Z1OwnersClub GB

Nice to see these progressing

With reference to the clutch damper rubbers, I bought a few sets of viton replacement rubbers from turbosteve84 on the 750turbo website for £40 a set, iirc he’s in the states but shipped them without any problems and I’ve been using them withouts any issues.
The z650, z750, gpz750 and 750 turbo all use the same dampers even though the turbo used an uprated clutch basket.
There is also an eBay seller in the uk selling the damper rubbers at £45/set listed for a z650, although I haven’t tried them, they do look to be the same shape as the ones I bought from Steve.

Hi JB, the clutch has been modded now, but useful info on the new rubber inserts.

I bought a tank for my bike, at a very good price off Ebay, turned out it wasn't from a Z650 as advertised, but probably from a Z550 LTD. Eventually bought another in good condition, no rust, but a small dent just behind the tank badge. I'm told dealing with a dent is a lot easier than dealing with rust, so shouldn't be a problem when it goes away to be painted.

Made a bracket out of 4mm alloy plate to mount the ZX6R rear light. Now waiting to hear from the powder coaters that the yokes and swingarm are ready for collection, hopefully next week.

Got the engines cases back from Camcoat who gave them a tough heat dispersant ceramic coating, so loosely assembled the empty cases to see how they look.

Starting to take shape

Got the R6 yokes and ZRX1100 swingarm back from powder coating, with new bearings fitted they went on the bike after a bit of hassle. The R6 yokes are slightly slimmer than the old Z650 yokes, so needed a spacer below the upper yoke to make everything work as it should.

Alloy struts fitted for now, just to keep the swing arm off the ground, R6 forks fitted, with painted lowers. Found a £15 dolly on wheels which works ok, good for 200kg, means I don't have to carry the bike in and out of the garage anymore, as it was getting a bit heavy.



Yamaha Gold Spots fitted, along with a front guard from a XJR1300. While the forks look the same as that of the R6, their mounts are slightly different, so will need a spacer and bracket to make it fit the R6 lowers.

Despite the engine not having been run since 2000, it was in good condition with little apparent wear, except for one thing.. the splines on the output shaft were badly worn. The engine came from a bike that was fitted with lighter CMA wheels many years ago, and these wheels didn't have a cush drive. Either this or a loose sprocket must have caused the damage.

Since I intend to fit a 5.5 inch rear wheel and 180 tyre, I bought a complete transmission from a later ZR7S, which has a slightly longer output shaft, while being surprisingly cheap..

Worn splines on original output shaft


ZR7S transmission in case


With the two side by side, you can see that the ZR7S output shaft is indeed longer than the original.

Working on the headlight mount and gauge mount, starting with simple template..











Test fit, this Koso gauge is only a tacho, won't be used, but at 80mm its the same size as the one the bike is getting..

Test fit of the R6 wheels before they go off to be coated, while gauge bracket done and now also needs to be ceracoated. Next need to make brackets for mounting the headlight.

Taking shape

Headlight brackets are now made in steel, painted and on the bike. Haven't fitted the the sealed unit yet as there are a couple of fasteners that need to be replaced, as they are the wrong size. The gold bars are just for setting up, they won't be used in the final build.