Hello Guest User,

Please feel free to have a look around the forum but be aware that as an unregistered guest you can't see all of it and you can't post.

To access these 'Registered Users Only' areas simply register and login.

new member with Z900 project

Work in Progress

Moderators: chrisu, paul doran, Taffus, KeithZ1R

Message
Author
Magnum1
100Club
100Club
Posts: 403
Joined: 24th Nov 2008
Location: London

#271 PostAuthor: Magnum1 » Sat Jun 29, 2013 6:26 pm

Proper nice Zed
Never heard of a Harris Magnum

Rich
Hardcore
Hardcore
Posts: 1981
Joined: 4th Mar 2003

#272 PostAuthor: Rich » Sat Jun 29, 2013 8:07 pm

catch tank - need to lower the hose under the height of the tank in/out to get the oil to drop down into the engine. Looks a bit high on the bend
Rich
diplomacy is a form of art - I was never any good at art

LondonZ1
100Club
100Club
Posts: 198
Joined: 20th Nov 2011
Location: London

#273 PostAuthor: LondonZ1 » Sat Jun 29, 2013 8:46 pm

Rich, agreed, I thought that too but I'm going to wait until I see it in the flesh. I am sure Steve knows that oil flows downhill under gravity so maybe the hose wasn't connected to the breather when the photo was taken. The tank and hose were a last minute change (i.e. recognition of my design fault) and the hose has to clear the starter cables and carb bellmouths, which restricts the routing options. As long as the tank doesn't accumulate a significant proportion of the engine oil, I'm happy.

buzzard
100Club
100Club
Posts: 228
Joined: 15th Jan 2007
Location: Hampton

cylinder head

#274 PostAuthor: buzzard » Sat Jun 29, 2013 9:38 pm

LondonZ1, what I don't get is you had your cylinder head refurbished by BLR Engineering, New guides, seat recut, 3 angles I presume as BLR use Serdi machines to do cylinder heads, so why did the cylinder head needed to be done again by Debben with a "more modern seat cut" what happened there? Buzzard.
Every man should have a shed (for bikes obviously..)

LondonZ1
100Club
100Club
Posts: 198
Joined: 20th Nov 2011
Location: London

#275 PostAuthor: LondonZ1 » Sun Jun 30, 2013 6:24 am

Buzzard, I asked BLR just to refurbish the head which they did. When Debben rebuilt the engine, Steve said that the standard valve seat was an inefficient design and that recutting the seat to a more complex shape would improve The gas flow. He also suggested fitting new valves as they old ones were worn. The cost was fairly modest so I said yes. Debben said that the valve guides and helicoiled plug thread (which BLR had done) were OK.

With hindsight I should have just shipped the motor down to Debben in the first place. BLR work on all sorts of car and bike engines whereas Debben specialise in older Kawasakis. One of the lessons of the project was that it's best to use specialists with directly relevant experience. They are often no more expensive and overall you get a better job. BLR were very helpful for me as I really needed a local engineering company for general machining and assistance so I would happily use them again for other jobs.

buzzard
100Club
100Club
Posts: 228
Joined: 15th Jan 2007
Location: Hampton

BLR

#276 PostAuthor: buzzard » Mon Jul 01, 2013 7:42 am

Londonz1, I was just wondering what BLR were like as I have a machining job I can't do myself so it was a general enquiry, are they ok to deal with. Buzzard.
Every man should have a shed (for bikes obviously..)

LondonZ1
100Club
100Club
Posts: 198
Joined: 20th Nov 2011
Location: London

#277 PostAuthor: LondonZ1 » Mon Jul 01, 2013 1:38 pm

Depends on what you want done. BLR are generally excellent but they aren't cheap (£65 per hr from memory). For simple machining jobs I have been using Tim Hunt in Wales. I send Tim a sketch and he makes all sorts of bits for very reasonable prices. He made my dash, the instrument cans, the indicator stalks, headlamp spacers, oil cooler brackets, stuff like that.

I used BLR for more complex jobs where I needed to be able to meet the person and explain exactly what I wanted, e.g front wheel spindle, rear caliper hanger mods, exhaust flange mods, removal of broken studs etc. Russell is very friendly and knowledgeable.

User avatar
FOZ1A
100Club
100Club
Posts: 298
Joined: 21st Oct 2003
Location: surrey

new mmber

#278 PostAuthor: FOZ1A » Mon Jul 01, 2013 1:58 pm

BLR did my head last year, new guides and seats cut to suit oversize valves, gas flowed and ported £500. These guys know their stuff and turned it round in 2 weeks.

foz
Rickman CR1000, Harley Roadking

LondonZ1
100Club
100Club
Posts: 198
Joined: 20th Nov 2011
Location: London

#279 PostAuthor: LondonZ1 » Tue Jul 02, 2013 3:41 pm

110bhp.jpg
110bhp.jpg (111.96 KiB) Viewed 19833 times
Bike finally made it onto the dyno today and Steve Debben emailed me a pic of the dyno screen. It's a nice straight line so the bike should be easy to ride. It made 105hp peak power at the rear wheel which I am really pleased with, I was hoping for 90-100. Steve is going to try smaller mains (115) and he thinks that the gearing is too tall, max power is at 125mph in 4th. The speed sensor is mounted in the rear disc so changing sprockets won't affect the speedo reading.
Last edited by LondonZ1 on Sun May 06, 2018 4:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
j.wilson
100Club
100Club
Posts: 213
Joined: 23rd Jul 2011
Location: wimborne

#280 PostAuthor: j.wilson » Tue Jul 02, 2013 6:31 pm

Seen the bike in the flesh- its really nice- long, low and the colour is really perfect.

Difficult to find fault with it...

but I think......

hmmm, I told you- nothing to change its great..

In fact its an inspiration.
z650/1400 bonneville hybrid.

User avatar
morten
100Club
100Club
Posts: 143
Joined: 15th Mar 2010
Location: Norway

#281 PostAuthor: morten » Tue Jul 02, 2013 7:12 pm

LondonZ1 wrote:Rich, agreed, I thought that too but I'm going to wait until I see it in the flesh. I am sure Steve knows that oil flows downhill under gravity so maybe the hose wasn't connected to the breather when the photo was taken. The tank and hose were a last minute change (i.e. recognition of my design fault) and the hose has to clear the starter cables and carb bellmouths, which restricts the routing options. As long as the tank doesn't accumulate a significant proportion of the engine oil, I'm happy.


Very nice Z !! With all respect, I dont think you should put the stuff collected in the catchtank back in the engine again! Just drain it once in a while and throw the stuff away!
It,s no longer usable oil but a very suspicious fluid

User avatar
Pigford
I'm on prescription!!
Posts: 10566
Joined: 2nd Jan 2006
Location: Hampshire Coast UK

#282 PostAuthor: Pigford » Wed Jul 03, 2013 6:25 am

Thats a brilliant power curve.......... ENJOY :twisted:
And on the 7th day... Zeds were created!

LondonZ1
100Club
100Club
Posts: 198
Joined: 20th Nov 2011
Location: London

#283 PostAuthor: LondonZ1 » Wed Jul 03, 2013 9:11 pm

Well there's good news and not so good news. The good news is that Steve has now extracted 110bhp, which I think is quite impressive for a mildly tuned 1015cc motor. The line is now even straighter which implies great midrange and good top end power, the ideal combination.

The not so good news is that the bike runs best with no baffles (very loud) but at least the loudest baffle only makes a small dent in the midrange, see chart.

The other not so good news is that it turns out that my expensive and beautifully made Japanese bellmouths are actually crap when it comes to airflow. Steve reckons that the bellmouths are too narrow at the front which mean that the pilot holes sit outside the mouth in still air, not inside the mouth where they benefit form better airflow. So, the bike runs better with open carbs and no bellmouths.

I am not sure how to fix this as I do want to have some form of filters. I am thinking of getting some simple alloy tubes made which fit round the outside of the carb inlets (so the pilot holes are inside the tubes) and to which I can attach the original S&S filters. This should enable me to package the filters behind the bulge in the side panels, keeping the current looks but having a glitch-free midrange and having filters all at the same time. Option 2 is to have tubes made with a flared end that will take the current gauze filters. I won't know for sure until I get the bike back and take some measurements. Oh, and Debbens have finished with the bike and I can now have it back as a fully functional motorbike. I just need to arrange collection (and pay a large but not unreasonable bill). I'll post some pics of the finished bike when it get it back. Can't wait!


Image

Image

User avatar
j.wilson
100Club
100Club
Posts: 213
Joined: 23rd Jul 2011
Location: wimborne

#284 PostAuthor: j.wilson » Wed Jul 03, 2013 10:15 pm

Hmm, don't be discouraged.

1) the baffle could be simply a perforated tube wrapped with wadding. It would take the edge off the sound and not be restrictive.

2)K&N filters have "bell mouths" in them made of rubber. I'd think about fitting them to see if you can get it to carb properly. If so, get some aluminium copies.

You just need a set-up that works and then adapt to them to get the look you want. You might just think hard about modding your bell mouths- perhaps you can have them cut down (to get the right diameter) then have some new cuffs soldered onto them to get the right mount to the carbs.
z650/1400 bonneville hybrid.

neilbarrett
ZedHead
ZedHead
Posts: 1179
Joined: 25th Feb 2008

#285 PostAuthor: neilbarrett » Thu Jul 04, 2013 5:30 pm

id get the bike back and ride it and see what you think :?: you might swap the baffles for quieter ones and not even notice the power loss on the road,did you get the bike dynod before and after the work had been done :?:


Return to “Projects”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 43 guests