Kawasaki ZZR600D Project

[unspec]

After getting rear-ended by another bike last week I've got my hand on a tatty ZZR600 to keep me on 2 wheels. This will probably end up as my winter hack.

Phase 1
Get the bike running.
Pass MOT

Phase 2
Refresh braking, suspension and bearings. Light engine maintenance.

Phase 4 (tentative)
Cosmetic improvements.

So, this is what she looks like!

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/garagea.jpg

The garage is getting a bit full...

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/garageb.jpg

And this is the state of my Thundercat's generator cover.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/generator.jpg
[/img]

Next update will be my attempt to get this £390 bike started!

[unspec]

So things get off to a slow start, there are lots of things to check and possibly replace. I'm eager to get the bike running but the battery is shagged.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/batteries.jpg

So it was off to HG to get a new one, picked up a charger at 1/2 price as well. Love that deal

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/charger.jpg

I picked up a lot of other stuff I couldn't be bothered taking a picture of like new spark plugs, some semi-synthetic oil, carb cleaner, engine cleaner, oil filter, coolant, brake fluid and autosol - who says you can't polish a turd!

So while the battery charges overnight and the penetrating oil gets into some the of bolts I want to remove I had a bit of a play with the autosol to see if it could improve the look of the cans. It was ok, considering they aren't in the best of shape anyway..

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/exhausta.jpg

Back to work tomorrow so I don't know how much will be done this week. Boo!

[nightshaddow]

looks like a start, shall follow
____________________
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 100 MPH THATS IMPOSSIBLE Its chinese OFFICER."
Current rides CB 125 TDE(the next project) NS125RK ( now on the road ) CB125TDC (soon to be project 17) melody ( the nephews )

[steveh]

nice, im not 100% sure but ive got a genny casing that you can have.

its from the 400 model but there all the same iirc.


steve.
____________________
Current : 06 Zx10r, 07 Wr450f SM, 74 850 norton commando, 63 bsa b40, 1962 Triton 650, 67 Triumph Tr6r, 1955 Triton 750, 1978 TY250E.

[unspec]

[Kickstart]

[unspec]

Had an unexpected day off work (I actually forgot I had leave!) so I did a bit more on the bike.

Firstly I had a look at the brakes, the bloody thing was killing me when I was pushing it around. I was sure they were dragging.

Well the back brake was a state, I took the clips, spring and pins out and ended up with a hand full of rusty bits.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/handofbits.jpg

The corrosion had got to the pads as well...

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/oldrearpads.jpg

I left the rear caliper on the bike without the pads - must remember not to push the rear brake lever when moving it about!

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/rearcaliper.jpg

So the bike was easier to move around the garage but now the front was binding, not surprising really as there was a bit of corrosion there as well.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/frontbrakes1.jpg

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/frontbrakes2.jpg

I was too lazy to do the same to the front, and I hadn't put any penetrating oil onto the bolts like the rear brake, so I left it for later.

I then set about getting the tank off. To make it more easy to get to the tank bolts I took the rear fairings off.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/rearsubframe.jpg

I'm now getting a fair collection of bolts and washers - I must remember to buy a load of freezer bags to bag and label them up so I know where each lot came from.

The tank came off quite easily, clever Kawasaki even integrated a valve into the bottom of the tank, so you can just take the thing off and then hold it over a petrol container. That make getting rid of the stale fuel much easier then I had expected.

With the tank away I was presented with the airbox.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/airbox1.jpg

That only took a few bolts and there was the inside of the airbox. I'd expected some spiders or even a dead mouse, but it was quite clean.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/airbox2.jpg

The filter also looked in pretty good shape, not as nice and a K&N but it will do for now.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/airfilter.jpg

I fired a blast of carb cleaner into carbs and put the airbox back together. I then went to check out the sparkplugs. I must have been quite excited as the picture came out all blurry.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/htleads.jpg

They were quite easy to remove, once I went on a totally redundant trip to Halfords to get a spark plug socket, finding they were out of stock then realising when I got home that I already had one

They were pretty dirty - I put some new NGKs in just to be on the safe side.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/oldplug.jpg

Tank went back on and the new fuel (with some Silkolene Pro FST) was added. All that was left was to pray that this was enough to start it.

I stabbed at the start button and after some struggling it fired into life again! There was a fair bit of smoke coming off the engine, most probably to the ACF50 I had been using to loosen up some stubborn rusty bolts but the bike was running at least.

It was getting late and I was getting hungry so I tidied up and got the 3 bikes back into the garage.

BTW I work really slowly that was basically a day of me faffing about.

On my todo list
Sort the throttle - it is sticky and doesn't snap back to position.
Sort the brakes (front and back)

[Grimnir]

I have some zzr600 experience (see the thread noob - kinda):
176000 mile ZZR600:
I was a courier with a poorly R80RT and then I found a shop selling some damaged / repairables. 1.5 yrs old, 6.5k on the clock. It had been shunted from behind (stop sniggering), fallen off its stand and slid a little way. Needed 3 indicators & a rear mudguard to put it on the road plus soldering iron welding to fix the fairing & front mudguard. Followed by matt black spray paint.
Over the next 4 years it acquired various amounts of gonk tape / superglue / cableties due to 'interacting' with London traffic. Also Krauser panniers / top box / scottoiler / heated grips / handlebar muffs / 140w hi beam 100w dip.
It died at around 176000 miles. The insurance was way cheaper than the beemer as for couriers is was purely based on engine size. About 30% less thirsty too. Dispatching on a 'sports' (well, kinda) bike? Quite a few others have done it and given the cosmetic state I was hardly going to make it much worse without a serious lamp post interface. Sadly, all pics more than two years old were lost with my old pc Sad

[chris-red]

[unspec]

[chris-red]

[CarlosCBR]

Is that rear brake disk salvageable?

[unspec]

[unspec]

Just a quick update - didn't have time for a lot of work.

The penetrating oil on the caliper bolts had done the job, combined with my draper extension bar, I had them off in no time at all.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/draper.jpg

But the calipers were pretty corroded, it took a bit of effort just to get the screws that hold the spring plate off (one rounded and required me to break out the dremel, hammer and big slotted screwdriver) but by far the worst bit was the pin that holds the pads in place. The R clip wasn't any trouble but the pin on one of the calipers was seized solid.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/dirtycaliper.jpg

I ended up using a bit of penetrating oil, hitting it with a hammer then having a good idea to use a nail in the hole for the R clip and a set of pliers to rotate the pin. That was enough to break the corrosion holding it in place and with a bit of a tug, the pin came out.

One top tip is to get a load of resealable freezer bags from the supermarket. They, along with Indian/Chinese take-away boxes are perfect for storing the bolts and pins from a bit of the bike. I like to keep similar bits together so I can reassemble a bit of the bike with the least hassle. As you can see I bagged up the items from the front calipers.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/baggedandtagged.jpg

After a bit of a clean with an old toothbrush and some brake cleaner I dried them off and left them on the bike. I'll cut some wood to use a block tomorrow to I can push the pots out and check the condition. The pads had a lot left in them luckily so the pots were hardly exposed at all to the elements.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/restingcalipers.jpg

[Grimnir]

[quote="unspec"]
https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/dirtycaliper.jpg
Those little screws were a complete biatch on mine but never had any problems with the pins.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/baggedandtagged.jpg

The middle-top pad (?) looks like it has a crack in it, or is it carpet fluff?

[Omega]

I'm following this one with interest as I'm trying to do a similar thing with the same bike at the moment.

I'd really appreciate it if you could get a picture of where the horn is mounted if you get chance. I've still not found where it is supposed to go after mine snapped off last month lol.

[unspec]

[Gazdaman]

This is a proper motorbike project thread! Looks like you're doing it well.

What's the bike's history? How did it get in such a state?

Gaz

[unspec]

Only did a little tonight as I'm feeling a bit crap with a cold.

I cut some blocks of wood to sit in the calipers and popped them in.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/brakeblocks.jpg

Pumped the brakes and had a look at the pots.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/potsonshow.jpg

Not too bad! The line you can see mostly wiped off, some very light corrosion marks but it seems to be cosmetic. We'll see when I bleed them. I'd like to smarten the calipers up but I just need them to work at the moment so I will resist the temptation to get new bolts/bleed nipples/gold paint. I will give them a good scrubbing with a wire brush and then a wipe down with ACF50 on a rag to kill the corrosion.

The only other thing I did was have a close look at the forks, I hadn't seen any sign of fork oil leaking but I didn't know how bad the corrosion was.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/forkcondition.jpg

So, not that bad at all. If I have time I might drop them out, polish them up so they look more cared for when it goes in for the MOT.

[unspec]

[TUG]

Those calipers... do the pistons easily slide back into the caliper? If not take apart and scrape out the corrosion and clean up the pistons.
____________________
Haz ER-5, innit!

[Grimnir]

[unspec]

Sorry I didn't do a lot today. I've got the sweats and a rotten cold/cough.

I cleaned up the calipers and put them back in, topped up the brake fluid and bled it. Brakes aren't sticking now but do feel a bit soft, I will have to check some air hasn't gotten in...

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/cleanedcalipers.jpg

Topping up the brake fluid was easier said then done as someone had stripped one of the screws on the cover and let it rust.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/frontmc.jpg

I then took it out onto the drive to see if it worked. I still have a problem with the engine, it just won't idle properly. If I'm feeling up to it, I will get the carbs out and give them a damn good clean.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/zzr600d-001.jpg

As you can see, the front brakes are (re)bedding in.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/frontdiscs.jpg

And with that I'm going to watch the racing on my V+ box. Gutted about the news on VR64

[unspec]

Well today I decided to do something about the sticky throttle and look at the carbs.

So, I started with the throttle control.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/throttlebody.jpg

Didn't take any effort to open it up.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/throttleapart.jpg

That put enough slack in the throttle/return cables to think about taking the carbs off. Another tip, a freezer maker pen and duct tape is a really easy way to label stuff. I did that to remember where the vacuum tubes connect.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/remembertolabel.jpg

With that in mind I slackened off the seals that keep the carb unit attached and popped it off. It was a bit of a fiddle getting the throttle/return cables off but overall not too tricky. I then stuffed some clean rags into the holes.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/petrolsoakedrags.jpg

A bit of fuel dribbled out of the unit onto the rags when I was getting them off - the garage now stinks of petrol and it was giving me a headache (even with the garage door wide open!).

But I had achieved my goal, I got the carbs off.

https://homepage.mac.com/jrsanderson/images/zzr600/carbsoff.jpg

Next will be cleaning the carbs and checking the throttle cables. The spring on the carb unit was smooth and strong. The throttle cables when they were detached seemed to move freely but when it was all connected up the throttle just wouldn't return? I guess I will just lube them up and spend a bit of time adjusting them. Hopefully that will cure it.

[unspec]