1980 z650 Cafe project

[TheNinj]

Hi guys,

Since I've been getting lots of great info from this forum I thought it only right that I posted a quick thread about my 1980 z650 cafe racer project. It's the first time I've built a cafe racer and my intentions were never to make an absolute prize winning minter but to take a good donor bike and create something that suits me using as much of the original as I can. I also wanted to try and do as much of the work as I can, even if that means stuff like paint wont be as good as a pro shop, that's the ethos of this bike, it's a bike to be run around the peak district in the summer for fun and it's something that I've wanted to make for years.

I only started this project a few weeks ago and it's by no means finished yet but heres a rundown of what I've done so far:

The bike is a 1980 (MY 1979) z650 B3, with around 45k on the clock, this is how it looked when I picked it up:

z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr
z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr
z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr

The bike had been stood for unknown years and so I stripped the carbs and gave them a good clean, lots of gunk removed! The airbox rubbers were pretty shot too so they got replaced because I first wanted to make sure the bike ran OK in it's standard form before pulling everything off. Once I got it running OK I started looking for some parts.

Stuff that needed sorting:

I noticed that the speedo cable didnt fit the speedo drive, which is odd and I'm still trying to work that one out
new flasher unit
new coils
I wanted to replace the Lester mags with original spoked wheels because I prefer the look so managed to get hold of some through ebay (Lester wheels are for sale btw
Cleaned out tank
fitted inline fuel filter


So after that I managed to get it through its MOT (with no advisories!) and ran it around for a bit. It wasn't running great until I figured out that the two inner cylinders were needed the mixture adjusting and then it ran much better. until I ran out of fuel

z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr

So then I got to work turning the bike into the cafe bike I wanted to make.

got some adjustable clipons, headlight clamps, smaller indicators and a fibreglass cafe racer seat which I intended to use but when I put it on the bike I just couldn't make it work, so back that went to the shop and I swapped it for a brat style seat, which as it turns out didn't really work either:
z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr
z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr

I just didn't really like the way it looked, plus it would have been difficult to mount the way I wanted it to so while I pondered what to do I set about re-locating the electrics. I made a steel tray out of 2mm (i think) steel sheet from the local B&Q (I know) using an old packet of cereal for a template. Cut it out with my trusty angle grinder
z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr
z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr
z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr
z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr

I Also got to work de-tabbed the rear triangle. Also I got some cheap MOXI pod filters off ebay for about £10 which I though would work well enough (more about that later) But I still hadn't worked out what I wanted to do with the seat. I couldn't cut the rear loop until I'd figured this out so I decided to go the custom seat route and build a seat pan from aluminium after I chop the frame and install the rear loop which I had made (a very nice chap off ebay).

z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr
z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr
z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr
z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr

I welded the hoop and also cut some box section to fill in cut on the shock mount triangle (was rather happy how that came out)

z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr
z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr

Then made the seat pan to fit (actually did this before filling in the triangles):

z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr
z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr
z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr

Sent the seat pan off to the local Trimmers to get a nice seat made to my specs and while that was off concentrated on re-locating the electrics and attempting a spray job on the tank.

Bought a ridiculously expensive Shorai lithium battery and managed to cram all the electrics under the seat:

Nameless z650 cafe racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr

Note the idiot proof plus and minus stickers (may have attempted to install the leads the wrong way!)

Then decided to tackle spraying the tank, I work in the creative industry so I designed some very simple retro/modern graphics for the tank, I really like the idea of calling the bike "nameless" so got that cut from vinyl at a local sign shop and then went down to local Halfords (auto store) and bought some Rover Arum White paint, priomer and lacquer and got to work on the tank. Filled in the badge recess, 3 coats of primer, light sanding in between and then 4 coats of Arum White before leaving to dry overnight and adding the graphics. Finished off with a few coats of lacquer. It's not perfect, a bit orangepeely in places but it's a damn sight better than I thought it would come out!

Nameless z650 cafe racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr

I also added an LED rear light strip for the brakes/light and indicators which is cool! Got that off ebay for £16, its a stick on thing but it's never coming off! Also drilled the rear hoop to run the cable through to the battery box to look neat.

Nameless z650 cafe racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr

So after a week at the trimmers (he was busy) I got the seat back and put everything back on the bike:

Nameless z650 cafe racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr

And thats where I am at the moment. I've still got to sort out the fuelling because those pods messed up that! It's great up till about 3/4 throttle but after that it breaks up and bogs. I'm currently runnig 15 pilots and 117.5 mains with the needle at 4 but even then it seems too lean at full throttle. I've got some bigger jets coming in the next couple of days which I hope will cure that. But in the mean time heres a few shots of it's current state (next thing is to get rid of that exhaust, or at least chop the brown silencer off but I'm not sure I want to run an unsilenced bike!)

Nameless z650 cafe racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr
z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr
z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr
z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr
z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr
z650 Nameless Cafe Racer by Andy Turner, on Flickr

 

[Kamn]

Looking good mate
That seat is really nice, looks super comfortable and great stitching

Enjoy your ride

 

[TheNinj]

Looking good mate
That seat is really nice, looks super comfortable and great stitching

Enjoy your ride

Thanks Kamm

Yeah the seat came out pretty good, mainly because I know the limits of my (lack of) skills and actually paid someone to do the cover for me

 

[canyoncarver]

So much better than those skinny 1 inch brat seats. So now, tell us all of your pod-tuning experience.

 

[TheNinj]

So much better than those skinny 1 inch brat seats. So now, tell us all of your pod-tuning experience.

Cheers! Yeah I wanted a seat that wasn't too low down so I can actually ride the thing

Ha! I have no pod tuning experience which is why I still haven't got the bike running right yet. I think *think* that it's still too lean on the top end because I can't open the throttle past about 3/4 without it bogging. It also doesn't like to rev past about 6k on half throttle either. I know it runs ok because I got it running fine all the way to the redline when I had the stock airbox on so I'm hoping it's just a case of upping the mains a bit more. I'm currently on 117.5 and I'm waiting for some 120 and 122.5s to come. I'll report back if that changes things!

 

[canyoncarver]

What do your spark plugs look like?

 

[yorkie350]

Welcome in mate nice to see another Brit builder , great donor bike made some good progress already what you thinking for the exhaust that could make a difference to the running too but Ive been there with the pods n jets takes some messing but can be dialled in sweet keep the updates n pics coming mate

 

[TheNinj]

What do your spark plugs look like?

Theyre a little bit grey looking on the electrodes but the rest looks quite sooty. I havent done a proper plug chop yet becasue I'm waiting until I can get it running all the way to the redline. I got a colortune plug and got the idle pretty good so the low end seems ok, possibly a little rich but it also needs the carbs synching. I'm gonna see what the bigger jets do and go from there!

 

[TheNinj]

Welcome in mate nice to see another Brit builder , great donor bike made some good progress already what you thinking for the exhaust that could make a difference to the running too but Ive been there with the pods n jets takes some messing but can be dialled in sweet keep the updates n pics coming mate

Cheers Yorkie! Yeah, it's getting there, when I get the pods dialed in I'll be a happy bunny I was thinking I could either chop the exhaust just after the collector and buy a slip on silencer but that tube is cone shaped and I'm not sure I'd get a good fit. Or chop the exhaust at the silencer and try and find some sort of bung/baffle to insert? I know you can get those db killer things cos I have one in my VFR800 exhaust but they're pretty small and wont fit in that large a diameter. Any Ideas? I suppose I could always drop another few hundred on a new system but I'm pretty skint now!

 

[yorkie350]

I cut the exhaust on my cb350f ime using it open at moment but if you look inside there is a collector pipe that a baffle would slip on so would look cool but not so loud ,also the four exhausts on my 550 race rep were so loud I put baffles in, they came from a corvette just a tube of mesh really but give a bit of back pressure & knock the db's down a bit too :

 

[TheNinj]

Yeah thats kind of what I was thinking. That looks like a nice neat job there. Did you cut the flange from sheet steel and how did you mount it into the exhaust?

In other news, I still cant get the thing running right on the pods. Last night I tried various combinations of larger and smaller pilots and mains but I still get the same symptoms. Basically it's great and pulls well up to about 5-6k on 3/4 throttle but it doesn't want to rev past that unless I close the throttle down to just below half. The odd thing is that no matter what I change I still get those same symptoms. I ended up with 17.5 pilots and the 102.5 (or possibly 105, I couldn't quite make out the markings but they were the original) mains and that seems very slightly better. I re-set the timing with a strobe to the correct mark, I even tried advancing it a little but the same. The only things I haven't yet done are to sync the carbs and check/adjust the valve gaps. I think I may have to give up and take it to a grown up with proper tools and actual experience next

 

[canyoncarver]

Yeah thats kind of what I was thinking. That looks like a nice neat job there. Did you cut the flange from sheet steel and how did you mount it into the exhaust?

In other news, I still cant get the thing running right on the pods. Last night I tried various combinations of larger and smaller pilots and mains but I still get the same symptoms. Basically it's great and pulls well up to about 5-6k on 3/4 throttle but it doesn't want to rev past that unless I close the throttle down to just below half. The odd thing is that no matter what I change I still get those same symptoms. I ended up with 17.5 pilots and the 102.5 (or possibly 105, I couldn't quite make out the markings but they were the original) mains and that seems very slightly better. I re-set the timing with a strobe to the correct mark, I even tried advancing it a little but the same. The only things I haven't yet done are to sync the carbs and check/adjust the valve gaps. I think I may have to give up and take it to a grown up with proper tools and actual experience next

Yessir, check those valves if you have not done so. It's an old-bike-must-do.! It may not be the whole root of your tuning issue but until you know where they are, you can't rule it out. Check the cam chain adjuster too. I'd install a newer manual tensioner on that lump too.

 

[TheNinj]

So went out on it last night and took the pods off completely just to see what happened. Well, it ran a bit rough in the low end but when I opened the throttle it took off like a stabbed rat all the way up to the redline! I nearly fell off the back! So it seems the cheap MOXI pods are restricting the carbs and not the other way around like I thought! That explains why all my adding fuel/messing around to try and restrict airflow came to nothing and I always got the same symptoms. Now these pods have a bit of a step reduction inside them and I've heard stories that this could interfere with the holes around the bottom of the carb inlet thus screwing it up so I might see if I can modify the pods to eliminate that or I'm thinking of getting some Ramair foam filters instead.

http://www.ramair-filters.co.uk/shop/motorcycle/race-pod-air-filters-motorcycle/40mm-ramair-foam-pod-air-filter-universal-motorcycle-scooter-kart-quad-atv-3/

They're a fair bit cheaper than the K&N ones and as far as I can tell are pretty good.

 

[canyoncarver]

I was going to ask what brand pods you had. From the pics, I couldn't tell, IMHO if you do pods, do K&N or don't do pods. Uni-filters look pretty much like those ram-airs, they look good too.

 

[TheNinj]

Yeah I went cheap with the MOXI filters, I'm regretting that now. What's the opinion on the foam filters vs the cotton gauze ones like k&n?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[canyoncarver]

Yeah I went cheap with the MOXI filters, I'm regretting that now. What's the opinion on the foam filters vs the cotton gauze ones like k&n?

Opinions are free! I run K&N's on my ZRX. Every few months or by looking at them remove, wash, dry, oil, re-install. Works great. I don't run the uni-style foam ones but others have good success, your mileage may vary and you'll have the same basic maintenance.