Z1000ST ('79-E1) Restoration

[Bill P]

Top class Philippe id luv that in my garage

[Philippe]

Hi men
an update of the Z1000ST.
The beast is alive, it's running and riding as it should be. The bugs and gremlins are out and I've covered 370 Km with it.
She's up for sale now .
I'll tell you something about the electric gremlins...OMG !!! I allmost had a nervous breakdown!
When I planned to ride her I drove her out and putted the lights on...a few seconds later the 20 Amp fuse blew and I had to push her back into the garden.
After a long search and 5 or 6 blown fuses it turned out that the little pilot lamp was the cause of the trouble. The isolation of the brown-white cable which brings the current to the bulb was too far removed and made contact with the spring of the bulb holder.
A little but important detail!
Once that was solved a new attempt to drive her was made...
The bike was riding but shifting gears was very difficult. I could shift up but shifting down was very hard. It became a little bit better when the engine oil became warmer.
The next day I decided to have a look and removed the bevel gearcase. It turned out that one of the little M6 bolts to retain the gear changing mechanism was loose. It was tightened and the problem was solved.
I had to put the driveshaft back on the bevel gearcase...it took me more than two hours of attempting and I ended up by removing the swing arm in order to get the driveshaft on.
Once that was solved I decided to test the bike on the road again.
The engine ran on two cylinders...number 1 and 4 didn't wanted to fire. No spark!!! What happened? A loose wire? No.
A blown ignition coil? No. A blown up pick-up coil? No again. It turned out to be the bad 4-pin connector of the ignition box. OK I found it, or didn't I ? After changing the 4- pin connector she ran on cylinders 1 and 4 but now 2 and 3 didn't cooperate...
After lenghtening the 4 wires of the ignition box by 10 cm it became obvious that the problem was solved. She ran on her 4 cylinders.
I don't know why the engineers didn't provide longer wires on the ignition so that these are easier to connect with the wires of the pick-up coils. The 4-pin connector hides himselve behind the rear master brake cylinder and you need little hands to get there!
Anyway it took me several days to find all the gremlins and bugs and to solve them. So if one of you has problems after rebuilding a bike, don't worry, you're not the only one!
Now the old girl is riding like she should. Doesn't she look beautifull after her face lift?

If anyone is interested to buy the ST, just send a PM.
GrtZ
Philippe

[Bill P]

Beautiful Philippe congrats and thanks for the write up and pictures very enjoyable

[Pigford]

Philippe, great to hear you tracked and fixed the "gremlin's" - always interesting to find out how problems are sorted - help's lot's of us!

[000zeds]

Philippe, great to hear you tracked and fixed the "gremlin's" - always interesting to find out how problems are sorted - help's lot's of us!

[MikeP]

Thanks for yet another great ST restoration, your comprehensive diary is my inspiration to getting mine up and out into the sunshine.

[Philippe]

Hi Guys

She's sold! The first man who came to have a look at it bought it.
Within a few days she'll have a new home.
GrtZ
Philippe

[moizeau]

No surprise there then Philippe, what you replacing the beast with?

[Philippe]

Hi Pete
no idea yet, perhaps another ST if I can find one...who knows.
Time will tell.
GrtZ
Philippe