1400 Mk2 Restomod

[Bevelhead]

The engine is finally coming together. Needed a gearbox, so bought the best I could find off Ebay. Another buy from D&K, as always its a bit of a gamble when buying used. But once stripped, cleaned and checked.. turns out it was in good condition. Already had a strengthened clutch from the Turbo, which left the charging rotor and gear to find. Seems the MK2 and ST are different from the earlier or later models, and therefore more expensive. Typical!

Its also had new heavy duty studs from APE, new cam chain etc.

The head will need completely rebuilding with new guides, recut seats etc. The job will go to Roger
Upperton over in Leeds, who did a good job on my 1170.

Meanwhile hit the Buy button on Ebay again for a mint pair of gold spot 4 pot calipers, which will be used in place of the OE 6 pot Tokicos on the ZRX 1200 forks.

[Bevelhead]

The Z1000Mk2 engine taken out to 1400cc with Orient Express block. The bottom end is now all done. The engine is from my old turbo Z1, it had a spacer plate below the block to lower compression, with that removed, fitted one piston to check the deck height. Piston is a little high above the block, should be corrected by using two base gaskets.

[Bevelhead]

Also finally decided what wheels to use. Had been considering Dymags, but at £2500 they were a bit over budget.. I wanted a pair of 17 inch, 5 spoke, lightweight, good looking wheels, with a 5.5 inch rear, in gold. After much looking, found a pair of new old stock wheels that fit the bill, which arrived today. Of course they wont fit the ZRX12 forks and swingarm, but I hope we can make them fit...

Now need to buy the discs.. any had Armstrong discs before? Supposedly made in the UK

From a 2008 to 2015 Yamaha R6 / FZ1

[chrisNI]

Engine looks very smart

[paul doran]

That looks really decent
Looking forward to seeing its progress

[ADRIAN H]

The wheels have the bling factor

[Bevelhead]

Went for UK made Armstrong discs (half the price of Brembo Oro discs), with Titanium bolts all round, pleased with the result. It wont be so easy to fit the R6 wheels to the Kawasaki ZRX1200 forks and swingarm, but it can be done..

[Pigford]

Went for UK made Armstrong discs (half the price of Brembo Oro discs), with Titanium bolts all round, pleased with the result.

I had Armstrong discs on my old Harris (had ZXR1100 forks with Dymags) and the Harrison Billet-6 callipers .... I could lock the front end anytime!!!

[Bevelhead]

A boring picture, but important.. have to make a R6 front spindle fit the ZRX1200 forks,, the two unfinished machined parts will be pressed on the R6 spindle and hopefully it'll all go together ok. This is the second R6 spindle I've bought, as the first one was badly bent when it arrived..

[Bevelhead]

Not an easy conversion, but the R6 front wheel is now fitted to the ZRX12 forks. Resisting the temptation to fit the the front end to the bike, as we'll lower the bare frame over the engine which will be on its side, when the engine is ready. Hopefully the rear wheel will be a little easier.

[Bevelhead]

Fitting a rear caliper to the R6 wheel has proved more difficult than expected.

First attempt was with a small Brembo twin pot caliper, but the disc is so small.. 220mm .. that the caliper hit the hub before the pads were completely over the disc.. not good.

Second attempt used a standard R6 caliper.. which fits of course, but its mount is integrated with the caliper body, and is in turn made to fit the R6 swing arm... which is no good, as I'm using a ZRX1200 swing arm.. sigh

Third attempt used an old front caliper from some 90's Kawasaki.. it would fit, but a mounting bracket would look ugly, while the caliper itself was heavy and old..

Forth attempt. I needed to find a modern sliding piston rear caliper, as this type has a narrower profile and so would fit over the disc without hitting the hub. Eventually bought a Brembo made to fit a BMW 1250GS, which will work, so next made a mounting bracket in 10mm alloy plate, and next is a torque arm and wheel spacers in stainless steel.

[Bevelhead]

Got the swing arm and wheel of the MK2 back home, with its new brake and mount. Arm is from a Kawasaki ZRX1200, wheel from a Yamaha R6 and caliper from a BMW 1250GS. The alloy bracket will be given a satin black finish, probably hard anodised, not sure yet.

[Bevelhead]

Rather than wait for the engine to be completed before lifting the bare frame over the engine, I decided to reassemble the bike into a roller at last. Still lots to do, but happy with the way it looks so far. Only one shock fitted for now.. from another bike, as the new shocks are built to order by Maxton and have a 4 week lead time.

[Bevelhead]

The Mk2 is the third of four Zed projects I have, so rather than start another thread, I'll detail Zed number four here since I'm working on them at the same time. There comes a time with each project when you cant do much. Maybe waiting for a part, or work to be done you cant do yourself, lots of reasons why work can't progress. Meanwhile, my consultant told me to do more of what I like, and less of what I don't like.. so doctors orders I go an start another project I guess..

I'm always looking for the next project, on Ebay or via friends, so had made a couple of bids on bikes 'that need work' on Ebay. One was a rough looking Kawasaki Gpz 750 Turbo, while the other was a basket case seventies Z1000. Both sold for far more than I thought was sensible. I kept looking. Decided to built another ground up restomod, so rather than buy an overpriced basket case, most of which will be replaced, I bought this instead..

Its a 1978 Kawasaki Z1000A1 frame, all complete and straight, a little surface rust, imported from the US. Its a start..

[Bevelhead]

Its rare for me, but this week had a couple of good buys off Ebay, bought a complete USD front end with calipers from a Z900RS, which is a little longer than superbike USDs. Followed by a matching rear wheel, including disc and sprocket carrier, along with the OE tyre. Seller said its done just 6 miles, and probably true. The tricky bit is making it all fit on an old Zed..