, and a trailing axle. I don't know how easy a USD conversion would be - and I'm not game to spend hundreds on forks just to try it out.

For now I'll just make them as good as I can with a few mods:
BSA Gaiters
Tarrozi Fork Brace
Racetech gold valves
Air caps / inners off a XZ400

The progressive springs are stock on the XZ Aus/NZ model. Raceteck say not to use progressives, but don't say why.

For some reason the aluminium bush at the bottom of one of these was deformed – you can see in the picture it is out of round. Perhaps I over tightened it last time. The bolt came out OK, but there was no way it was going in again without drilling it out. I swapped it out with a spare.

Another busy day.
Got the forks together, filled with oil and on the bike. The other 1/2 litre ended up on the floor - what a mess.

I have a 7" chrome headlight - new ex Taiwan. I think it looks OK but there isn't enough room in the bucket for all the wires. Here it is on a trial fit with some mini turn signals. The XZ came with huge dumbo ears for flashers - I guess bulbs were dimmer back then.

I've also settled on some drag bars - the stock XZ have this weird combination clip-on / triple which fixes the bars in a not very attractive or comfortable position. I tried a pair of FZR250 clipons, but they bash the tank with about 2 degrees of turn. In the end I chopped the handlebar risers off flush with the triple and mounted the converted triple from a mate in Auckland who had tried some hippie bars on his.

Swapped out the mudguard for a little shortie version I trimmed with a hacksaw and file.

Also dropped in a NOS radiator cowl.

All in all a good days wrenching

Interesting bike Roro, I'll be following. Nice to see more locals around here too.

Thanks, Yours will look sweet too. I nearly bought a Rothmans branded one last year but found I'd need to do a year of yoga to get on it without doing my back in so stuck with the 550.

Local LOL - I've been overseas more than I've been to Auckland

Roro said:

Local LOL - I've been overseas more than I've been to Auckland

Click to expand...

Haha, I mean a New Zealander (Auckland's part of this country too you know! ).

I know what you mean. Kiwibiker is about the only forum with lots of New Zealanders. On the plus side, hardly anyone here builds bikes, so when you take your cafe/brat/bobber/special/restoration out for a spin you will still get admiring comments about how unique it is.

If ever there was proof that the Japanese employ child slave labour it is the XZ exhaust system.
There is NO WAY an adult can get that exhaust in or out unless they have spooky dwarf hands

The trumpet shaped stock exhausts are exceedingly heavy, hideously ugly, and very un-cafe.

I picked up a pair of Spec2 pipes from the US ($100 shipping). Steel pipe with stainless canisters. Spec2 are better known for their RD/RZ pipes they make, but they did make sets for the XZ550 back in the day. These are horribly rusted (but still solid), broken in half and a bit battered. I welded them up, gave them a clean and a trial fit. They look much better, and about 10kg lighter.

I have to decide if I should paint them black, or get them ceramic coated. Either way they will need bead blasting.
If I do get them ceramic coated should I do them black or silver, or both?

Before I coat them I want to drill them and weld on O2 sensor bungs.

Perhaps they should be an inch or two shorter.

While I mull over the exhausts, My gauges arrived from Dime City Cycles.

Here they are compared to the stock gauges, and some others I bought, but hated when I found they weren't real metal chrome but chromified plastic - Yuck. and that it didn't go up to the ton

Being water cooled, I need a temp gauge, and I'd like a volt meter also. No idea what to do about these. - My new gauges are 64mm, so even 52mm temp / volt gauges will look too big

Those gauges are a lot nicer than the stock ones, and those ugly big plastic things you bought.

2nd best exhaust note I have enjoyed on a streetbike......550 vision with 4-4 and little aluminum pitbike mufflers. Not terribly loud but sounded like a 1/2 scale smallblock gone rabid.

Yes, a nice exhaust note, and very distinctive
When I first got this bike it had the airbox removed. The intake howl from the dual downdraught carbs is louder than the straight-through exhaust that was on it - you could hear it coming 5 minutes away

Hi, theres been a few xz's cafe racers for sale on trademe so will be interested in what yours ends up like! the new gauges look nice, agree that its a shame they're plastic! am about to get my new project soon (as soon as i can afford it!!). good luck!! ps i asked them to include a nz section so check that out!

I was going to build a bracket for my gauges today, but found a pair of used R1 Rotors on the Internet, and just had to fit them.
The bolt holes are identical, as is the spacing between rotors - they are dead flat. They have a larger diameter, so fitted a spacer to jig them out 25mm or so (thanks Jared). If you follow trademe, these are off the green/white XZ400 Cafe that was on there a while back. It now sports a full GSXR front end and sidedraft carbs and looks rather amazing.

I still have to build a bush, get some bolts with an extra 4mm (the width of the adapter plate) and give it a coat of paint.

I'm guessing the extra diameter will improve my braking somewhat.

The XZ has a bit of a reputation burning up stators to a crisp, and a lot of speculation as to whether that's exacerbated by overly hot oil - certainly it can smell a bit burned after a long run. True of not, it's never going to be a bad thing knowing how hot things are getting down in your nether regions, but if I put another gauge on the bike it will end up looking like a 747 cockpit.

I found some cool Q-SPS oil filled temp gauges on ebay. They have a fair range of sizes, but nothing that will fit the 82 XZ's filler 19.5mm with a 2.0 thread pitch. I ordered the QOT-06 which is just the right length to tuck in behind the pickups, and had a mate cut down the thread in his lathe, then hand cut it with a file to fit.

Finally got back to my gauges.
The XZ is a real pig - the angular stock gauges are mounted with great big stick out lugs. Cutting them off doesn't help much because there's noting else to mount them onto.

After about 3 false starts I made a bracket out of 2mm 5053 alloy. Uses the stock rubber mounts with a little 11mm ali pipe to stop them crushing. These are important as the gauges say on the box that they will fail with excess vibration. Once I'm sure I'm happy with them I'll send them out for some powder. I still have a cunning plan for the space where the idiot lights and key used to be.

I didn't realise till I put some power through them, but they are backlit blue. How cool is that.

These gauges only have a single flasher led, but two on the stock gauge - Does any know about the diodes I would need to wire it up properly?

So it seems I haven't touched the bike for over a month. That's not entirely true, but nothing much worth sharing.

The XZ shock is a major disappointment. The 83 is better than the 82m but both suck rather a lot. Recently I bought a second hand shock from USA which was a FZR unit converted to fit the XZ. It arrived without oil, so I tool it off to a "professional" to get re-built and recharged. That was a supreme waste of money - it cost way more than I thought it would, but then it started pissing out oil before it had even been on the bike. So there's no money left for a new one, and another bike shop on my shit list. Whatever I do will have to be on the cheap cheap.

I was recently donated a very low km R1 shock. Adjustable preload, compression and rebound and looks brand new. There are heaps of these available as people seem to love replace them with $2000 Ohlins units. The R1 shock is one of those double action ones, but it's got a lot of interest on the Kawasaki Versys which has a similar setup to the XZ. Some feel the need for a heavier spring, others not so much - but springs are relatively cheap compared to entire shock units.

The length is similar size - 310mm eye to eye rather than the 317mm stock and other than the 10mm eyes (12mm on the XZ), it will drop straight in if you are game to remove the rear mudguard and move around some of the wiring. The bottom eye is mild steel, so I just drilled it with a 12mm cobalt drill in my press (250RPM, lots of lube). The top is hardened stainless and just melts the drill, so I machined up a new bushing - 40mm x 12mmID x 17mmOD in steel. Both bushes are still thicker than the XZ stock so I'm hoping they will be OK - if they break then the 12mm pins are still there for safety.

I've been reading a lot about the Motogadget M-unit system. http://motogadget.com/en/electrics/electronic-control-box-m-unit/m-unit/m-unit-digit-tastersteuerung-u-sicherung.html

My wiring was toast anyway - much corrosion on the connectors (despite the grease, and cable almost melted through where it passed through by the R/R. Got myself an M-unit, m-button and a whole bunch of cable I can think about doing a full re-wire. All connectors will be weatherpac (only slightly dearer than OEM) crimped and soldered and the ignition key will be replaced by RFID.

Despite the simplicity of the M-Unit, It will be located way back in the seat cowl and by the time I wire the additional sensors, volt meter, marker lights, airhorn etc there is going to be a ton of cable in this beasty. I'm thinking of running it all through braided sleeve rather than wrapping but this means I have to plan it all out and get the sleeve on before attaching any ends.

Anyone have any idea what sort of braid would be best? Can I use metal and make that an earth strap?

I would avoid metal braid since these things vibrate...even the smoothest bike and I could see it wearing thru the insulation on your wires.

I am diggin' my M-unit, can't wait to see how yours turns out!