Another Z650...

[Bevelhead]

A sunny day meant it was time to spray the bodywork with Spraymax 2K clear top coat, it went well, apart from a fly getting stuck on the tank.. its the price to pay for having to paint outside...



Put two coats on the side panels and tail section and three coats on the tank, before the can ran out..





However, while it looked good, close up the 'orange peel' finish was clear to see. Therefore, the paint had to be 'cut back', starting with 2500 grade wet and dry sand paper, followed by rubbish compound, then cutting polish to bring back the shine to the top coat. A lot of work, doing it all by hand..








New badges stuck on with 3M VHB tape..



Along with a new filler cap. Tank still needs more polishing in this pic..

[Bevelhead]

Collected the wheels, now with Avon tyres and inner tubes.. not cheaper at £285, this afternoon fitted them back on the bike. Got new shocks due in the next few days, while the choice of which Delkevic exhaust system to buy is tricky.. haven't made my mind up yet. Strange the the larger system costs less than the seemingly simpler system.



New stainless castle nut, matches the stainless wheel adjusters, nuts and spacers..

[Bevelhead]

The new YSS shocks arrived today, pity the lower shock mount doesn't fit the bike.. it is 14mm diameter, when it should be 10mm.. oh well, will make a couple of spacers to make up the difference.

[Bevelhead]

The YSS shocks had a 14mm bolt hole in the lower shock mount, but the swing arm used a 10mm bolt. Eventually I found a suitable bush on Ebay, works well, just had to narrow it down from 30mm to 18mm to fit the shock.

Fitted a new front mudguard, one from a Z900 LTD, as its shorter and better looking than the original.

[Bevelhead]

Fitted Renthal grips and Oxford bar ends, that I had left over from another project, then spent ages removing the black finish on the Brembo brake lever, so now it more closely matches the original clutch lever.




The Delkevic stainless exhaust arrived today, soon had it on the bike.





The electrics have been a pita, still got a couple of wires that go nowhere in the headlight, but tomorrow will put power into the harness, and see what works and what doesn't.

[warren3200gt]

The spare headlight wires are probably the turn signals audible beeper. Everyone deleted them almost immediately. Total PITA nuisance.

[Bevelhead]

I think your correct, the extra wires are for the running lights and beeper.

With a new chain, plugs, caps and condensors fitted, I hooked up a battery to test the electrics and hopefully start the engine for the first time.. but then I hit a problem.. I couldn't find the key! It must be in my garage somewhere, but having searched for over two hours, no sign of it. I'll have to empty the garage, which will be a few hours work in the hope of finding the damned key. If not, then I will have to access the barrel to find its code, from which a new key can be made.

[KWACKERZ1]

I had a new key made for my seat lock off the number the other week , but it did’nt work.

I have few keys kicking around though if you PM me the number I’ll check my stash.

[Bevelhead]

I had a new key made for my seat lock off the number the other week , but it did’nt work.

I have few keys kicking around though if you PM me the number I’ll check my stash.

A quick update on the key situation, I found a 3 digit code on the seat lock, so used that to order a new key. It duly arrived, and fitted the seat lock perfectly.. but it didn't fit the ignition barrel. Half expecting this, I'd also ordered a new barrel and keys, so I fitted it with no problems.

At last testing could begin, everything works ok, except the starter button, until I found that switching the lights on activated the starter!

The RHS switches are non standard, as the original was damaged, with the new wiring being very different. I thought I'd worked out what goes where, but clearly not lol...

[Bevelhead]

The only thing I hadn't yet change in the ignition system was the points themselves, so I fitted a new pair, and finally got a spark at the plugs. But it seemed to be a very weak spark, and the bike still wouldn't fire up. I changed all the terminals used in the ignition circuit but that made no difference. However I did notice that one of the coils was getting hot with only a little use, the other coil was stone cold. Odd.

Having spent many hours checking and double checking everything I could think off, with no progress, I gave up on the points ignition and have now ordered a complete Dyna S ignition, coils and leads. They should be delivered this week.

On a happier note all the other electrics work ok, so the bike is pretty much finished... except it doesn't run yet.

Cheap filters fitted, will do for now



The old points, found to be earthed to the back plate, culprit could be the small insulating washers..




While the green F2 now has the bottom half of its engine built and its in the frame. The bores and pistons are in good condition but the rings are at their wear limit so will be replaced. The engine has been ceramically coated, from black to silver.

[Bevelhead]

Took an afternoon to fit the Dyna S ignition, and found it very easy to do the static timing. Once that was done time to see if the engine would finally start. Which it did, but not for long, after 30 seconds it died. While the starter was making some horrible noises, or more likely that was the starter clutch. I could start the engine on the kickstart so for now not a big problem.

Could be fuel starvation, perhaps some jets are blocked. They looked ok when I removed their float bowls, but perhaps all is not well in the carbs..

[Bevelhead]

I took the carbs off the bike and dismantled them. I couldn't see any obvious blocked jets etc, although three of the four main jet o rings fell apart as I unscrewed them.

Later in the week the 10L Ultrasonic cleaner arrived along with a bottle of carb cleaner. It was just big enough to take everything in one go, except the backing plate. Seemed to work ok, after 25 minutes in the solution.





Then had the tedious task of rebuilding the carbs, I used E10 resistant O rings, along with new stainless screws and brass drain plugs.




With the carbs back on the bike, time to see if it would now run on all four cylinders...

But once again the bike didn't want to fire up, eventually I used a syringe to squirt fuel down the carbs, at which point the engine fired up for a few seconds, sounded good with all cylinders firing. Removing the float bowl drain plugs showed all four carbs bone dry. Odd, as their is fuel going down from the tank into the T piece..

Tomorrow, I will remove the carbs from the engine to investigate further...

[Bevelhead]

Quick update, I took the float bowls off the carbs, and connected a fuel supply, with the floats hinged down as far as they go, I expected fuel to pour out of the float valves.. but nothing. Then having messed with the floats suddenly fuel started to flood out of the carbs. Good. Perhaps a small blockage? I refitted the carbs but still the engine died after a few seconds. Three of the carb bowls had fuel, but number 4 was dry. Luckily being number 4, I could remove the float bowl, only to find the fuel came through only when I removed the float needle.

I think the problem is due to a worn float needle sticking closed, as it had a groove which I could feel with my fingernail.... ?

[Bevelhead]

Fitted new float valves and their brass holders to all four carbs, refitted them and hoped all would be well... it started an ran but only on three cylinders. Checked the fuel height in that float bowl and it was ok. Spark ok, yet it doesn't fire.

So removed the carbs yet again, dismantled that carb again, couldn't see anything wrong, no blocked jets etc. Gave it another 30 minutes in the ultrasonic cleaner, reassembled, refitted and... it made no difference. Still only runs on three cylinders. If I squirt a few drops of fuel into the problem carb, the engine revs shoot up and it runs on 4 cylinders for a few seconds.

No idea what to try next.

[Bevelhead]

I couldn't work out why the bike was only running on 3 cylinders, however the green F2 carbs were very clean, so I replaced the carbs on the bike with the F2 carbs and without much hope, hit the starter.... and the engine sprang to life on all 4 cylinders for the first time! I still have no idea what's the problem with the no1 carb off the bike, but now I know for sure the fault lies with the carb and not anything else.

Sadly the F2 carbs can't stay on the bike as they are needed for the F2 in a couple of weeks time.