A few restoration Qs

[Oggers]

Chaps

Z650 in bits, progressiong with rebuild. A few Qs if I may

Bullet connectors. Not a fan. Thinking of replacing them with terminal blocks where possible. Are these things crimp connectors of a kind? Looked at a few and some do seem a bit cheap and nasty - any recommendations?

I hear there are tapered bearing sets for the headstock - recommended? Where from please?

I aim to powder coat the frame. the swing arm and the main stand. Yokes, battery box and other more delicate bits to be vapour blasted, UPol and sprayed...thoughts welcome.

Stainless fasteners or not? Tricky. They do look well, but clearly not original.

Anything else I should consider whilst the bike is in bits - bearing in mind I would like to keep it pretty much original.

[Bill P]

Hey up Oggers, i've done a few 650s etc and always fit taper bearings in headstock and have found Pyramid ones good off ebay
based in Dumfries i think , i also have all the bits you mentioned powder coated for colour match etc, if you spend some time
blinding all bolt holes and headstock as well as swing arm large ones with threaded bar and large washers it will save some money
as for connectors im a original bullet connector person and no stainless but thats personal preference hope this is a bit of help
enjoy your project

[warren3200gt]

I have restored several 650's so can advise on your likely pitfalls and issues.

Check the primary drive chain slack. replace if close to slack limit. Shit job which involves splitting the cases and crank out. Too much slack and it'll jump the teeth and feel like your final drive chain is jumping under acceleration.

Regardless of how good the starter clutch appears fit a new complete unit. Starter clutch kits only last a few months at best and are a balls ache to do with the engine in, a new unit from zpower should last several years. This is perhaps the only real weakness on 650 motors.

Taper bearings, all 650's have the same head stock bearings so any 650 taper bearings will fit. Adverts with a B after 650 have £££'s added to the price for them. Look for 650 SR advert's at half the price for the same part.

Stainless is no problem. Just depends on your final plan for the bike. Building to sell go original. Building to keep go stainless. I have two 650's, one totally original I bought new in 77 and one how I wanted a 650 back in the day with all stainless.

Check the swing arm bearings, often overlooked and makes a BIG difference to handling.

Whats the loom like? In the main loom by the coils / head stock area there is a multiple earth wire joint. Its several earths pushed into a bit of copper tube then crimped. The copper oxidise's and causes bad earths and is a pig to track down (unless you know) and will cause all sorts of issues. It'll mean stripping back the factory sheathing to get at it but not doing it will be more painful in the long run.
On my mod'd 650 I went for male/female spades where bullets used to be. I used solder connectors because I hate those red/blue crimp things, and renewed the blocks. They are basically fine mini spades with a tang on the back. I soldered the male/female spades to the loom then inserted the connector into the block until the tang catches and stops the being pulled out again.

obviously check clutch plate thickness.

What play do you have on the clutch basket dampers? In the back of the clutch basket there are damper rubbers which basically shrink with heat and allow play. These are worth replacing as it'll tick over a lot more steadily without the whiplash effect the clutch basket can have. Doing this job is a bit scary and the parts are not commercially available so will need to be made. It will involve drilling out rivets and hand cutting dampers from sheet rubber the somehow reassembling and riveting back together. There is a how to thread on the US forum by z650spirit which explains it. I'll go looking for it and post a link.
Your in luck, he's posting the full process on Charlies UK forum. https://z650.proboards.com/thread/3170/ ... llTo=34333

[Oggers]

Warren

All good stuff, many thanks.

Swing arm bearings - They look and feel fine so leaving them in for now. I did think of replacing them but no real idea of how to remove them apart from bash them out with a drift - clues appreciated!

Primary chain seems OK - only 19K done so theoretically should be OK.

Starter clutch - noted. Is it fairly simple to replace? Seemed fine beforehand....

Main clutch - all duly noted. Many thanks for the info.

[warren3200gt]

Swing arm bearing. Whack em from the opposite side with a drift. They are only bushes. I would replace with tapered rollers. Means putting in a spacer between bearing seats to keep the seats the right distance apart.

Primary chain. Measure the slack you may be surprised!!!!. I used to ride my 650 HARD back in the day and it lasted 10k before the primary started slipping. Its a six link wide chain that you wouldnt believe stretches but it does..... alot. Bike has 22k on it now but is riden far less harshly. Ive got others for ragging. Back when it was slipping you could hardly pull away without it jumping. From memory 28mm slack is the wear limit. Mine had 35mm slack.

Starter clutch is simple with the engine out and accessed through the bottom after some work on both sides. Whilst the sump is off its an ideal time to measure the primary slack.

[Bill P]

Thanks Warren