A Tale of Two Zeds
- Thread starter Bevelheadmhr
- Start date
I have have the time to work on the bike again. Currently in the middle of rebuilding the engine.. Soon found a problem, one of the many boxes containing the engine parts has gone missing. Looked everywhere for it, but can't find it. That box held a lot of the engine internals, along with the engine covers and a few new small items.
No doubt it'll turn up in six months time. Cant wait that long, so had to find used replacements from Ebay and a few new items from Z-Power etc.
Got most of the bottom end done, but now waiting for parts to arrive to fit the pistons, block and head.
In the meantime took the Mikumi VM carbs apart, they were worse than I expected. The homemade black paint was peeling off, while one of the floats was badly damaged, one carb had a missing spring.. god knows how.
Spent hours slowly stripping off the old paint, the carbs have been rebuilt unpainted, the choke rod is rusty, so going to try make a new one in stainless.
No doubt it'll turn up in six months time. Cant wait that long, so had to find used replacements from Ebay and a few new items from Z-Power etc.
Got most of the bottom end done, but now waiting for parts to arrive to fit the pistons, block and head.
In the meantime took the Mikumi VM carbs apart, they were worse than I expected. The homemade black paint was peeling off, while one of the floats was badly damaged, one carb had a missing spring.. god knows how.
Spent hours slowly stripping off the old paint, the carbs have been rebuilt unpainted, the choke rod is rusty, so going to try make a new one in stainless.
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That's every builder's nightmare – finally getting time to work on the bike and then discovering an important box of parts has vanished! Hopefully it turns up eventually. Good call sourcing replacements so the rebuild can keep moving. The Mikuni VM carbs sound like they needed some serious attention too. Looking forward to seeing the engine back together. If you're still hunting for quality engine components and rebuild parts, I found some useful options here: https://tmfcycles.com/engine/ . Best of luck with the rest of the build!
I'm in the UK so that may be a little far away lol. I've since bought another dismantled engine, when I went to collect it, the owner asked me if I wanted to buy his never completed KZ650 cafe project. It was so cheap, how could I say no.. So now I have 3 Z650 engines and three Z650 projects... As earlier this year I bought a Z650 frame, for a future project, which has progressed much faster than I had expected. I had the front end/wheels from a modern Kawasaki Z900RS, along with a swing arm from a Yamaha XJR1300, all of which had been modified to fit an old KZ1000. That project is dead, but luckily those parts when into the 650 frame with very little work..
Pics are the GPZ750 engine slowly coming together. Cases have been cerakoated and covers powder coated..
And my two new projects, the first I call Deja Vue, and the second I'll probably build as a cafe racer, with different bodywork and a half fairing..
Pics are the GPZ750 engine slowly coming together. Cases have been cerakoated and covers powder coated..
And my two new projects, the first I call Deja Vue, and the second I'll probably build as a cafe racer, with different bodywork and a half fairing..
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crazypj
Split personality, I fake being smart
I've always liked the 650 more than the 900 my sister had, 720 kit, cams and carbs and they are quick bikes (although still not to modern sport bike standards)
I even bought a 650 tailpiece to make a mould to narrow so I can fit one to my 74' Honda 360
I even bought a 650 tailpiece to make a mould to narrow so I can fit one to my 74' Honda 360
I've been messing about with the unfinished Z650 cafe project I bought recently. Just trying out a few ideas, using stuff I already had. I tried a Ducacsti SS900 Desmo seat unit, which didn't look too bad, so I then bought a cheap replica 900ss fairing to match. Mounting this fairing wasn't easy, though I have owned an original 900SS Desmo, so that helped.
All the brackets are aluminium, two of the three are now done, just waiting for some alloy tubing to arrive, before I can complete the third, lower mount.
Also I swapped out the spoked wire wheels, with a pair of mag wheels from the green Z650, as they came with discs and calipers from an R6. This change also meant swapping the forks too.
The bike looks ok now, except for the side panels, which I'll change in the future, though not sure how yet.
All the brackets are aluminium, two of the three are now done, just waiting for some alloy tubing to arrive, before I can complete the third, lower mount.
Also I swapped out the spoked wire wheels, with a pair of mag wheels from the green Z650, as they came with discs and calipers from an R6. This change also meant swapping the forks too.
The bike looks ok now, except for the side panels, which I'll change in the future, though not sure how yet.
