Z650 / 1100

[Bevelhead]

The Z650 frame was cut in half and widened by 20mm to fit the bigger GPz1100 engine, and also allow room for a wider swingarm / wheel combo. That done, lots of parts no longer fit the now wider frame. One such part being the i tail piece. So I reluctantly cut it in half and used an adjustable alloy flat bar to rubber mount it to the frame. The adjustment means I can alter the angle of the tail section, or fit a completely different seat unit in the future.

Then a thin steel plate was used to hold the two halves in the correct position while they were fibreglassed together. The plate was held in place temporarily with self tapping screws, which once removed, the holes were filled.

Took quite a few hours to get it done right, keeping the curved profile of the duck tail. The work being done by my mate Jeff. To finish off, it was painted with gel coat, which still needs to be smoothed down before paint. In the pic the green paint is just a guide coat to help with that..

[Bevelhead]

Test fitted the new billet yokes to take the wider 43mm R6 forks in the pic below, after which we decided to machine the underside top yoke so it sits over the adjuster nuts, as it'll look better and give an extra 10mm or so of ground clearance, at the expense of making adjustment trickier.

Still not got the head back, which is slowing things down..

[chrisNI]

Sure they don't need adjusted that often. Definitely a plan.

[Bevelhead]

The top yoke has been modded to drop it over the adjuster nuts, while work has started on making the adaptor plates to mount the R6 discs to my old billet front wheel. The R6 forks are now ready to go on the bike, though I will be painting the fork lowers black. With the bike being at my mates workshop, it might be awhile before I can go and check up on progress.

[Bevelhead]

Due to a problem fitting the lightly used 1135cc pistons, I've now ordered a 1170 kit from Wossner, due from Germany next week. Also the head has returned from Roger Upperton, which will be going off to Camcoat for a ceramic finish to match the rest of the engine. Of course the bigger pistons mean the block needs to be bored out again to 75mm, bit worried the machine shop will damage the black ceramic finish, but its supposed to be very tough, so we'll see.

Meanwhile, the front end is coming together, though there's still work to do.. the centre of disc adapter plates need machining to match the discs, right now they are smooth and look a bit odd. The fork lowers will be painted satin black and the wheel spokes may be painted too.. not sure about that yet. May just leave them unpainted. Oh, and it needs a front guard, which may be tricky to find, as I want it to match the Z1 bodywork, while fitting the 17inch wheel.

The engine needs a set of carbs... settled on either 34 or 36mm Mikuni RS flat slides... On a 1170cc engine, which would you recommend ?

[Al]

The engine needs a set of carbs... settled on either 34 or 36mm Mikuni RS flat slides... On a 1170cc engine, which would you recommend ?

34mm if you want mental acceleration and 36mm if going for the land speed record. I believe the 34mm bodies are a smaller casting, 36mm casting goes up 38 and beyond so if space is a premium 34mm scores in another way too.

AL

[Bevelhead]

The engine needs a set of carbs... settled on either 34 or 36mm Mikuni RS flat slides... On a 1170cc engine, which would you recommend ?

34mm if you want mental acceleration and 36mm if going for the land speed record. I believe the 34mm bodies are a smaller casting, 36mm casting goes up 38 and beyond so if space is a premium 34mm scores in another way too.

AL

Thanks for the info, didn't know they had different body sizes, and who doesn't like mental acceleration ... looks like it'll b getting 34s.

[Bevelhead]

The good news is that the Zed head has returned with new valve guides and reground seats. But before it can go off to be ceramically coated to match the rest of the engine, the welded repairs had to be dressed to make them look a little more presentable. This was done with a hand drill, followed by a Dremel, and finishing off with some fine wet and dry sand paper. That done, I'll be taking the head to Camcoat tomorrow, hopefully I'll get it back before Xmas.


Meanwhile, we made a start on making a fibreglass seat base. It looks very rough at the moment, but a few more layers and plenty of sanding should see it ready for upholstery. Still need to work out the best way of mounting it to the frame, but got a couple of ideas.

[Bevelhead]

We are once again in lockdown, which makes getting anything done on the Zed almost impossible. The frame is at my mates work shop which I cant visit, while the block still hasn't been bored yet, though I'm told it'll be done next week. However, the internet is still working, so over Christmas I ordered the most expensive part for the bike (so far).. a set of Mikuni RS34 flatside carbs as recommended here. They will need some pod filters too, but not sure which to buy. K&N, DNA etc?

[zed1015]

Don't buy cheap pods.
Only go for good quality well known K&N, APE, S&B etc

[chrisNI]

Nice carbs

[Bevelhead]

With the cylinder block back from the machine shop, the engine assembly could finally continue. Sadly I cant go to my mates workshop (due to our lockdown) where he's doing the build, but he did send me a few pics of progress. Also the head has been rebuilt with new valves, seals and guides..

[Bevelhead]

The standard GPz1100 head gasket wouldn't work with the 1170 pistons, so another gasket had to be bought, this time from Cometic. That done the head could go on, and the build finally completed.

Except...

Turns out the cams I had weren't from a B2, even though they came out of the B2 engine.. Nope, they are out of a Z1100A motor. Kawasaki ID the cams by machining various grooves in the obsolete tacho drive area of the cam.

What to do ?

Wait to source a good pair of B2 cams, or go with the Z1100 cams and get the blooming engine finished asap? I decided to use the Z1100 cams for now. If I find the power lacking, I can always fit different cams in future. The B2 cams having more lift and duration.

[Al]

How may grooves on the cams? Did you measure the lobe heights overall or are you going by whats' written on the cam wheels? Mine (Unitrak 1100A / Spectre) have z1100A stamped on them.

AL

[Bevelhead]

Via the grooves, I'm told the B2 should have 3 ?