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Kawasaki Z500 B2 1980 refurb after 78260 miles


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Dug the Chrome Motad out and gave it the once over.

 

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Decided to remove the single keepers from the headers and replate them. Bit of struggle getting them round the bends but with a heat gun they came off without any damage to the chrome. These header were already blued before you ask, that's how i got the pipe cheap. I do have a Motad Neta pipe with a gold can, will clean this up next as it got a fair bit of use from 1990 to 2006 when the chrome pipe appeared.

 

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The problem with the keepers being difficult to remove can be seen in the pic below

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As i was cleaning the keepers I took my dremel and smoothed the seam out.

 

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Alloy cleaned with a proper brass wire brush and keepers replated.

 

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To finish off I repainted the bracket (Satin Black) and used Stainless bolts for the fixings.


When fitting this exhaust it is better to first fit No 4 header pipe (No 4 cylinder is on the RH side of engine) to the silencer. This is the top left hole looking into the collector box. Fit the silencer with the No 4 header pipe to the bike loose. Fit No 1 header to the engine then push into top right hole in collector. Then do the same with No 2 Header (bottom right) and No 3 in the Bottom left. A soft mallet is handy here.


A quick buff with Solvol Autosol. Looking good

 

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pic from 1993 with the Motad Neta pipe (now where did I put those rear-sets and steering damper).

 

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  • 5 weeks later...

Carburetor

As you can see from the pics below the carbs are in pretty good shape.

 

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It was very tempting to split the banks and strip them completely. I decided to leave as much alone as possible as this is just a good inspect and clean .The fuel gallery 7 mm “O” rings part number 92055-1072 now superseded by 670B1507 are quite cheap and available so will order 2 sets (24) for my spare carbs just in case. The main fuel hose 92059-1098 (7 x 12 x 180 mm) and vacum tap hose 92059-1101 (5.4 x 11.4 x 280mm) and overflow pipes x 4 92059-1102 (3.5 x 6.5 x 550) will all be replaced as they show signs of cracking or are badly split at the ends. The hose clamps are a fortune so will replate the ones I have.


Below is the results of a 30 minute soda blast with the carbs fully assembled.

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After Soda blasting the carbs were soaked in warm water and given a good scrub. The float bowls and tops and jets were removed and cleaned separately, all then followed by a dry with the air line.


The throttle cable choke inks and various bits were then removed for replating. Took plenty of pics before disassembly as always.

 

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All linkages and bits cleaned and replated.

 

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Bits refitted

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Fuel level and float height relationship

In the manual it gives you a service level for the fuel, on other bikes in the past I have just had to measure the float heights and that was it.

 

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In the fuel level section the design measurement is from the information I can get is the distance from the centreline of the carb bore to the fuel level in the bowl. The service level is the distance down from the carb body casting. The diagram below modded from the service manual hopefully makes it clear.

 

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Unless any of the float system has been changed, i.e. after-market needle valves the fuel level should not change from the factory. Thanks to a post and web site from a KZRiders forum member LoudVx I have got a lot of info on the TK-22 carbs and other Z500-Z550 related bits. Here is the link to his TK-22 site.


https://s3.amazonaws.com/gpzweb/TK22mainPage/TK22mainPage.html#home


From the info on this site it is possible to set the float height by a measurement of the floats height. This will get you somewhere near the correct level but a check with a clear tube is always good to be 100% sure of the correct fuel level.


Gently press down on the float frame at the hinge pin to take out any play in the hinge. Then lift the other end of the float until the needle's spring-loaded pin is just barely making contact with the floats tongue. The casting seam of the float should be at 18mm from the carb body's gasket surface

 

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With the initial measurement set the float bowls were re-fitted with the 16 replated M4 x 16 screws. The bank was then secured into my workmate and levelled up.

 

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Carbs filled up with fresh fuel and each bowl level checked against the carburettor body, I used an old small syringe from my printer ink kit.

As always when reading a fluid level you take the reading from the bottom of the meniscus. Lucky there is a line at the correct level on the float bowl to make life a lot easy.

 

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All that remained to be done was the setup of the throttle stop and fast idle cam position.


Throttle stop or full throttle position setting is very important on these slide carbs, it is possible to allow the side to go higher than the throttle mouth, in this position the needle will be too far out of the mixing chamber and as the carb is wide open no more air can get in but the more fuel will be drawn in with the needle too far out. The stop screw keeps the slide from going too high up so is set wide open to just be level with the carb bore on the output side.

 

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using the stop screw i set it to here

 

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Fast idle has always been a problem on the Z500-550. Thanks to the use of the spring loaded choke plates when the choke is in full position the slide is raised by 1.7-1.9mm from idle. This is not really a problem until you open the throttle a bit, the vacuum stays low so keeping RPM low but as you rev it the vacuum increases opening the choke flaps and bingo the it runs away with itself. A bit of a workaround is to replace the fast idle screw with a suitable bolt and spring to keep adjusting the fast idle up and down depending on the season. I have not done this yet only set the fast idle to only raise the slide by 0.5mm and not touch the throttle till the engine has had a few mins to warm up.

 

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Next airbox reassemble and carbs on

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Much appreciated Bob, This bike has been with me Man and Boy and has quite a few battle scars. Have kept them all as it is part of our history. Have seen bike where the history has been for want of a bitter word "reset".


found a video on YouTube of the Durham dales run 2008, low and behold a short clip of muggins here, took a screen for the album

Durham Dales Run 2009 screen cap.jpg


Wheeler Dealers indeed!! Have seen you posts and they are top quality as are all on here. It is a joy to see us all enjoying our bikes in every way we can.


Rob

 

Have you seen this Swamp Thing that I've taken on ?

Polish_20200813_160542874.thumb.jpg.cb5acba6a4558efaac641597193e4f52.jpg

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Much appreciated Bob, This bike has been with me Man and Boy and has quite a few battle scars. Have kept them all as it is part of our history. Have seen bike where the history has been for want of a bitter word "reset".


found a video on YouTube of the Durham dales run 2008, low and behold a short clip of muggins here, took a screen for the album

Durham Dales Run 2009 screen cap.jpg


Wheeler Dealers indeed!! Have seen you posts and they are top quality as are all on here. It is a joy to see us all enjoying our bikes in every way we can.


Rob

 

Have you seen this Swamp Thing that I've taken on ?

that is what you call a project :wink:
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Much appreciated Bob, This bike has been with me Man and Boy and has quite a few battle scars. Have kept them all as it is part of our history. Have seen bike where the history has been for want of a bitter word "reset".


found a video on YouTube of the Durham dales run 2008, low and behold a short clip of muggins here, took a screen for the album

Durham Dales Run 2009 screen cap.jpg


Wheeler Dealers indeed!! Have seen you posts and they are top quality as are all on here. It is a joy to see us all enjoying our bikes in every way we can.


Rob

 

Have you seen this Swamp Thing that I've taken on ?

 

Following it Bob

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ignition Coils relay conversion


As standard most bikes from this era were built with the thinnest wire possible, add to that the long runs via switches and heavy current draws for aftermarket headlights etc and you will see a lot of wasted voltage, even with the std 40-50W headlights these thin wire will have enough resistance to drop 2V or so from the battery voltage.


The best solution besides a complete rewire is to run the high current items via relays as cars have done for many years.


My RD400C had Piranha ignition and as it had a kick start I was not to bothered when the battery started to fail. Only when it got down to just under 10V it would not start. Early electronic ignition units like the Piranha seem to be a pick fussy and require a good voltage to work right. With the Z500 having an “Electric Foot” only I decided to give the ign unit the best possible chance.


Even with the std contact breaker system the coils will pull 5-6 amps. The primary winding spec is between 3.2 an 4.8 Ohms. From Ohms law at 12v with a resistance in the middle of the spec (4.0 Ohms) each coil will take 3.0 Amps.


The feed for the coils can be traced via the wiring diagram. From the battery via the main 20A fuse along the top of the frame to the headlight shell, then to the ign switch, back to the headlight, down the frame near the coils where it goes up the RH switchgear loom to the kill button, looped over the the start button common connector, back down the RH switchgear loom to the coils. This adds up to a good 2 metre run. I decided to do some measurements.

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With the ignition ON and kill switch in Run position I had 12.69V across the battery and only 11.31V across the coils (measured from the Yellow/ Red coil wires). A difference of 1.38V.

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To verify this I measured the actual voltage drop between the Coils positive and the battery positive and also the current draw.

 

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1.386 Volts and 1.96 Amps. Only 1 coil will be running here depending on where the crank is parked.


The circuit will be modified so the std Yellow / Red wire will energise a relay. This relay will take about 0.14 A to work so is a very light load on the std wiring. The heavy work of powering the coils and the ign unit will be feed from the positive terminal of the battery via a 10A inline fuse to the common contact of the relay. Then from the normally closed contact to the ign unit and looped up to the coils all using 1.5mm2 wire.


• Battery disconnected.

• Coils feed wires (Yellow / Red) disconnected.

• Bracket made and relay mounted to RH of battery box via airbox mounting bolt.

• Ring terminal soldered onto inline fuse positive battery side and other side soldered / shrinkwrapped to wire for terminal 30 on relay.

• Ring terminal soldered to negative return wire (terminal 86) from relay to battery.

• Yellow / Red wire from coils cut above ign unit connector and soldered / shrinkwraped to wire for terminal 85 on relay (to energise relay).

• New coil supply wire (1.5mm2) soldered / shrinkwrapped to wire from terminal 87 of relay.

• New coil supply wire ran up with main loom to coil location.

• Link and bullet connectors soldered / shrinkwrapped to new coil supply wire.

 

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With all wiring double checked the relay was plugged in and battery reconnected and the the 10A inline fuse fitted. With the ignition on and in the Run position the relay energised and the voltage across the battery and across the coils measured.


Result only 0.2V dropped.


Link to fuse holders

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https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5x-Inline-Standard-Blade-Fuse-Holder-Splash-Proof-DC-12V-30A-Fuses-For-Car-Bike/164232827097?epid=26002919402&hash=item263d0a10d9:g:RRgAAOSwZo1c0j-E


link to relay

 

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https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UK-12V-Automotive-Changeover-Relay-40A-5-Pin-SPDT-Switching-Relay-with-Sockets/223592484444?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=522334414108&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649


1.5mm wire link

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Automotive-Auto-Cable-Wire-Wiring-12v-For-all-Vehicle-Applications-All-Sizes/124224780510?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=425078767923&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649



LED indicators next

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Have you tried it since you did this? Did it make any difference? There is talk of the same mod all over the TRX forum but I can't help but think that by the time it's got all the way to being a spark at the plug it maybe just doesn't matter.. Plus I don't want to chop any wires.

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You know I was so distracted doing the write-up I forgot write what it was like after, well.........


It started even better from cold and was more stable warming up, bit better pulling low revs otherwise no change to power. The battery charge voltage is a bit higher at idle. A worthwhile mod even to Non Electronic ignition bikes. Will run my Cibie headlight via a relay when i get round to refitting it, have an LED bulb in the STD lamp at the mo, great to be see with but shite at illuminating the road.


Have sort of worked out that the STD wires are less than 0.5mm in size more like 0.3mm (22-AWG) utter rubbish at handling any current over a distance greater than 2 inches. Add a couple of dirty contacts and a dodgy mulitplug and it's a wonder anything works.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Carbs on and balance.


Carburettor inlet rubbers and airbox


The inlet rubbers were showing signs of age so a new genuine set was bought, there

are pattern parts available but did not want to take the chance. The carb to airbox boots

were almost solid and had a few large tear's. New pattern part were bought. These are

the same as the Z650.

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The screws clamps were cleaned and replated together with the springs which hold the

airbox boots to the carbs.


Carb to head screw Inlet boots old and new

 

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Finally fitted to the engine.

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The old airbox to carb rubbers were removed, all the internal oil separator parts also removed cleaned and put back in. Spring clips and fasteners replated.

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Airbox cleaned and new trumpets fitted.

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To fit the airbox back in once the engine is installed the airbox top and baffle plate need to be left off. The airbox is slid in on it’s side and lifted into place. To give you room the airbox is clamped as far back as possible.

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The throttle close cable is fitted first. The carb bank is then installed from the right hand side. Use red rubber grease on all insides of the rubbers and push carbs into inlet rubbers.

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With new air trumpets it is a lot easier to slip on the inlets, in future I will use a hair dryer to heat up these before removal and fitting. Once carbs on and clamps fitted the crankcase breather tube is refitted and the airbox secured with the 2 small angle brackets next to the battery box. A new air filter was fitted and the baffle plate screwed to the frame.


Petrol cap next

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Petrol Cap

Luckily over the years there has been fresh fuel or light oil in the tank depending on the time of year so there has never been a problem with dirt or rust. The cap over the years has accumulated a fair amount of gunk

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So with a few pics on how it went together it was striped cleaned and refitted.

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Fuel Tap

After 40 years it was no surprise to fine a small tear in the vacuum diaphram. A tap repair kit was ordered and the fitted after the tap got a good clean and check over.

 

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Tap assembled with the plenty Red Rubber grease

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Carb balance


Did a bench sync and bike runs quite well was curious to see how far out they were.


first connected up all the carb balance tubes to one common vacuum source and noted how far each gauge was out (not far only 1-2 units) and away we go. Should have got my hair cut before filming this but hey hoo


video for you too

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I'm sure that after all your meticulous work this bike is running sweet as a nut but listening to this on a phone without headphones it sounds worrying to say the least . There is the steady deep drone of the engine in the background but over that there is a horrible rattling and clunking like an object being shaken around in a biscuit tin . I'm sure it's nothing but a trick of the microphone but I did feel I should mention it . It should be born in mind that I've spent over 40 years worrying about engine noises and I never ever had one fail on me yet . 😁

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I'm sure that after all your meticulous work this bike is running sweet as a nut but listening to this on a phone without headphones it sounds worrying to say the least . There is the steady deep drone of the engine in the background but over that there is a horrible rattling and clunking like an object being shaken around in a biscuit tin . I'm sure it's nothing but a trick of the microphone but I did feel I should mention it . It should be born in mind that I've spent over 40 years worrying about engine noises and I never ever had one fail on me yet . 😁

 

I too am a worrier Bob. When i heard the audio I was, to say the least, shocked. It did sound like a bag of spanners compared to how it is with my ears. Footage was taken on my Fujitsu still camera and the mic is about the size of a gnat's C***. Also there are the brick shed wall, house wall and garden fence reflecting sound all over. Did the original run up (also on youtube) with a voice over while filming but did another without as I sounded a bit more odd than usual. Will have to get the bike outside on the front of the house or better still out in the country and do a walkround with it running. To me and others who have heard it in the flesh it sound very quite and smooth. It runs fantastic. It's at the 300 mile mark so getting close to 79000 miles and going the best it's done since the new rings and last cleanup at 44000 miles. Prob tomorrow change fork oil for 15W as the 10W is not damping enough also put 5mm more spacer in making 15mm preload in total. I have almost 60mm sag with me on it which is 1/3 of the travel.


Cheers Bob, will keep looking at the ER5 build.


Rob

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  • 2 months later...

Got a few miles done before the weather closed in. All running well. Over winter will price up a replacement seat cover. P & K look a good bet. Also some new tyres for the spare gold painted wheels. Mitchies or Avon???

Anyhoo all tucked up for winter.

 

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  • Like 2
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17 hours ago, Turbogirlie said:

Wow - what a story!  What a bike!  

Thanks.  I have made a full document of this rebuild, 114 pages and loads of pics. Also sent a potted history to the VJMC for hopeful publication in their mag.

mostly what is here in the forum. This bit is not though so will post it here for you to know the full story.

Summer 1980, some time in early July actually. A brand new unregistered motorcycle stands on the footpath at the side of my house. It is a Kawasaki Z500 B2 in Firecracker Red, built up from the crate that very afternoon at Bob Fortune’s motorcycle shop. I helped put the thing together, test it and rode it home on trade plates as it was not to be registered till 1st August. My first new bike.
First shown to the world in 1979 the Z500 was a progression of the in-line fours Kawasaki had produced since 1972. The motor owes a lot to the very successful Z650 and was the first “K” to use the near silent Morse type cam chain as opposed to the roller cam chains used previously. It’s styling was reminiscent of the Z1R. The Z500 replaced the KH400 in the One-Make production race series, which is where I first came across  the bike flying round Croft circuit in the very capable hands of Phil Hetherington (runner up in the series). I really wanted to have a go at racing and thought the Z500 would do me nicely as my Honda 400 Four although standard was nowhere near competitive enough. I did see sense and raced a lot cheaper and quick, second hand RD400C, but that’s another story.
I just loved the look of the Z500 and with the B2 model they did a wonderful Ebony Black with what looked like BMW Martini stripping. Unfortunately there were no black ones left to buy early summer 1980, and were replaced by the Z550, a bigger engined version of the Z400J with a drum brake at the rear, available in a dark grey only. I had not managed to save up enough of my apprentice wages to afford the £1256.00 price tag for a Red Z500 so I part ex’ d my P reg 400 Four and the Z was mine. I did buy back the Honda in 1981 but that too is another story.
With the Z now home I got my trusty Practica MTL3 camera out and used the last 2 frames on the roll to document this momentous occasion. They were black and white pics though as I did my own developing then, and had not progressed to colour.
Being a practical sort and owning a few second hand bikes I was determined not to have the same bolt / spindle removal problems which faced me and my dad before. Not having a manual at the time stopped a complete strip, but the wheels, calipers, swing arm, engine bolts (one by one) and various chassis parts were removed and given a coat of grease which Mr Kawasaki had apparently forgotten to do. Dad was particularly impressed with inclusion of a grease nipple to lube the needle rollers in the swing arm. All bulbs were removed and coated in dielectric grease, as was all the wiring connectors.
This, as well as a good few coats of polish kept me amused until Friday 1st August 1980 came round. It was a lovely sunny morning and being half way through my works 2 week shutdown meant I could be out all week. After a full tank was purchased (£1.35 per gallon IIRC) my first port of call was to Croft circuit to watch the Friday morning practising. Just to watch this time as I could have put on my leathers, shown my racing licence, paid £5.00 and had 2 hours of fun. I did do this a few times after the Z was run in and verified that the RD400 lapped quicker. Lap time average of 1 minute 27 on the Z as opposed to 1 minute 24 on the RD. At midday I set off to Westgate Road in Newcastle to get some Rickman crash bars I had on order. On the way there some very black clouds were getting  quite close and a few rumbles could be heard. Just in time I found a covered fuel station and sat out the quick downpour with a can of pop and a cheese and onion sandwich. 30 mins later all was dry and I continued on my way. Got home around tea time and at 105 miles gave the bike it’s first of many oil changes.
Over the next week I clocked up 800 miles and loved every minute of it. Time for it’s first mod. As with most bikes at the time rider footrests were not far enough back. I was spoilt by the 400 Four with it’s semi rear sets as standard, so after fabricating my own which worked OK but did not look good I ordered some ready made ones for the Z550 range, and together with a pair of Ace bars had the comfy riding position I wanted. With the winter on it’s way and having no desire to run my lovely shiny bike in the salt I was lucky enough to find a CD175 a mate was selling, He was strapped for cash and I got it cheap on the understanding I would sell him it back in the spring if he had enough cash. I had a CD175 before my 400 Four so was confident I could sort anything it could throw at me. It proved a better one than my old one, we bought and sold it to each other the next year as well.
Spring 1981 did not start too well, with around 7000 miles on it I got side swiped by a hit and run driver and it went down on it’s left side. On inspection the crash bars front and rear had done a good job. Damage was limited to a broken left front indicator lens and scrapped speedo lower cover. A new indicator lens was fitted and I just reshaped / repainted the clock cover. Soon after, a new Cibie headlight improved night vision. A rack and semi hard panniers was bought from Oily Roy before he sold his Z550. Now I could venture further afield.
Mid summer 1981 with 19000 miles covered saw the Z touring the southern part of the country and doing a few bike rallies. I hoped to get to the Between the Downs rally on the Friday night but the rain was so heavy I continued the next day, it’s first birthday (Saturday 1st August). Going through the lower part of London a white Escort changed lanes suddenly, I was unable to avoid it fully. Only damage was......oh no not again....the left front indicator, so I taped it up and continued on. A week around Hampshire followed with the Guilford rally the weekend after. Touring about as well as the commute to work were racking the miles up. I went through rear tyres every 6000 miles or so and did the oil and filter every 500 miles as I was using a high detergent 10W – 40 diesel oil from work. The endless chain and OEM sprockets lasted nearly 30000 miles and by late Autumn 1982 42500 miles was showing on the odometer. My 400 Four had done 35000 miles when I stripped it to replace the rings so I figured the Z would need similar attention.
Over winter 82 – 83 the engine came out and all frame and chassis parts stripped. Not a single bolt or spindle complained. A good clean, sand and repaint sorted the frame. All bolts were cleaned before being sent off to the local platers for Cadmium plating. The sump when removed contained hardly any sludge thanks to regular oil changes and the use of the detergent oil. Cams were perfect so the top end was de-coked and rebuilt with new rings and valve stem seals after a light valve grind in. My trusty beam deflection torque wrench earned it’s keep once more. I hand painted the wheels Valspar red at the beginning of 82 in the fashion of the GPZ’s of the time. This took a few days to get off as fashions change and gold wheels floated my boat by the end of that year. The standard silencers finally rotted and were replaced with a SH GPZ550 uni-track gloss black system, it looked fantastic. Together with new cables, front crash bars, new battery (old one fitted to another 400 Four I acquired) and a GPZ style front fairing the Z looked as good as new again. My only concern was a bit of heat damage to the regulator rectifier multiplug which I put down to its position, getting all the water and muck from the road, so I just cleaned it up and promised myself to keep an eye on it.
August proved to be an unlucky month for the 3rd year running. August 1981, Escort changing lanes. August 1982, the bought back 400 Four I had rebuilt with 400 Superdream front end and rear wheel was written off by a car on my side of the road. Now August 1983 at 45000 miles a Honda Pelude pulled out of a junction and bent the front end of the Z.
Not as much damage as I had feared. With the front end off the rest of bike was taken for a Motorliner jig check. Very slightly out, phew! Forks were easily straightened but the top yoke had snapped so a new yoke was bought. Front wheel, perfect. The impact was around 15 MPH thanks to forward thinking, brakes and a swerve. Front mudguard was replaced with a new one as were the now scratched GPZ pipes. Found a good set of Z550 Ltd lower clock covers for a song. They were chrome but looked good, they are still on to this day.
Back on the road for the start of the 1984 riding season and off round Scotland. 50000 miles came and went with new clutch plates and wheel bearings fitted. 1985 It was the the roads of Wales I enjoyed. Coming home the Saturday of the Band Aid concert, watching Phil Collins play in London at a motorway service station and that night seeing him again playing in New York via Concorde, this time on the sofa at home.
The last 28000 miles or so have proved uneventful for the Z, still doing longish runs and the occasional commute to work. I now have 4 wheels for the mundane stuff. My last 400 Four was sold in 1989 and have had the pleasure of an XJ900 Divvy, and from 2004 a 1200 K4 Bandit to take the strain plus a trusty GS125 for work.
With the Z’s 40th birthday coming up I decided to give it another good clean and looking at. You could see patches of red primer on the now faded black frame. The finish on the bolts and engine was looking sad. At 78260 miles I took it off the road. A full restore is out of the question as I do not want to lose any of the history and battle scars, besides, the cost and availability of new part is way beyond my budget. The Z has been with me man and boy, literally. I know every nut and bolt. I will be documenting every bit as I remove, inspect, clean and reassemble. After 40 years there is bound to be some engine wear together with hardening of various rubber components, I know for a fact that the carb to airbox and inlet rubbers are cracked, getting worse every time the carbs come off for cleaning. That regulator rectifier multiplug has deteriorated more and will now be replaced.
The only time the bike uses oil is when pushed hard, i.e. prolonged use over 7000 rpm. I suppose it is to be expected from any engine really. The preliminary checks done before stripdown show oil pressure to be healthy and cylinder compression within spec, only No 3 pot is a bit down. The Z has had regular servicing by myself since new. The only engine fault being that the cam chain tensioner wedge spring was never strong enough to stop the tensioner going backwards. I preloaded the spring with washers till the GPZ version of the spring came out in 1981 which cured the problem. With the very regular washing the Z gets, water got into the switchgear and blew the main fuse (blasting the switchgear out with compressed air after a wash sorted that out). The Z has always taken me where I wanted to go and brought me back again. 370022594_originalbillofsale-1.png.dfd4399d0c8f2a762724bb84856d0dc9.png

1021568392_earliestMOT.png.0504d2ee4aecb1413367dd904db4d42f.png

1374154092_Earliesttaxdisc.png.6d5870aa31e8595e06e9d52f00461458.png

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43 minutes ago, linuxrob said:

Thanks.  I have made a full document of this rebuild, 114 pages and loads of pics. Also sent a potted history to the VJMC for hopeful publication in their mag.

mostly what is here in the forum. This bit is not though so will post it here for you to know the full story.

Summer 1980, some time in early July actually. A brand new unregistered motorcycle stands on the footpath at the side of my house. It is a Kawasaki Z500 B2 in Firecracker Red, built up from the crate that very afternoon at Bob Fortune’s motorcycle shop. I helped put the thing together, test it and rode it home on trade plates as it was not to be registered till 1st August. My first new bike.
First shown to the world in 1979 the Z500 was a progression of the in-line fours Kawasaki had produced since 1972. The motor owes a lot to the very successful Z650 and was the first “K” to use the near silent Morse type cam chain as opposed to the roller cam chains used previously. It’s styling was reminiscent of the Z1R. The Z500 replaced the KH400 in the One-Make production race series, which is where I first came across  the bike flying round Croft circuit in the very capable hands of Phil Hetherington (runner up in the series). I really wanted to have a go at racing and thought the Z500 would do me nicely as my Honda 400 Four although standard was nowhere near competitive enough. I did see sense and raced a lot cheaper and quick, second hand RD400C, but that’s another story.
I just loved the look of the Z500 and with the B2 model they did a wonderful Ebony Black with what looked like BMW Martini stripping. Unfortunately there were no black ones left to buy early summer 1980, and were replaced by the Z550, a bigger engined version of the Z400J with a drum brake at the rear, available in a dark grey only. I had not managed to save up enough of my apprentice wages to afford the £1256.00 price tag for a Red Z500 so I part ex’ d my P reg 400 Four and the Z was mine. I did buy back the Honda in 1981 but that too is another story.
With the Z now home I got my trusty Practica MTL3 camera out and used the last 2 frames on the roll to document this momentous occasion. They were black and white pics though as I did my own developing then, and had not progressed to colour.
Being a practical sort and owning a few second hand bikes I was determined not to have the same bolt / spindle removal problems which faced me and my dad before. Not having a manual at the time stopped a complete strip, but the wheels, calipers, swing arm, engine bolts (one by one) and various chassis parts were removed and given a coat of grease which Mr Kawasaki had apparently forgotten to do. Dad was particularly impressed with inclusion of a grease nipple to lube the needle rollers in the swing arm. All bulbs were removed and coated in dielectric grease, as was all the wiring connectors.
This, as well as a good few coats of polish kept me amused until Friday 1st August 1980 came round. It was a lovely sunny morning and being half way through my works 2 week shutdown meant I could be out all week. After a full tank was purchased (£1.35 per gallon IIRC) my first port of call was to Croft circuit to watch the Friday morning practising. Just to watch this time as I could have put on my leathers, shown my racing licence, paid £5.00 and had 2 hours of fun. I did do this a few times after the Z was run in and verified that the RD400 lapped quicker. Lap time average of 1 minute 27 on the Z as opposed to 1 minute 24 on the RD. At midday I set off to Westgate Road in Newcastle to get some Rickman crash bars I had on order. On the way there some very black clouds were getting  quite close and a few rumbles could be heard. Just in time I found a covered fuel station and sat out the quick downpour with a can of pop and a cheese and onion sandwich. 30 mins later all was dry and I continued on my way. Got home around tea time and at 105 miles gave the bike it’s first of many oil changes.
Over the next week I clocked up 800 miles and loved every minute of it. Time for it’s first mod. As with most bikes at the time rider footrests were not far enough back. I was spoilt by the 400 Four with it’s semi rear sets as standard, so after fabricating my own which worked OK but did not look good I ordered some ready made ones for the Z550 range, and together with a pair of Ace bars had the comfy riding position I wanted. With the winter on it’s way and having no desire to run my lovely shiny bike in the salt I was lucky enough to find a CD175 a mate was selling, He was strapped for cash and I got it cheap on the understanding I would sell him it back in the spring if he had enough cash. I had a CD175 before my 400 Four so was confident I could sort anything it could throw at me. It proved a better one than my old one, we bought and sold it to each other the next year as well.
Spring 1981 did not start too well, with around 7000 miles on it I got side swiped by a hit and run driver and it went down on it’s left side. On inspection the crash bars front and rear had done a good job. Damage was limited to a broken left front indicator lens and scrapped speedo lower cover. A new indicator lens was fitted and I just reshaped / repainted the clock cover. Soon after, a new Cibie headlight improved night vision. A rack and semi hard panniers was bought from Oily Roy before he sold his Z550. Now I could venture further afield.
Mid summer 1981 with 19000 miles covered saw the Z touring the southern part of the country and doing a few bike rallies. I hoped to get to the Between the Downs rally on the Friday night but the rain was so heavy I continued the next day, it’s first birthday (Saturday 1st August). Going through the lower part of London a white Escort changed lanes suddenly, I was unable to avoid it fully. Only damage was......oh no not again....the left front indicator, so I taped it up and continued on. A week around Hampshire followed with the Guilford rally the weekend after. Touring about as well as the commute to work were racking the miles up. I went through rear tyres every 6000 miles or so and did the oil and filter every 500 miles as I was using a high detergent 10W – 40 diesel oil from work. The endless chain and OEM sprockets lasted nearly 30000 miles and by late Autumn 1982 42500 miles was showing on the odometer. My 400 Four had done 35000 miles when I stripped it to replace the rings so I figured the Z would need similar attention.
Over winter 82 – 83 the engine came out and all frame and chassis parts stripped. Not a single bolt or spindle complained. A good clean, sand and repaint sorted the frame. All bolts were cleaned before being sent off to the local platers for Cadmium plating. The sump when removed contained hardly any sludge thanks to regular oil changes and the use of the detergent oil. Cams were perfect so the top end was de-coked and rebuilt with new rings and valve stem seals after a light valve grind in. My trusty beam deflection torque wrench earned it’s keep once more. I hand painted the wheels Valspar red at the beginning of 82 in the fashion of the GPZ’s of the time. This took a few days to get off as fashions change and gold wheels floated my boat by the end of that year. The standard silencers finally rotted and were replaced with a SH GPZ550 uni-track gloss black system, it looked fantastic. Together with new cables, front crash bars, new battery (old one fitted to another 400 Four I acquired) and a GPZ style front fairing the Z looked as good as new again. My only concern was a bit of heat damage to the regulator rectifier multiplug which I put down to its position, getting all the water and muck from the road, so I just cleaned it up and promised myself to keep an eye on it.
August proved to be an unlucky month for the 3rd year running. August 1981, Escort changing lanes. August 1982, the bought back 400 Four I had rebuilt with 400 Superdream front end and rear wheel was written off by a car on my side of the road. Now August 1983 at 45000 miles a Honda Pelude pulled out of a junction and bent the front end of the Z.
Not as much damage as I had feared. With the front end off the rest of bike was taken for a Motorliner jig check. Very slightly out, phew! Forks were easily straightened but the top yoke had snapped so a new yoke was bought. Front wheel, perfect. The impact was around 15 MPH thanks to forward thinking, brakes and a swerve. Front mudguard was replaced with a new one as were the now scratched GPZ pipes. Found a good set of Z550 Ltd lower clock covers for a song. They were chrome but looked good, they are still on to this day.
Back on the road for the start of the 1984 riding season and off round Scotland. 50000 miles came and went with new clutch plates and wheel bearings fitted. 1985 It was the the roads of Wales I enjoyed. Coming home the Saturday of the Band Aid concert, watching Phil Collins play in London at a motorway service station and that night seeing him again playing in New York via Concorde, this time on the sofa at home.
The last 28000 miles or so have proved uneventful for the Z, still doing longish runs and the occasional commute to work. I now have 4 wheels for the mundane stuff. My last 400 Four was sold in 1989 and have had the pleasure of an XJ900 Divvy, and from 2004 a 1200 K4 Bandit to take the strain plus a trusty GS125 for work.
With the Z’s 40th birthday coming up I decided to give it another good clean and looking at. You could see patches of red primer on the now faded black frame. The finish on the bolts and engine was looking sad. At 78260 miles I took it off the road. A full restore is out of the question as I do not want to lose any of the history and battle scars, besides, the cost and availability of new part is way beyond my budget. The Z has been with me man and boy, literally. I know every nut and bolt. I will be documenting every bit as I remove, inspect, clean and reassemble. After 40 years there is bound to be some engine wear together with hardening of various rubber components, I know for a fact that the carb to airbox and inlet rubbers are cracked, getting worse every time the carbs come off for cleaning. That regulator rectifier multiplug has deteriorated more and will now be replaced.
The only time the bike uses oil is when pushed hard, i.e. prolonged use over 7000 rpm. I suppose it is to be expected from any engine really. The preliminary checks done before stripdown show oil pressure to be healthy and cylinder compression within spec, only No 3 pot is a bit down. The Z has had regular servicing by myself since new. The only engine fault being that the cam chain tensioner wedge spring was never strong enough to stop the tensioner going backwards. I preloaded the spring with washers till the GPZ version of the spring came out in 1981 which cured the problem. With the very regular washing the Z gets, water got into the switchgear and blew the main fuse (blasting the switchgear out with compressed air after a wash sorted that out). The Z has always taken me where I wanted to go and brought me back again. 370022594_originalbillofsale-1.png.dfd4399d0c8f2a762724bb84856d0dc9.png

1021568392_earliestMOT.png.0504d2ee4aecb1413367dd904db4d42f.png

1374154092_Earliesttaxdisc.png.6d5870aa31e8595e06e9d52f00461458.png

nice well done 

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  • 1 month later...

I thought for a moment that I had missed the big unveiling . I would really love to see a proper photo shoot in a nice scenic location when the time comes . Apart from the seat it's looking amazing . Great job and a very informative thread . 

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2 hours ago, fastbob said:

I thought for a moment that I had missed the big unveiling . I would really love to see a proper photo shoot in a nice scenic location when the time comes . Apart from the seat it's looking amazing . Great job and a very informative thread . 

Thanks Bob. Yes that seat has been like that for 20 years now, there are few places recommended to go a good accurate copy. Will apply for the bank loan in the summer.

 

Good idea to do a photoshoot. Will have to put on my artist hat, beret or smock? Would love to do a shoot at Croft circuit where it all started.

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