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Greetings from Mallorca.

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Mickrick
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Posts: 2
Joined: 6th Jul 2019
Location: Spain

Greetings from Mallorca.

#1 PostAuthor: Mickrick » Sat Jul 06, 2019 4:30 pm

Howdoo! I’ve been lurking for a while, always wanted a Zed, but life got in the way, and I never found the right bike.
Then before you know it, boom! Prices shot sky high!
They make good money! And quite right too, as in my opinion it’s the only bike I can look at, and think “yes! They got it bang on, right out of the box!”
There’s not one single thing I would change on a Z900, and I like messing about with bikes.
Just ride it, maintain it, and sit a look at it.
A piece of art on wheels.
Anyhow, I’m here on the Lovely island of Mallorca, engineering on super yachts at the moment, but ready to jump off the fence in the next few months, and go back shore based.
I’m stuck out at anchor at the moment, and a few days ago, I’ve seen a Z900 A4 advertised, which floats my boat, so to speak.
But there’s no way I can get off this good ship Alcatraz, until the end of September.
So a good Mate of mine in U.K. Is willing to drive 3 and a 1/2 hours each way, to check it out for me, on 20th.
I hope it’s still there.
Now that’s a Mate!
If the bike is as good as it looks, I’ll buy it.
My only concern would be the cam chain, I assume this is a crank out job to change?
What sort of mileage will they do before the cam chains should be looked at?
I know these engines are pretty Bomb proof, but I’m no expert.
Anything in particular my Pal should be looking for besides general condition?
As an aside, when we were teenagers, With Raleigh Choppers, I used to knock around with Phill Churchett, the we progressed to motorcycles, and Phil got a job with Bennett’s the Triumph and Suzuki dealers in Atherstone, happy days!
Eventually I owned one of the first batch of 500 GSXR750’s back in 85, when Phil had his 750 Turbo, but he bought back his old Z900, and had that bike over 20 years. I always admired it.
When I left the old country to travel the World, I lost touch with Phil for a few years, until by chance another Mate mentioned he’d seen him, and I managed to make contact with him again, unfortunately he was ill at that time, but we kept in touch often by e-mail until I heard from his lovely Wife Bev, who gave me the sad news.
I later had the chance to purchase Phil’s bike, but it just didn’t seem right, and it made me feel awkward. I have often regretted that decision, but maybe it wasn’t meant to be.
I saw a Z900 posted on a web page one day, and posted a comment about it looking like my old mates bike, and got a reply from a Guy named Andrew, yes, it was Phil’s bike! I know Andrew is on here, and it’s nice to know the bike has found a good home
Anyway, sorry about my long winded rambling!
Nothing for me to do now but keep my head down working, and see if fate brings me to being part of the Zed family.
All the best Mick

Philippe
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Posts: 1994
Joined: 26th Oct 2017
Location: België

Re: Greetings from Mallorca.

#2 PostAuthor: Philippe » Sun Jul 07, 2019 4:10 am

Hi Mick
welcome to the club!
I hope you can escape from the floating Alcatraz and find a Z900 to ride.
Changing a camchain is indeed a "cranck out" job if you want to do it correct and change not only the chain but all the other parts as wel.
When you bought one, just show us some pictures, we all love to see pictures of members bikes.
Greetings from Belgium
Philippe
the differences between a little boy and an adult man is the price and size of their toys!

deka
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Posts: 764
Joined: 20th Feb 2018
Location: Newcastle upon tyne

Re: Greetings from Mallorca.

#3 PostAuthor: deka » Sun Jul 07, 2019 11:23 am

Welcome mick. Good luck with the search
GPZ1100 A1 zrx1100 gsa1200

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zed1015
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Joined: 2nd Nov 2005
Location: Somewhere between Scunny and Goole.

Re: Greetings from Mallorca.

#4 PostAuthor: zed1015 » Sun Jul 07, 2019 6:54 pm

Average stock cam chain life is around 40k miles.
This is presuming the motor has been looked after and correct tension maintained.
A new one can be fitted without splitting the motor and using a rivet link which is perfectly fine if done correctly but if the chain is worn out then the rest of the camchain system and idler wheels will probably be going the same way too so it's best to bite the bullet and have a proper look while you're at it.

Mickrick
new poster
Posts: 2
Joined: 6th Jul 2019
Location: Spain

Re: Greetings from Mallorca.

#5 PostAuthor: Mickrick » Tue Jul 09, 2019 12:40 am

Thanks for the replies. The bike I'm interested in has close to 40,000 mile on it, hence my concern about the cam chain. There's no mention of any engine work being done.
I'm wondering if I should wait until I can get to one I can hear myself.

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chrisNI
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Joined: 22nd Dec 2001
Location: NI

Re: Greetings from Mallorca.

#6 PostAuthor: chrisNI » Tue Jul 09, 2019 9:11 am

The engines are pretty bomb proof and I don’t recall hearing about anyone ever having a catastrophic cam chain failure... they’ll rattle for a good while. If the bike looks good use the lack of service history as a bargaining tool, buy it and put the cam chain on the to do list.


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