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1978 z1000-A2
I purchased this bike in 2005, the bike was running but the registration had just expired. The previous owner had taken it to a dealer to trade in on a new 2005 model bike. It was purchased so that it could be stripped and completely rebuilt back to factory original with minor (tasteful) changes.
28 April 2006
The bike has been stripped back to the bare frame, the engine is intact and will be rebuilt last.
The wheels and hubs are stripped with the rims ready to go to the chrome works. The hubs are in getting vapour blasted back to bare, burnished alloy. Once the hubs are finished they will be fitted back with new bearings and sent to the wheelwright to get re-spoked with stainless spokes to the newly chromed rims.
The rest of the parts are divided between those that need re-chroming and those that need powder coating.
The brake system is on the bench getting carefully pulled apart, the rear master cylinder is in with the hubs getting vapour blasted. I will rebuild all the brake components and then get the frame powder coated as well as the triple clamp. The forks need to be rechromed (hard chromed), the lower fork legs need a blast and polish.
That should leave the frame, swing arm, forks and brakes ready to assemble, then some tyres onto the new respoked rims and the beast is ready for all the internal fitouts.
I shall describe the internal fitouts later!
14 May 2006
FORKS
I have started to disassemble the fork legs. The sliders need to be hard chromed again, the lower legs need vapour blasting and polishing. Once clean, they will need to be coated with a protective clear and then reassembled with new seals.
BRAKES
The master cylinder (rear) was vapour blasted and reassembled, then tested on the bench. It is ready to mount back into the frame.
WHEELS
I just need to get some bearing for the wheels and can send the rims off to get re-chromed. Once the chrome plating is done the wheels can be laced with new stainless spokes. Not sure what finish to do the axles in. Might look at just nickle plating them.
MISC
I have been attempting to remove a broken handlebar mounting screw with little luck. A large number of parts have been collected from the blasting service this week and among them were the front and rear wheel hubs.
28 May 2006
Have air impact wrench...will disassemble!
After 2 minutes of using the air tool the allen bolt gave in and let go of the fork dampers inside the lower fork leg. The dissasembly then took about 5 minutes to end up with every part on the floor ready to photograph. Fork sliders will go in for water blasting and the leg will go in to get the hard chrome redone as there is rust on the upper part of both tubes.
The Before shot of the front wheel, shows the rusted spokes and tired rim. One disk has been removed to show the worn paint on the hub. New bearings will need to be fitted, they can be purchased from any quality bearing supplier. The rim will be re-chromed and the hub has now been vapour blasted clean and burnished. The spokes were removed using an angle grinder (about 2 minutes work :).
21 June 2006
I dropped all the parts that needed powder coating over to Northside Powder Coaters on the Wednesday and collected them on the Friday at lunch time. The following items went in for coating:
Frame + Swing arm
Head Light Shell
Centre Stand
Battery Housing
Tachometer outer shell
Speedometer outer shell
Brake Torque arm
Electrical assembly bracket
Tail light mount
Left & Right foot peg brackets
Instrument mounting bracket
Top triple clamp
Lower triple clamp
Side Stand
Rear fender mounting bracket
Handlebar clamps
Another battery assembly bracket
4 engine mounting brackets
All pieces were finished in Gloss Black enamel. Total cost $280. After receiving all the pieces, I set about running a tap through all the treaded components and using paint stripper to clean all the bearing surfaces. Just a small note here, buy a good quality tap handle... after years of faithful service, mine finally fell to pieces!
Since all these parts are now gloss black they dont photograph too well but you get the idea.
25 June 2006
Fun with Motorcycle Electrics! - While most people shudder at the thought of working on a motorcycle's electrical system I find it quite easy. The harness and wiring is really quite simple to follow, but you need a manual with a good quality diagram to verify that the wiring is correct, especially after you have stripped it from the bike and it is sitting on the floor. I set about cleaning and stripping the wiring harness back to the bare original state, that means stripping all the "extras" that have accumulated over 30 years. I cleared all the grease and oil out of all the connectors and took off all the extra electrical tape that's been added as well as the zip locks.
Once all the parts are cleaned and free of grease, the harness can be laid out onto the garage floor ready to start connecting all the components back together for testing.
Once the harness was laid out, I set about re-mounting all the parts back to the battery assembly first and then connected up a battery charger to provide 14v. First connect the ignition key assembly and turn on the ignition, if something you connect is faulty, it should flash a spark as a warning. Slowly connect up everything else, starting with the switchgear, then the lights. Test the lights to ensure parkers then headlight operation.
To test the coils, you can either use a bulb or a voltmeter. Assembly the brake stop switches and verify the stop light function, then the blinkers. Test the starter and then the instruments, slowly all blown bulbs will be identified, start and brake switches verified, blinkers and headlight assembly.
Everything checked out ok but I need to get some clear rubber covers for the electrical connectors and some tubing similar to the original material used by the factory to cover part of the loom. I also need to retape some of the harness, so I intend on finding a source of the tape used and replace the lot (Can't use normal electrical tape as it distorts in the heat).
Helpful hints on wiring
You may find it handy to draw a diagram consisting of a line running across the page with one end being the headlight connection and the other end being the tail light connection, then draw a line at locations where cables leave the main harness. This helps identify all the connecting points and helps to orientate the harness in relation to the frame.
If you need to replace connectors, DO NOT USE the crimp style automotive connectors that are either red, blue or yellow in colour, these are terrible on a bike. A far better solution is to buy the rubber covered brass crimp connectors that can be crimped and soldered (I solder every electrical connection after crimping then connector up). Electrical component stores tend to sell the rubber sheathed brass connectors.
If you do not have a workshop manual then there is a good chance that you are not going to get the bike assembled correctly. Also shown is a hand sketch of the harness to ensure that everything is connected in the correct place.
The first major electrical part to assemble is the battery compartment, everything has been cleaned and checked.
Yep it works! The parkers are on... power is supplied via the battery charger (you can use a battery if you wish). Some bulbs are blown.
It looks like a mess, but all the "extras" are removed and sitting in two piles near the tyres at the top left and right.
25 June 2006
Frame Assembly - I have spent most of the day on the frame and wiring. The frame assembly is progressing well with all holes tapped, the rear brake master cylinder installed and a list of some stainless bolts and a few rubber parts that are required.
The swing arm has some paint in the bearing surface, so a small amount of cleanup with the paint stripper should fix that. Just need to collect some needle roller bearings (77 and 78 models had these while earlier models had bronze bushes).
The front and rear rims were dropped in during the week and will be ready is about 3 weeks. Shortly I will be droping the forks in for renovation and so I should be able to assemble the front and rear ends in about 3-4 weeks time.
23 August 2006
Slow progress on the bike, the rims and a few small parts were collected from the chrome works this week. The rims required repairs so that took 3 weeks on top of the 3 weeks at the chrome works plus 2 weeks for me to get back up to Lawnton to collect them all so 2 months of delay... such is motorcycle restoration!
The rims look very nice and with the hubs freshly blasted that just left me to collect some bearings from SKF. The front wheel bearings are SKF part number 6203-2RSH. While I was there I collected 4 needle roller bearings for the swing arm. The SKF part number for those is HK2216 (they are 28mm outside diameter, 22mm inside diameter and 16mm wide).
I will be dropping them over to the wheel wright after I drop the fork legs in to get the hard chrome re-done on legs as they have some rust as shown in an earlier photo elsewhere on the site.
Repaired and rechromed, the rims look great and are ready to be clear coated and then re-spoked with stainless spokes.
13 September 2006
The gauges arrived back from Z-Resto (Georgia USA) this week. Thanks to Bob Harrington for really prompt service. The original gauges were completely stuffed. The rebuilt gauges are perfect and a trial fitting on the top triple clamp was done to to get this picture. The original rubber padding under the gauges has pretty well worn out so I will pop into a local rubber supply company (Clark Rubber) and get some sheet rubber that is around 4mm thick so that I can cut out the shape for mounting under the gauges.
Last week I collected some wheel bearings and fitted them to the front hub I also used the time to re-think the finish I want some of the alloy parts to end up like. I have decided to get the brake parts on the frame anodised black while the front and rear calipers would look nice finished in gold anodising. I still need to see the quality of the gold finish when I drop the parts in. On the way back I will drop the forks in for rebuilding.
I have had a few boxes of parts in being cleaned, there has been a delay due to ill health of the proprietor who is now back on deck and called me to tell me that he has finished all my parts. Below are some photos of the finish of the parts including a before and after shot of the rear caliper. Whatever finish I go for I will include a picture to show the progression of the work.
This picture is of the rear caliper, normally they are black from the factory but over time the paint deteriorates so this photo shows it covered in paint stripper.
This shot shows the rear caliper after cleaning, the pistons were also cleaned. Prior to re-assembly I need to clear coat the caliper, the torque arm has been powder coated black. Lastly, new o-rings and the piston seal need replacing.
Note: I might decide to use a tinted clear - color yet to be decided.
2 October 2006
Made a trip to the electroplaters today. In the batch of parts were all the axels, spacers and engine bolts to get nickle plated. The remaining parts were to be replated in chrome.
Also visited the paint strippers to get the disks and front calipers stripped to bare metal. Once they come back from stripping they can go back and get vapour blasted. I am researching the use of POR-15 to coat the alloy parts so they retain their clear coating.
I also made a trip to the anodisers today but was advised by them to not attempt to anodise the cast alloy parts. They stated that the cast parts will not evenly take the color like a billet alloy part will and so the finish will be poor at best.
8 November 2006
Last week I dropped the disks and calipers in to Commercial Blasting Services (CBS) to be cleaned. This week I dropped the fork legs into the Hardchromers workshop to get them rebuilt. During the week I have been stripping the GPz900R forks and getting them ready to be rebuilt also. I expect the pieces I dropped into the chrome works to be ready next week. Pictures to follow.
On my way to work, I pass a boat repair supply shop and this got me thinking about what boaties use to protect metal on their boats. Since the sea is a harsh environment I figured that something that can survive out there is better than just an automotive grade product. I decided to look into a marine grade clear coat to cover my burnished alloy pieces. My investigation has turned up two products one called IMPERITE 300 (by Jotun) which is a 2 pack polyurethane clear coating and the other is Northane clear (also a 2 pack). I am going to buy a 1 Litre container of it on Friday when the shipment comes in and spray this over some spare (clean) alloy parts I have lying around.
Although the burnished alloy should last a few years unprotected, the specification sheet for IMPERLITE 300 would indicate that it should now last for much longer time frame.
I'll report back on the application and outcomes of the product.
Update - Had to get a 500ml of Northane Clear coat as the Imperite is only available in 4L quantities at present. This is manufactured by Norglass Laboratories here in Australia. I don’t know if it or the IMPERITE products are available outside of Australia but I would guess they are as they feature offices in a number of countries.
6 December 2006
At the end of last week I collected the z1000A2 front forks from the Hardchromers while I dropped in the front forks of the GPz900R at the same time. I used some spare time over the weekend to begin partially assembly of the forks. The lower fork legs still need to have a protective clear coat applied. I calculate that they will need about 4 coats of two pack clear, and once dry, they just then need to undergo final assembly as per the manual. The GPz900R forks should be ready in about 2-3 weeks. I also collected 2 boxes of chrome parts from the electroplaters. Some items such as the axel shafts were only done in a nickel coating just to protect them. There was a small stuff up on the front axel, they did not tape the whole shaft and it is now to thick to fit into the front wheel bearings so I need to take it back and get them to strip the shaft so it fits. The other option is to get the shaft turned down to the correct size. I now have all the parts to assembly the front end, except for the front guard which is in being chromed now and will be ready in about 2-3 weeks unless they cant finish it before Christmas, in which case it will be in the new year.
While looking at the front end alloy parts I decided that I might experiment with a black tint in the clear coat that needs to be applied to the master cylinder and hand levers. When the weather improves I'll look into it. Lots of parts now building up on the floor which is not what I want to happen but other commitments have been taking up all my time.
January 2007
Well the weather improved enough for me to do spray some marine grade clear coat on the alloy parts. I first cleaned out the garage and covered everything. The bikes got 3 covers just to be sure. I ran a solid gal section across the garage and tied everything up with copper wire. Once in place everything received a clean down with thinners and I set about preparing the solution. After reading the instructions and getting advice from the boat shop the mixing ratio was determined to be 240ml of clear, 120ml of catalyst and 30ml of thinners. I selected a 2mm nozzle for the spray gun and setup the compressor at 60psi. Next time I might drop the pressure to 50psi when I spray the color. Three coats were applied at 45minute intervals with good ventilation during spraying and some water on the floor to reduce the overspray. Despite this the water dried and my feet were covered in marine clear, it took ages to peel and scrub it off, next time I’ll wear thongs!
The only thing that had been holding up assembling the forks was the clear coat. So with this done the forks were left for 10 days to harden up fully and then assembly work of the forks began. The process is pretty straight forward, assemble the damper spring first, then the damper with seal in place and slide it in. Put the spring down, attaché the washers and alloy base piece and insert it into the outer fork (bottom part). Install cap screw with copper washer and 3Bond around ridge to help seal the fork. Tighten up the cap screw and then push the washer and oil seal into place. There is usually a washer on top of the seal and then a Circlip. Install dust covers and pour in the correct oil in the top. Finish by tightening the top cap down but make sure some anti-seize is present on the bolt to help it go in without galling and when it comes time to remove it later.
Here is the front without anything fitted yet. Handlebars are just for show at present.
15 February 2007
During the week I picked up the front guard and grab rail from Pine Rivers Electroplating. I also collected the front wheel which has now been re-spoked in stainless from “Ash’s Spoked Wheelz”. Also this week some parts from Z1Enterprises arrived, from the US, amongst the items were the rubber seals that go under the chrome piece that covers the bottom triple clamp and the top cable clamps which a previous owner dumped many years earlier. The rubber seals only cost a few bucks so I bought 5 sets (just in case I do some more restorations ;).
The two pictures show the assembled front fork ears and fork legs in place, with the guards mounted. I had to get some M8x16 304 Stainless bolts from “Boltmasters” just down the road from work to mount the guard and cable brackets. Just a note on the brackets, I bought 5 sets for 25 dollars last year so they are still around if you need them but you will need to get them re-chromed. Just need to get a tire and the wheel is complete.
Small note about the front wheel axle, the chrome plater chrome plated the whole axel so now it don’t fit into the bearings! I dropped it back to them and they will strip the chrome of the shaft and courier it back next week.
15 March 2007
Found some time to do a few things on the bike, began stripping the levers and brake lever bracket. These had old peeling black paint, so they will end up being blasted clean and coated in a black tinted clear coat. Should be able to get them to the blasters next week.
April 2007
While clear coating the GPz parts I was able to fit some z1000 parts in the batch. I also tried to use the black tint in the two pack clear coat for the brake master cylinder and a few other bits but when it sprayed onto the component the black separated out, so I washed it back off in thinners and will try brushing it on instead. The clear coat is also self leveling so it works as a spray or brush product. Not sure if the spraying failed due to the 1.8mm nozzle on the air gun or the pressure or volume or the tint mix ratio or just my poor spraying skills?
These parts were to be done in black tinted clear coat but something went wrong during spraying and I will have to try again later :(
August 2007
Its been a busy couple of months, most of the work has been on the z900 and GPz900 but I did get the old style KONI rear shocks (that came with the z1000 when I bought it) in for rebuilding back to brand new by RAD suspension. I took the springs in to get powder coated black while RAD's rechromed (hardchormed) the shafts and oiled up the units. Koni's are made to be rebuilt unlike standard units that are sealed. Shortly the rear swingarm will be installed into the frame and bolted to the shocks. That means the rear end wil just be waiting for the rear wheel to be spoked and get a tyre fitted. Then I can install the disk brakes, the rear master cylinder and the brake hose. I have the pads and the seal kit but I need another set of pistons spun up and hardchromed. I am almost thinking that I should get a batch of 20 made. Just need to look into the logistics of it.
November 2007
The work on the z1000 has been progressing slowly as most of the effort has been on the GPz900R and the z900-A4. However I did assembly all the remaining parts into nice bins I found at a "Crazy Clarks" store.
I had a stab at assembling the rear end but I appear to be missing the bolt that holders the caliper to the torque are so this is one I have to find to fit the rear end in. I also need to get some custom fasteners made to make it all hang together.
The boxes contain the front brakes and brake hardware, the carbs (not needed as its going to be Microsquirt EFI all the way ;) and the instruments with related parts. On the other side is the rear wheel which I need to send off to get spoked soon.
This picture of a 1977 z1000-A1 (origin unknown) typifies what I plan to do with the z1000.
The 4 into 4 exhausts as well as the Black and Gold paint job are something the factory should have done instead of going to a 4 into 2 exhaust.
