Z1-B resurrection after 43 years

[ADRIAN H]

Dyna S fit it and forget it

Word of caution with Dyna. Don't totally forget it. They don't like knackered batteries. I've had 2 fail on me. The first was a 2/3 cylinder lack of spark. The unit was sent to Dyna for check and found to be faulty but was just outside warranty so not replaced (did give me a 50% discount though on a new one). The second one caught fire! Was riding along and smelled, then saw smoke pouring out of the points cover. Totally trashed the unit and was lucky not to set the bike on fire. This was my 'rat' bike so wasn't running it with a particularly fresh battery. Found out later other folk with poor batteries have had dyna issues.
so.......KEEP THE BATTERY IN GOOD NICK

Thanks John for the info.

I have 2 CTEK intelligent Chargers one for each Zed, which keep my Batteries in tip top condition.

[ADRIAN H]

Engine will come out in one piece, with just cam cover taken off. But you will need someone to assist with engine removal.

If it was not for this lockdown, I could come over and give you a hand.

[steve452]

Much appreciated Adrian. I may call on your services depending on the situation nearer Christmas.

Definitely worth some beer tokens to get it sorted.

[steve452]

As mentioned in another thread I have now (fingers crossed!) resolved the KS issue. The two engaged gears were not separating for some reason, but after twiddling with it for a while and then fitting yet another new return spring it appeared to be fine. I test fitted the KS lever and turned it by hand with the engine upside down and just the sump pan removed. The engine is now back in the frame and I will add an update after I've got it going again. Following sage advice from you guys I have bought a complete Dyna S kit and combined reg/rec from Z-Power so will be playing with that during the re-install.

Happy New Year all.

[steve452]

Finally glued together. Pictures taken for dating certificate. Now for the hard part, getting the bloody thing set up and working properly.

[pertonpc]

looking great.
the seat looks a little tight on rear of petrol tank - so watch it does not mark the tank paint.
might be worth seeing if you have any adjustment on the seat hinges or tank rubbers to get a bit of the pressure off.
That would make the front of seat go back into its natural shape.
I fit a clear plastic film at rear of tank - to protect the paint, where the seat goes over it.

http://www.zedrider.co.uk/tank-protection.html

I had one in that colour. LUSH !!!

[steve452]

Many thanks for the link but to tell you the truth this is the least of my concerns. The seat cover and base are the originals and I had the foam replaced. I don't think they put enough foam in as it appears to have a depression in that area even when the seat's off the bike. When all the chaos is over I may get it refoamed again.

Thanks for the kind comments about the bike. It's only taken just under two thirds of my life to get it back to this state

[steve452]

Newsflash! It works (after a fashion!). Set the ignition timing on my Dyna S set-up (coils and pick-ups) at the weekend and waiting for better weather (i.e. not arctic temperatures) to fire it up. First attempt the battery gave up almost immediately (Powerline £30 cheapo kit). Swapped out with the brand new Yuasa high CCA (£85 squids) and fired up immediately. Good news is the KS stayed in position (see previous posts) and in fact seemed to work when kicked, as it returned to its starting position OK (although it didn't fire the engine but I'm not particularly worried about that atm). So the KS issue has finally been resolved.

On the negative side it won't tickover although I still need to set up and sync the carbs so not so much a worry atm. A bigger problem is that the oil warning light did not go out (although it did on my previous fire up last year and the engine has not been stripped since except for the sump pan being dropped to sort out the KS issue). Is there an easy way to test that the switch is working? I note from the WD that the switch closes to earth so can you just detach and earth the switch lead to prove that the bulb circuit is working? I'm assuming that if this works then the switch can be tested by depressing the centre pin. However, is there any way of testing that it is closing at the correct pressure? As a replacement is close to £40 I don't want to replace it until I've eliminated all other possible causes.

One final mystery. The SM specifies in two separate sections that the engine oil qty is 4.0 litres including filter, which is what I put in. On re-reading the Owners Manual I find that it specifies 3.7 litres including filter. Which is correct? If 3.7 is in fact correct could the extra 300ml have any bearing on the oil pressure switch not working?

Many thanks for any help offered.

Steve

[zed1015]

Don't put 4 litre in or it will chuck it out the breather .
That's the reason they revised it to 3.7.

[steve452]

I'd better suck 300ml out then

[zapo]

I'd better suck 300ml out then

If you just undo the small drain plug in the oil filter cover it will drain about 300cc

[steve452]

I'd better suck 300ml out then

If you just undo the small drain plug in the oil filter cover it will drain about 300cc

This is obviously why you guys get the big bucks.

I seriously had not thought of that (been trawling through the medicine cabinet for a syringe bigger than 5ml )

Cheers Zapo. Top man.

[steve452]

Installment no. 372!

As I didn't fancy disturbing the oil filter housing again I bought an Oil Transfer Syringe from Allfrauds which successfully sucked out the 300ml excess oil. I then investigated the oil warning light not going out. I tried shorting the switch wire to earth which didn't seem to make any difference. After farting about for 10 minutes trying to fit a #2 JIS driver in between the carbs I finally managed to unscrew the switch wire. After removing the switch I realised why shorting to earth didn't work. The circuit to the warning light is live (ie light is on) when the sprung switch plunger is relaxed and the base plate is touching the crankcase (see pic) , ie earthed! Duh! I tested the switch plunger was moving OK, which it was, and then tested the circuit by switching the ignition on and earthing the switch on the crankcase. When it was touching the cc the light came on and went out as soon as I moved the switch away. So at least I've managed to confirm that the circuit is working OK.

Unfortunately this still doesn't prove that the switch is actually working under the pressures prevalent in the crankcase with the engine running. Does anyone know of any way of testing the switch for this?

Also does anyone know of an oil pressure gauge that will measure the very low crankcase pressures in a Z1? I can only find gauges measuring cars and Hodnas etc which are all running around 25psi up.

[Al]

Bike looks fantastic Steve, a great job done. A cold engine with brand new fresh oil will register something of the order of 15 PSI. from start up at around say 1500 RPM, give or take quite a bit under different circumstances. Pressure will fall rapidly with temperature and a hot engine with fresh oil on tickover may be only vaguely around 2 PSI or a little better if lucky.
A 25 PSI gauge will work but will be more or less immediately redundant.
Does the baseplate for the switch have a teeny weeny hole drilled in it? Similarly; does the oil pump body have a similarly wee hole in it. Both are occasionally subject to air lock and the solution was to relieve the air blockage via an escape route. If you suspect its air locked you may be able to turn the engine over with the switch out ~ on the kickstart ~ with the ignition off.
There was a time when everybody was fitting these things and riding around with them on. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kawasaki-mot ... SwYhdbJoj3
I bought one a bit like it and use it periodically for testing as i dont have any wiring for an oil pressure light.
Ray Debben used to sell them but i cant say if he still does.
These type of things were or are still popular as well. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kawasaki-Z-1 ... SwUdlWdYUe

AL

[steve452]

Many thanks for your help Al. My switch baseplate does have a tiny drilled hole in it. I think I was fortunate in buying a later model Z1 (Kawasaki confirmed the build date as Jan 1975) as many of the problems that came to light on the earlier builds had, hopefully, been resolved when they got to mine.

Thanks also for the links. I have ordered the pressure gauge from the USA as I'd like to check the running pressure just for my own peace of mind.

Incidentally, the original Kawasaki special tool 57001-125 Oil Pressure Gauge is still available! Cradley have them at £261.26 plus VAT

The blurb states that you fit it by removing the oil gallery bolt on the side of the engine. I'm guessing this is the one just to the upper right of the clutch cover (92066-021).

It should arrive by March 31st so I'll not be doing a massive amount to the bike until then.

Many thanks again for your help and your kind comments regarding the bike.

Steve