My 4th Zed

[Bevelheadmhr]

Been looking for a replica Z900RS fairing for a few months, as the OE fairing is ridiculously expensive. Finally found what I was looking for on a Japanese website, and it arrived today. Very pleased with the quality, and of course its carbon fibre.

 

[Maritime]

Nice.

 

[Bevelheadmhr]

Got the cases, cam cover and sump back from a local specialist who gave them a silver ceramic coating, very pleased with the results. The cylinder head couldn't be coated at the same time, as it was away at a local machine shop having its valve seats recut and getting a mild skim.

I unwrapped the head to see if the colours matched with the cam cover, as then perhaps it didn't need an expensive ceramic coating too. It looked pretty good..

However when I unwrapped the cylinder head for the first time since it came back from the machine shop, things weren't so good... they had somehow managed to break four of the fins. A pita as it took me months to find a head on Ebay which didn't have any broken fins. I think it can be repaired , not sure what's happened, but looks like its been dropped? The machine shop has a good rep, and normally they work on classic Porches, Astom Martins etc .

 

[Bevelheadmhr]

Got the cylinder head back with the broken fins repaired, looks good,.. now it needs to be coated to match the rest of the engine cases. While the frame has now been braced, but lack of room means it'll be some time before it will be powder coated, and the rolling chassis built up.

 

[Bevelheadmhr]

Collected the XJR1300 swing arm for the Z1000A1, which has been powder coated. The faces which hold the wheel adjusters were left uncoated. as the powder coat would soon get scratched when the wheel was moved to adjust the chain.

 

[Streetfighterkz]

I like the contrast of the bare arm at the adjuster locations vs the rest being Pc’d.


Later, Doug

 

[Bevelheadmhr]

Can't do much more with the MK2 without its engine, but recently collected the ported head and its now gone off for ahigh tech coating. Once that's done it can go on top of the engine, and the engine can go in the frame at last.

In the meantime, been working on the Z1000A1. After 8 months of looking finally found a good front wheel, from a Z900RS, so once I fit a new tyre n the week, I can assemble the rolling chassis very loosely. See how it looks for the first time.

Made a mount for the KOSO speedo/tacho, from a piece of 4mm plate, bent 45 degrees. Once shaped, it'll need to be finished in satin black to match the yokes. Also needed to make a housing for the GPS aerial needed for the speedo, made from a piece of 20mm alloy. It has a perspex window, not in the photos. May still do a bit more work on this, may look ok, once painted.

Also bought a carbon fibre front mudguard from a German supplier, called FF carbon. Need to make a suitable mount for it, as don't like the factory mount, looks too angular.

 

[Psychopasta]

Your bike and your build, of course, but I really like that mudguard mount. Making the mount wider supports the width of the bike visually.

 

[Bevelheadmhr]

Spend the morning loosely assembling the Z1000A1.

With no rear shocks yet, the bike almost fell over when I tried to fit the second fork leg, as the additional weight unbalanced the frame. Therefore, I had a look in my garage for something to link the swing arm to the frame. I found an old alloy tool I made years ago for another task, quickly drilled it and it worked ok in place of the shocks.

Once the front end was fitted it was no longer needed. Though I had to refit it when taking everything apart later.

Found a few unexpected problems along the way, good to find out now rather than later during the final build.

 

[Bevelheadmhr]

Couple more pics, the second with the Mk2.. compare and contrast as they say..

 

[doc_rot]

The rear suspension is looking really good with the gloss black and aluminum contrast.

Im not familiar with the Koso product but typically these types of antennas are supposed to be mounted flat to maxmize sky exposure.
carbon is highly conductive and may mess with the GPS antenna since it may partially block it from the sky - its a real problem for RC guys. I have had good success putting GPS antennas under the tail section, glass or plastic, with zero issues.

 

[Bevelheadmhr]

Assembled the engine cases for the first time, the cylinder head still needs to be ceramically coated to match the rest of the cases.

 

[canyoncarver]

Love the wheels, this will be a a real beauty.

 

[Bevelheadmhr]

Wheels and forks are from a Kawasaki Z900RS