The Free Kawasaki Z650 Project
- Thread starter Bevelheadmhr
- Start date
Managed to get an hour or so on the bike today, small progress, but progress nevertheless
CarbsAndCylinders
Careful With That Axe Eugene
Looking good!
Fitted the tail section and new seat, so I can work out how to mount the ER6 rear lamp. Realised the bike doesn't have a seat lock.. pity as new ones are £82..
Another hour on the bike today, few parts arrived in the post, so could fit the tank, and the front forks. Waiting for new rear wheel bearings, then can get new tyres fitted, and soon it'll be on its wheels again.
jlgace
Active Member
I like your subtle but effective selection of mods here while sticking it out with the original look/wheels. I was going to say I liked the wheels raw until I saw that gold satin. Never expected to like it, but have to say I do. Doesn't hurt that it appears the coater did a fantastic job, think the green and gold combo is going to be smashing. As others have noted, it looks like you do excellent work.
The powder coaters specialise in bike parts, they know what areas need to be masked off etc. t would've been easer and cheaper to fit modern forks / wheels but wanted to keep the OE look.
CarbsAndCylinders
Careful With That Axe Eugene
Looks great!
BTW I put the build on YT, so if your bored, the latest episode is here
New Renthal bars fitted, Tommaselli throttle and R6 master cylinder, the engine mounting brackets have been painted and fitted with stainless bolts. Its become clear that only one of the engine bolts is OE, the rest are a mess. Have ordered a metre of 10mm stainless bar to make new replacements.
Got a problem fitting the side stand, the new Kawasaki retaining bolt doesn't fit, its 10mm while the kickstand takes 12mm. Not sure if the 12mm is original or its been fitted to a modified stand / frame in the past.
Got a problem fitting the side stand, the new Kawasaki retaining bolt doesn't fit, its 10mm while the kickstand takes 12mm. Not sure if the 12mm is original or its been fitted to a modified stand / frame in the past.
Yes, both the 12mm bolt fitted to the bike and new OE 10mm bolt are shouldered.
Got the correct rear wheel bearings and soon fitted them without a problem, so should've gone to local tyre place, got tyres fitted and straight back on the bike to make it a roller at last. But that will have to wait another 8 days as I'm not allowed to drive for 28 days after a sudden illness. I'm doing ok, could've been a lot lot worse. In the meantime, fitted the headlamp mounting bracket, but the headlight itself is in pretty bad condition, so ordered a new one.
A couple of spacers have been replicated in stainless.. one a rear wheel spacer and the other a engine mount spacer. The originals being in poor shape. Finally cleaned up the rear brake plate, still needs a bit more time, but had enough of polishing for now.
A couple of spacers have been replicated in stainless.. one a rear wheel spacer and the other a engine mount spacer. The originals being in poor shape. Finally cleaned up the rear brake plate, still needs a bit more time, but had enough of polishing for now.
Couple more new parts arrived.. new headlight shell and front mudguard, its a replica by PMC in Japan. Also finally fitted the rear light, bit fiddly, and still need to cut the lower section down as its not needed, then paint the whole bracket black.
Few more jobs completed today, the HEL brake lines arrived, and fitted no problem. Painted the side panel badges, which took ages, had to use a tiny brush and a magnifying glass. On fitting the side panels to the bike, realised that one of them had a mount broken off. Looked for a replacement on Ebay, and they all seem to have the exact same broken tang.
On the positive side, tomorrow I can drive again, so will be straight round to the local tyre place with the wheels, and fingers crossed have the bike on its wheels soon... assuming they have the correct sizes in stock, but if not its only a 24 hour wait.
On the positive side, tomorrow I can drive again, so will be straight round to the local tyre place with the wheels, and fingers crossed have the bike on its wheels soon... assuming they have the correct sizes in stock, but if not its only a 24 hour wait.
pidjones
Over 1,000 Posts
Most all motorcycle covers are ABS plastic that bonds strongly using ABS plumbing cement and general purpose plumbing cleaner. Plastic to make new tangs is usually given freely by repair shops doing wreck repairs. Cut out what you need and glue it on. If needed, fiberglass cloth can reinforce, impregnated with ABS cement.
If ABS cement is not available locally (or Amazon), there are recipes online - primarily ABS shavings dissolved in acetone.
If ABS cement is not available locally (or Amazon), there are recipes online - primarily ABS shavings dissolved in acetone.
Just checked Amazon, and it is available, so ordered a bottle, next need to make the missing tang somehow.
After a few delays, finally got new tyres on the wheels so at last the bike is a roller again. It was surprising hard work on your own, those old wheels are very heavy.
I found a weird problem with the bike that I've never seen before.. the RHS upper shock mount is 16mm in diameter, while the LHS is 14mm... I'll make a suitable spacer to make up the difference, but it is very odd.
I know the bike had been crashed at some point in the past, so maybe one top mount was damaged and another was used as a replacement.. the frame had been crudely painted before I got it, so couldn't tell if that area had been welded.
Cant fit the side stand as the bolt it uses is non standard, so have to make one, in the meantime its going to have to lean against the wall in the garage.
Not sure what engine the bike is going to have, probably either the original 650 motor, but rebuilt, or perhaps a GPz750 engine, which also needs rebuilding.. or maybe just fit 750 pistons to the Z650 engine. Be a while before any of that happens, so this Z650 will have to stay leaning on the garage wall for some time yet. But that's ok, got other bikes to work on this summer.
I found a weird problem with the bike that I've never seen before.. the RHS upper shock mount is 16mm in diameter, while the LHS is 14mm... I'll make a suitable spacer to make up the difference, but it is very odd.
I know the bike had been crashed at some point in the past, so maybe one top mount was damaged and another was used as a replacement.. the frame had been crudely painted before I got it, so couldn't tell if that area had been welded.
Cant fit the side stand as the bolt it uses is non standard, so have to make one, in the meantime its going to have to lean against the wall in the garage.
Not sure what engine the bike is going to have, probably either the original 650 motor, but rebuilt, or perhaps a GPz750 engine, which also needs rebuilding.. or maybe just fit 750 pistons to the Z650 engine. Be a while before any of that happens, so this Z650 will have to stay leaning on the garage wall for some time yet. But that's ok, got other bikes to work on this summer.
