Responses in red for clarity.
Youre acrually installing transistorized ignition. I just refer to everything that isnt "points" as electronic. The usual selling price for the coil, ignitor, pickup, and rotor is fucking ridiculous. Try this if youre the tinkering type.
First off I have no idea what the difference is between what I have now and what this thing is.
http://home.comcast.net/~loudgpz/GPZweb/Ignition/GPZheiModForPoints.html
Not so sure about all old bikes since my 440 is my first bike but heres all the trouble spots i had.
Swingarm bearings. Put the bike on center stand and remove the rear shocks from the swingarm. Grab the wheel and shake it. If theres play, and it will be obvious as hell if there is, get new bearings.
I just removed my swingarm today and the bearing looked like rusted poo. I did not check to see if they had play. I figured I will just replace them for the peace of mind.
Forks. The general consensus is that Kawasaki put shitty forks on our bikes. No amount of care can save the chrome plating. haha, I am planning on painting the fork lowers and ditching the chrome...or what's left. I did try to polish them up but it didn't look good enough.
Some say as long as theres nothing sticking out farther than intended, its okay, but i blew out brand new fprk seals in a week after meticulously shaping the pitted areas. WHat do you mean nothing sticking out? I know I need new fork seals at the top cause they are all cracked and crappy. I don't know how to check to see if there is enough oil or if they are still good or whatever.
Supposedly an 06-07 gixxer 600 and 750 have forks that drop in with just a small spacer. Get em if you find em. I probably would if I found one cheap but from what I have found they go for about what i paid for the whole bike.
Carbs. Seriously, fuck these carbs. Theyre the most tempermental piece of mechanics ive ever dealt with. Soak em, scrub em, spray em and get them spotless. Get a rebuild kit. Set em to stock specs. Dont fuck with the exhaust or intake in any way or the bike will run like pure shit. Dont even look at the carbs funny. Dont even fucking THINK about them.
This has been my biggest fear since I started researching this project. I think I might have already screwed myself because I already taken the exhaust pipes apart at the seams to get rid of my rusted out mufflers. Still the stock pipes, just shorter. I have looked into getting a 2-1 and another carb to try to prevent me from setting the bike on fire when I can't get the carbs synced. I am gonna try the stockers first then go from there.
Valves. If you drive a lot at freeway speeds, you will need to do a valve job every weekend. Invest in some feeler gauges next time youre at the parts store.
This bike is mainly gonna be my get around town bike that will occasionally see some mountain runs. I will be getting antique tags on it so according to VA laws I can't use it as a daily driver, blah,blah,blah.
Wiring. Gut that shit. Go get some wire and solder and redo the whole thing. Its simpler than you think if you get rid of anything that doesnt make the bike run but not everyone can do without horns and idiot lights but it sure beats chasing ghosts in the wiring.
Dude...tell me about shitty wiring. Since I had that huge fairing stock from the factory they just jammed a huge bird's nest of shit under there and didn't attempt to make it neat. I have to sift through all the extra wiring for the radio and extra lights and crap....geez. I might just take your advice and gut everything and start from scratch. Also, what do you think is the smallest battery that I can go with? I'm ttrying to find one that I can lay down without going lithium ion and paying an arm and a leg.
Thanks for all the help/advice.
Well thats all i can think of right now. Good luck!
I really just have to play with everything, unfortunately, and see what works and what needs tinkering.
