Restoration of a Z1000H (God help me please)

[Philippe]

Hello men

so, the project I've been waiting for has finally come into my hands: the restoration of a Z1000H.
As a lot of you know, I've been searching for 12 years to find a Z1000 Injection.
I know these bikes have a bad reputation but I don't care, perhaps because I used to have a bad reputation myself when I was a teenager, and I know it's never too late to change and to get a better and smarter life.

As you know I found it in Germany, about 20 Km north of Berlin.
It was standing in Zühlsdorf, a small little village, for the last 13 years and didn't run since then.
It was partially dismantled. I don't know why because the previous owner had mounted brand new Pirelli Phantom tyres (2009) but never rode with those so they're brand new but too old to be used again.
I guess he wanted to give the bike a full restoration but never completed that...

Anyway, the bike is in need of a full restoration and she'll get it.
Just a few pictures:

Before the restoration

In the workshop

The electrics in the headlamp bowl...

The situation beneath the seat...

The strange German side stand attachment, some other countries have the same layout

Koni rear shock absorbers...better than the originals but also 20 years old (or more).

As you can see there's a lot of work to be done but I don't mind. We'll make the best out of it.
You're all invited to follow the progress with it's ups and downs.
GrtZ
Philippe

[r3sc]

It’s already a must for me Philippe, looking forward to it!
Are you going to get existing projects finished before you start on this one?

Cheers.
Pete.

[Darren A]

Best of luck with the restoration Philippe, I’m sure you will do an excellent job as usual, can’t wait to see the progress and finished bike.

[Garry.L]

Looking forward to the progress Philippe.

Did it come with original pipes or will you be going aftermarket?..

[Philippe]

Hi men
thanks for the replies!
@r3sc: enjoy the story Pete and yes, the Z1000A2 will get finished but I have to wait until the paint is completely dry before I can put the striping on the fuel tank and on the tail piece.
@Darren A: thanks for the trust!
@Garry: yes the original pipes are there, a bit dusty and rusty but it's all there.

GrtZ
Philippe

[Bill P]

Looking forward to your latest rebuild Philippe

[chrisu]

they're fun and challenging to work on certainly.

Its great when they fire up for the first time.

Enjoy the rebuild and also the riding afterwards

[Philippe]

Hey men

yesterday I didn't do anything on the Z1000H, I went to Holland, to the Nol Bikker Kawasaki day in Noordeloos.

But today I made it up !
The bike was taken apart, the engine partially and the frame is almost completely naked.

As you can see the cylinder head, the cylinders and the pistons were removed, all the engine side covers were taken off in order to make the engine as light as possible to lift it out of the frame.
The rest of the engine will be disassembled tomorrow.

The frame itself is almost completely stripped, only a few parts must be removed and then it's time to start stripping the old paint off.

Now there's a whole bunch of parts that need to be sorted out.
All the bolts, nuts and screws will be degreased and they will be rezingued or rechromed.
That's something to take care of during next week.

Once all the parts are sorted out I can start with the restoration.
More news next week!
GrtZ
Philippe

[Philippe]

Hello men

this is what I was able to do today:

the engine was taken apart completely, it took me about 1,5 hour and the job was done.

The next thing to do was removing the last bits from the frame.
The four special bolts where the footrests are attached were still in the frame...the two on the left hand side came out very quickly.
I used two M8 nuts to remove them. Since they've been protected by the chain grease there was no rust inside the tunnel.
The two right hand ones were something different! What ever I tried, they didn't came out... heat, penetration oil, a bang with the hammer, nothing could persuade them to come out.
So in the end I used the combination of heat and plumbers pliers, you know, the long pliers a plumber is using to screw or unscrew a water pipe.
They both came out but they are destroyed. That's not a problem because I have plenty of those special bolts to replace them.

The next things were the shells of the tapered roller bearings in the headstock.
The original ball bearings were already replaced sometime in the past but the tapered roller bearings needed replacement again.
Since the shells have no rim that sticks out of the headstock tube I used a metal chisel to get them out.
After one or two gentle blows with a light hammer the upper one came out very fast. The lower one took some more time and a bit of penetration oil in order to remove it. But hey, they're out !

This afternoon it was time to get rid of the clumsy, complicated German, Swiss, Swedish side stand attachment.
It has two large springs, a little spring that retracts a thin sheet metal plate and another spring where a safety switch is attached...very complicated.
The angle grinder came into the game...
The metal plate where the safety switch is attached was removed very fast, it's only thin sheet metal.
Then I had to remove the attachment of the side stand...it's a thick, heavy piece of cast steel, welded on the frame tube.
It took me about one hour to remove it, after all I had to be carefull in order to avoid to cause too much damage to the frame tube.
Then it was time to clean the frame tube and to get it smooth again.
I used a hand file to remove the last remains of the weld and then the circular grinder with abrasive paper to remove the last traces.
I couldn't remove all the file and angle grinder marks but I'm satisfied with the results.
See for yourself!

After all it's more elegant to have something like this replaced...

by something like that:

Now I only have to weld the attachment of the "european" style side stand on the frame tube at the correct place and at the correct angle.
That's for another episode, maybe tomorrow, we'll see.
As far as the safety switch and the electric wiring are concerned: I have a lot of work to do on the main loom so that little bit more of work won't bother me.
GrtZ
Philippe

[Sgt.Pinback]

Thats a German spec bike with "G" engine number and VIN on right side of the headstock?

Just finished mine

[Philippe]

Hi Uli

yes it is!
You did a wonderful job! I hope that mine turns out as good as yours!
Where did you find the seat cover?
GrtZ
Philippe

[Sgt.Pinback]

Thanks!

That’s a NOS seat.

Sorry to say but the replica seat cover look poor.

[Philippe]

Hello gentlemen

the past week I've been busy as usual.
All the nuts and bolts were removed from the sub assemblies and collected in a large box, some to replate, others to rechrome.
On thursday, the first of June, I went to Brussels and to Manage (near Charleroi) to give the parts to be replated and rechromed. Both promised me that it would only take a month to finish them...let's hope they keep their word.

There also arrived two parcels from Holland, one with extra parts for the injection and one with a decent seat pan. Thank you Willem from Classickawaparts!!!

The right one arrived from Holland, the left one came with the bike.
The one from Holland will be used on the bike, it needs cleaning and repainting but it's far better than the one from Germany.

The fork legs were disassembled and it became clear that the stanchions are pitted...but I have an extra pair of fork legs so let's hope these are OK. Time will tell.

I managed to find a Kawasaki workshop manual in France in which the Z1000H is explained. It turned out that the seller comes from Scotland but lives in France. The book arrived on Friday.

I allready received a German explanation of that part of the workshop manual as a PDF but I prefer to use a book in my workshop.
Better two than none!

I was also able to buy an original seat cover for a Z1000H in Germany, a used one and slightly damaged but usable.
That one should arrive next week.

In between I applied the decals on the fuel tank and on the tail piece of the Z1000A2 but that's another story.

This morning I started with welding the attachment of the European side stand on the frame. The correct place and angle were determined on the chassis of my Z1000MK2. After all a Z1000H is a MK2 with fuel injection.

Then I started to remove the paint from the frame...a long and boring task but very satisfying in the end.

This is the result at noon. As you can see my "partner in crime" assisted me...by getting in the way.

After a siesta the work continued and this is how the frame looks like now.
A lot of paint removed but still a long way to go before it's ready to be repainted.
So, that's all for today.
More news next week!
GrtZ
Philippe

[Philippe]

Hi men

on monday the stripping of the paint continued, as it did on tuesday but then it was sand blasting time !
I improvised a "sand blasting chamber" outside , it's crude but effective!

After about 1 hour the "impossible to reach places" were clean, the paint and the rust were gone and the sand was in my ears and in my eyes...jeezes!
But this was the result

Today I sprayed the frame, it has to dry completely for a few days and then I'll take it down so that the paint can cure completely.

In the mean time, the other frame parts are stripped in formic acid, you only have to degrease them and put them in the acid.
After a day you take them out, clean them under warm water and then you only have to remove a bit of rust and they're ready for painting.

I also dismantled the spare fork legs and those are good, no pitting! These will be used on the bike.
An original second hand Z1000H seat cover arrived from Germany. It has some minor damage but at a place where you don't see it once it's mounted.
If someone has a severely damaged original seat cover they want to part with, I'll be happy to hear about it. I have plans with it...
The restoration continues, more news within a few days.
GrtZ
Philippe

[Philippe]

Hi men

since my last post I've been doing some work on the frame parts.
All the parts which need a glossy paint were stripped with formic acid, some needed sand blasting after stripping in order to remove some old rust, some were stripped with the red nylon brushes .
Anyway, after a few days of stripping, the parts were degreased and I provided them with electricity wires of 1,5 or 2,5 mm² so that I could handle them while spaying and store them until the paint was dry.
It's important that you can turn all the parts in any direction to be able to paint them completely.
Every time I discover that I didn't paint a spot on a part allthough I turned it around and around and upside down.
I think I'm not the only one...
This is the result after 1,5 hour of spraying.

As you can see I even found a solution for spraying the meter covers, two old plastic sewer pipes. They have the same diameter as the inside of the meter covers. The rim of the meter covers stops them from falling down. When nessecary, you can turn them upside down and spray the interior too. When you want to do that, heat up the plastic sewer pipes on one side and enlarge the diameter to make sure that the meter covers fit in them and are stable enough to remain in when the blast of the spraygun is pointed at them.

For painting all the frame parts I needed as much paint as I had used on the frame itself. So when you're planning to paint all the frame parts take that in account when preparing the paint!
The next step will be painting the frame parts that need a less shiny appearance but some of them must be stripped first.
Perhaps something for the end of the week.
GrtZ
Philippe