How I've come to own a modified Z1000J and it's refurb

[Julian_Boolean]

In 1983 I left school aged 16 and got a job at a beer kit factory about 4 miles from where I lived, with my first pay packet I bought a 1980 Suzuki TS50ER, this is how I got into motorcycles, I'd preferred cars prior to this.
In about October of 1983 I discovered motorcycle magazines, one of the first motorcycle magazines I bought had an article about an Eddie Lawson Replica Z1000 built by a bloke called Dave who worked at a Kawasaki dealers in the north of England (he now runs Z-Power), I was smitten, that was how I thought a bike should look, two years later I passed my bike test but Z1000s were beyond my finances so I bought an LC, more LCs followed, then I got into GSXR750s and went through a series of race replicas (and trail bikes) until in 2003 my wife declared that we were having children, I thought a 170+ mph sports bike wasn't really the most sensible thing for someone who needed their license for work to ride, so I bought a Husqvarna SM610S, which I enjoyed for about 2 years and then went off riding it, so it sat festering in the garage, unused.
In the spring of 2015 I started wanting to ride a bike again, so I dusted of the Husky, mot'd it, insured it and went out for a ride on it, it felt horrible, uncomfortable, twitchy and aggressive, so I started looking on eBay for something else, something that would be a bit of a project - so I bought a cheap 1993 CB400 Super Four, this only took me about two weekends to get it back on the road and running well (not bad for a bike that had been sat for 3 years), I also found that I really enjoyed riding the little H**** and in the spring of 2016 I fancied a bigger bike, but I wanted it to be a bike to suit what I wanted rather than something straight off the peg, the only new bike that came close was the H**** CB1100, but it looked poop.
So I considered getting a CB1300, but again I don't really like the look of them, so I started considering building a Spencer replica CB900F, but the early 80s CB has reputation for reliability problems and the ones on eBay were expensive for what they were and the whole project was looking a bit dead in the water.
More trawling of eBay followed, GS1000s, GSX1100s and Katanas looked at but none of them really floated my boat, then in August a bike described as a 1982 Z1100R Eddie Lawson replica popped up on eBay, it obviously wasn't a genuine Z1100R and had modified suspension, I assumed it was either a GPZ1100B or a Z1000J made to look like an ELR, but it sparked that memory from 1983 or 4 of what I thought a bike should look like, a deal was struck and I had to collect a bike from Guildford.
I wanted to collect it as soon as possible, so a huge VW Crafter van was hired from Enterprise (it was all they had), scaffold planks bought from B&Q and I was on my way to Guildford, assistance getting the bike into the van was got from someone I'd never met before from another motorcycle forum and we arranged to meet at the sellers house in Guildford.
I drove down, cash in pocket, and arrived at a house in the posh end of Guildford, the seller (a senior lawyer at a petro chemical exploration company) turned out to be a really nice bloke but he didn't know much about the bike, but seeing the bike in real life I knew I wanted it badly, who cares if it didn't run very well, it was big green and looked good. Cash was thrown at him and with the assistance of Ian (from the other forum) the bike was loaded into the van.
A two hour drive later the bike was home, but still in the van, ramp was put in place and then time spent wondering how I was getting such a big heavy bike out of the van, in the end I got my wife to assist, she held the bike upright a I made the jump from van to ground and it came out easily.

[Julian_Boolean]

So here it is on the day I got it



Time to assess just what I'd bought, frame and engine number start KZT00J so it's a Z1000J
Obvious modifications were the Yamaha front end, probably FZR1000, swingarm is Zephyr and the rear wheel is Kawasaki, I knew the engine was at least 1089cc as it ha 1,089L cast onto the barrel, the Kerker was way too noisy for me and I knew I'd be changing it.
Further investigation showed that the side panels were wrong and held on with cable ties, the wiring was like a birds nest and the fairing was fitted with horrible brackets.
And it didn't run well, backfiring at tickover and stinking of petrol.

A plan was needed, what did I want to do with it, what sort of bike did I want?

What I wanted was a bike that looked like an AMA Superbike but that was nice to ride, like a big version of the H**** I'd already got.

Whether it is possible to do this with the Z I don't yet know.

First job was a quieter exhaust, Motad Neta bought because I knew from previous experience that they work and are quiet.

Neta fitted and the bike doesn't run any better, just quieter, fairing removed because it's ugly and bike generally tidied a bit

[Julian_Boolean]

Pictures don't seem to be working any tips gratefully received.

[Julian_Boolean]

Right the time had come to start investigating the engine

First I removed the carbs, these turned out to be Mikuni BS32s rather than the BS34s that it should have, so I bought a 2nd hand set of 34s, gave these a quick clean and fitted them, now the bike wouldn't start, so I refitted the 32s, the bike started but still obviously ran crap.
I then managed to confuse myself with the positive neutral selection thing after fitting a new clutch cable, and introduced myself to RobW (he's the friend of a friend) in an attempt to find a mechanic for what I thought was a knackered gear box.

Further investigation showed the ignition and head to be from a Uni Trak GPZ1100, the cams probably are as well.

Current progress is cleaning the BS34s, the diaphragms are in good condition so hopefully cleaning and jetting will sort these out, I've also bought new carb to head rubbers to fit.

All valve clearances are within spec, and all cylinders have the same compression, next engine job is to check if the crank is twisted by measuring TDC on cylinders 1 and 4, but I need a TDC tool for this which I will order tomorrow.
Once I'm happy the engine is good I will know the running problems are either carbs or ignition, both of which I suspect will require dyno time to fix.
Once I know the engine

[Al]

This was part of the picture posting help.
If you click on the IMG box on the right it will glow yellow as in the picture below.
Past that direct into youre posts and you should be good.
If you copied the hyperlink from the top of the page i suspect that it wont like it.



AL

[martinz1000r]

Al's recommendation is correct. I guess you used the wrong link as here is your picture....

[Julian_Boolean]

Right photos sorted

[Ginger Bear]

Good read so far Julian.

[tlc]

Could they be Rex side panels?

[Julian_Boolean]

Could be, they've got part numbers on the insides of them, I'll have a look tomorrow.

[Julian_Boolean]

The Kerker went about a month ago, just to save me getting any more messages about it.

Sidepanels are part no. 36001-1160 and 36001-1161 and both have a lug broken off

Today so far I have cleaned and painted the battery retainer and partially reassembled the carbs.

[1962royp]

Just do me a favour as i had this with my B2 only thing i never removed.
Take the carb rubbers off and make sure they are sealed as it will run shit and backfire if its sucking air in.
Mine had bolts just slightly too long so felt tight but didnt nip up the rubbers.
Ps good luck.

[Julian_Boolean]

Thanks, I've got new carb rubbers to fit, I'll check the bolt length as well.

[Julian_Boolean]

The good news is that the crank is straight, bad news is that both cam chain tensioner mounting holes have stripped threads, they mave have been repaired before, the both went with very little pressure.

So I'm going to strip the top end to get this repaired, but this has the benefit that I can see what spec the top end is.

[Julian_Boolean]

[img]Today I have stripped the top end down











A couple of questions

1. My pistons have ART cast on the right hand side and 18l on the left hand side, does this mean they are GPZ1100 Unitrak pistons, bore is 72.5mm.
2. The allen bolts that are hold each end of the cylinder head to the barrels, are these supposed to have nuts on the end or should they thread into the barrel, I'm guessing the second and that I need to get more threads repaired.