About time I started a build thread

[spotty]

So, some if you may have seen my intro but it's about time I started a build thread
the complete Bike below is what it looked like when it was picked up by the guy I got it from.
I swapped it off him for my cb750 trailbike project which had stalled in its progress Terry had got the zzr from its original purchaser in a not going at all condition.
He got the motor running only to hear some very unhappy noises
Engine out, stripped, new crank, piston, liner etc, put most of it back together and that's where his project stalled
Terry and I knew each other through the honda sohc 750 world do when he offered the big z for my 750 it was a stalled project swap made in heaven

[spotty]

So I get the rolling chassis, motor ( in mostly built condition), a load of bodywork, several tubs of parts and a workshop manual
managed to get the oil and water pumps back on the motor, checked the cam timing and hopefully it's ready for putting back in

done a few minor things like strip clean and repaint all the footpegs and mounts
Repair some of the cracked fairings and front guard

Stripped the rear brake which was dragging while pushing the rolling chassis around. It turned out to just need a good clean and fresh fluid and seems to work fine now

Cleaned and repainted the ( stock ) exhaust with gunmetal coloured pot belly stove paint, polished the chrome mufflers

Cleaned and ' fed ' the vinyl seat cover, it has no rips or damage so I'm happy with that

Screen is pretty good, cleaned up ok with just some light scuffing, this should be fixable with some Future floor polish....sounds odd but this stuff dries clear and hard and fills minor blemishes. Found out about it from building model cars, it gets used as a gloss top coat and to descratch the clear plastic used for windows

I've pulled the forks for new seals and a repaint but haven't been able to get the bastard Allen bolts out of the bottoms yet

Eventually got the bearings out of the front wheel and took the discs off so it can all get a good hot high pressure blasting at work tomorrow then repaint the discs and maybe the spokes and centre 'rib' of the wheel in Kawasaki green
Back wheel to get the same bearing and paint treatment
Both wheels have previously been polished on the edges and the first flat areas on each side so at the very least I'll give the previously polished bits a quick going over

Anyway , phone about to go flat, will try and post some pics next time

[NotDeadYet]

Looking forward to seeing pics and your riding impression when you’re done. Good work saving it from neglect.

[spotty]

Ta, it had lived in a shed for 18 years before my mate found it.
it had its gearbox done at about 30K and then dropped a main and cracked a piston at about 100K
It looks like it maybe had one minor drop, there has been a little bit of damage to the fairings but the frame looks fine
I've repaired the few cracks I've found with fibreglass mesh tape, superglue and two part epoxy. The paint is a bit scruffy but it can wait until it's on the road
Finally got the bolts out of the forks at work today, cleaned the wheel and discs, new bearings later in the week and once the Smeg has been rinsed out of the forks, refill, new seals and get the front end back in by the weekend
I"d be happy to put photos up but my cheaparse phone is on photo strike. Might try dumping them onto a work computer and downloading from there

[reidmct]

Do the fork bushings still look within spec? (There's an illustration in the manual to help judge wear.)

[spotty]

Started putting the forks back together tonight and....
one of them has gouges at exactly where they sit against the seals wiwth the forks fully extended so my guess is someone tried to get the deal out without pulling the forks apart
Got the 2 part epoxy putty out, mixed up a small blob and whacked it on, smoothed it out and left it to set.get back to it tomorrow, sand it back and hopefully it will have filled the grooves
Got the other fork back together but no oil yet, I'll do that to both at the same time when I put them back in the bike
Got new bearings for the front wheel delivered today, while I was doing eBay feedback I noticed that I bought them from a pallet jack supplies shop..... while they might be up to 3mph with half a ton on them I'm not sure I trust them at 150mph with me on them
Got better ones coming later in the week
Ah well there are other things to be getting on with

[spotty]

[spotty]

Not much today except new tank Cap and screen bolts , couldn't resist the green ones

[spotty]

Haven't pulled the old cap off yet, but is the outer ring plastic on the stock cap too?
if not then I'll build a good ( metal as possible) one from the two

[spotty]

New wheel bearings and stupidly green brake lines
that's all for the weekend, tonight there's free drinks in honour of our local volunteer fire brigade at a flash restaurant ( I'm the acknowledged senior sausage flipper at fund raising events, not an actual fire fighter, that's Mrs Spotty's job) so it could be a late start tomorrow

[spotty]

It was such a late start that I haven't quite started anything yet, up til 3 in the morning necking beers and playing records

It's now 7pm so I think I can safely say I'm not going to be doing anything tonight, I'm getting too old for this sort of thing ( until next time anyway)

Get a proper nights sleep and hook into it tomorrow, plan is to at least get the front end back in, so that means defuck the fork leg, new bearings and maybe put the new brake lines on

[spotty]

De screwed the scratched fork leg and got it back together, got both forks back in the bike , new bearings in the wheel and that's back in too, didn't paint the wheel or discs , they came up pretty good with just a clean
pulled the front brakes off and stripped them down, absolutely filthy and a right pain getting the pistons out but heat and persistence paid off. Covered in baked on crap but they should clean up ok, might have to do the seals as the outer ( dust ) seals are toast but the main ones are fine
The bodies should come up nice with a turn through the dishwasher when Mrs spotty is out
i knew the pads were stuffed but.....they had merely a shadow of brake material left on them except for the bits which were just metal
that was as far as I got, the VMAX needed starting to make sure the battery was ok, then taking for a quick 20km ride to make sure I still remembered how to ride it
It seems I do but that suspension needs some adjusting, still it's better now that it's got some suspension , a nice Corbin seat and forward controls

[spotty]

[spotty]

This is my vmax in a former incarnation, it's back in its stock red these days ( for the moment anyway) 6 pot Hayabusa calipers and m/c's, new ohlins copy shocks, progressive front suspension, Corbin seat, forward controls, different headlight and probably other stuff
the thing is a demon to ride and everything you've ever heard about evil power and shite handling is entirely true
I guess the power of the zzr is going to be at the very least comparable but I'm hoping the handling will be somewhat better

[spotty]

If I'm unimpressed by the 4 piston calipers when I get the zzr going I may well steal the 6 pistons off the VMAX and put the 4 piston gsxr ones back on, they were light years better than the shite Yamaha ones