Having missed a few weeks riding with Graham and Pete due to weather etc. we had tried to do something on Thursday 18th August only to have it rain down and stop the evening out before we started. In the meantime we had been working out a plan to go to Brackley Festival Of Motorcycles at Brackley in Northamptonshire. Right up until the morning of Sunday 21st August we still didn’t have a decision. Then Graham rung to confirm we’d be going.

Just before the appointed time of 12:30 rendez vous at my home, I had a phonecall, Graham was running late as he’d lost his cat (I didn’t ask for any further clarification). So eventually we set off from mine after 1pm and hit the A422 to Buckingham. A really nice pace was kept up, at 60-ish mph all the way to Buckingham. Through Buckingham I had a route planned, but somehow Graham who was following me made us go the wrong way. That’s my excuse it was all his fault. But we picked up the A421 anyway.

As we tried to get out onto the A421 it was quite busy so it entailed a quick squirt to pull across and get up with the traffic flow, the Old Z750 twin managed it very quickly, and Graham on his Yamaha kept up easily too. A quick dash along the A 421 and the A43 and we were soon at our destination. We parked the bikes, secured our helmets (ooh err that sounds rude) and had a walk around.

We immediately stumbled on two Yamaha RD’s

Graham delighted in looking over these stunningly restored bikes and finding all the non original parts. Being something of an expert he found quite a few, not anal at all then

We carried on looking around at the rest of the bikes on display :-

Then we caught the VJMC race bike display, I videod for 6 minutes, and nothing happened except a 2 stroke revved up. Turned off the video on my mobile, and then they decided to do some display runs, I caught just a little of the action:-(

Then it was time for a quick walk and the ride home. Another fun ride as Graham followed me off the A43 onto a single track road through some villages. I’m sure he felt at home there anyway. Eventually it led back onto the A421 towards home and we cruised the outskirts of Buckingham towards Milton Keynes and home. Back on the A422 we actually done something unusual, I passed a pair of motorcyclists, unheard of on my Z750 twin..

Home, a cold drink each and Graham roared off on his way home, both of us having agreed it had been an afternoon well spent

After a while spent on the phone with Graham where no excuse would actually let me off the invitation to ride out with him and Pete again on a Thursday night I found myself back on the bike headed to Newport Pagnall.

After a short wait I heard the unmistakeable sound of a 2 stroke engine, which as it came into view I recognised as Graham on his RD400. A great looking bike with the Yamaha Yellow and black racing block designs. He was followed by Pete on his bike. A ride around the back roads leading to Stoke Bruerne showed that the RD could still cut the mustard on the corners and the 2 stroke could still pull away pretty rapidly. And a great sound issued from the twin expansion chambers attached to the exhaust ports.

At the pub it was pub quiz time and we entered as team DOH! Although we (or at least I) struggled with the outlines of the countries picture part of the quiz, somehow it was left to me the teetotaller to unscramble the spirits names in the anagrams. The quiz questions were very tough too. The final scores left us trailing into a joint second place but we were happy with the result anyway.

The ride home was interesting as now 2 of us had 70’s Japanese lighting leaving only Pete with slightly more modern lights. No matter, Graham pushed ahead and went for broke on the RD, as I followed on behind relying on my glow-worms and exceptional night vision coupled with cat-like reflexes to avoid objects which appeared suddenly in the faint glow on the road 6 feet ahead. We still managed a good speed homewards sitting at 60 ish all the way.

At home my long suffering wife made the coffes for Pete and Graham and passed out the biccies. After a little chat, Graham did his best to awaken the street with his RD as they left in a blue haze. Then I realised I hadn’t got a picture of the bikes to put up here. DOH!

All in all, apart from a little trouble starting the Z750 Twin at each end of the ride (possibly due to the petrol getting old and stale) it ran rather well. The only other niggle was that when the fuel tap is switched to the ON position it starves the fuel, but reserve position is fine if leaving it somewhat liable to running completely out of petrol at some point. Well you can’t have everything can you?

Following a brief and to the point phonecall from Graham which went along the lines of “riding out on the bikes tonight, are you coming yes or no?” I’d answered yes. As I arrived home from work with the thought that actually I probably can’t be arsed bothered to get the bike out and my wife announced that she was going out to bingo with her mum, I’d decided to cancel. My teenage daughter seemed a little over eager to get rid of both of us as she offered to look after her younger sister, but I was convinced enough to get ready and actually go.

I rode to the rendez-vous point and waited for the sound of two more modern bikes ridden by Pete and Graham. A short while later and the sound arrived just before they came into view. A quick chat and a look down at a small oil drip under the Z750 confirmed what I thought, who cares, lets keep it topped up as we go and just ride the thing. Through the back roads following Graham, it’s a job in places to keep the bike pointing straight as it follows the deep furrows in the badly maintained roads and if one wheel comes out they both seem to want to go different ways, but soon the roads improve as we arrive at the Ship Inn at Stoke Bruerne a friendly and well run establishment. Drinks and (delicious) chips soon arrive courtesy of Graham and are just as quickly devoured by all as we discuss the workdays, and put the world to rights verbally.

After another drink it’s time to go homewards. Graham puts in a request that we keep to a sensible speed above the 25 mph he accuses me of maintaining usually. I protest that these two with their modern headlights are way better equipped to lead the way than my glass bowl full of tired glow worms laughingly designated a headlight by Kawasaki in the 70’s. So Pete takes the lead and Graham follows me, both using their main beams, Pete’s illuminating a path in front while Graham blinds me via the mirrors with his. In fairness my shoulders usually block the low down mirrors so Grahams light does illuminate either side of me allowing the White lines to be seen clearly for further than my headlight allows. So using Pete as a guide to what’s coming and Grahams shining example of lighting to avoid the sides we run along the A508 at a steady 60 – 65 mph all the way back to MK.

As we dismount Graham congratulates us on getting home and keeping a nice pace along the roads. Coffee is made and delivered along with biscuits as we finish the night with another pleasant chat. Then Pete and Graham head off back to Bedfordshire and I put away the Z750 and head to bed. Another fun time was had, and pleasant company and weather had made it worthwhile pulling the lump of Kawasaki up the slope of the driveway earlier in the evening.

It has been a long time since I posted here again. The last few rides of 2010 being relatively uneventful until I met up with some of the guys from The Lonesome Twin site. We’d decided on somewhere central to everybody, and Phil came down from oop Norf and some others (OK one other) arrived from various parts of the UK  to on their Z750 Twins.

After a little breakfast in the Cafe and a little chat we had a look around all the other bikes, which was when we noticed that the red Z750 twin from Birmingham was leaking fuel. Unfortunate for the owner who had just rebuilt the carburettors. The next bike under scrutiny was mine, which was leaking oil from one of the engine side covers. Damn it. So we all set off back home, I was sure of making it the 6 or 7 miles I had come to the event but felt for the poor guys who had lots of miles to do.

So fast forward to March 2011 when we decide to tax the Z750 Twin for a year. Enthusiasm sets in and I set about the oil leak a mere 6 months after I first spotted it. Psyching myself up to removing engine side casings I pulled out the toolkit. Tried the lower bolts where the oil was coming from and found they were slightly loose, so I tightened them up and called it job done. An oil change was carried out and then 3 kicks to fire the old girl into life. Kawasaki done a nice job, I think, if a bike 35 years old will start after 6 months lay up with just two practises and one real kick (OK it really was 3). No leaks once it was warm anyway.

The enthusiasm used up the Kawasaki Twin was sat back in its spot until today April 2nd when it was booked in for an MOT by my long suffering wife.  Washed and cleaned to make it at least look like someone cared for it, I rode it to the MOT. Felt good and all was working until half a mile away when it died as I changed down gears. Dropping the clutch got the fire burning again and handfuls of revs at the last couple of roundabouts kept it going but she sounded sick. I explained to the MOT tester who was a very nice man, and as I pushed it into his testing bay I realised that the choke was in the wrong position. It passed brake tests, all the suspension and lights worked and the engine started and ran OK for the test now the idiot rider had been sorted out and put the choke off D’oh.

Result was a new 1 year MOT certificate with the advisory that the chain needed adjusting. Returning home I immediately sprayed the chain adjuster bolts and found my biggest spanners to release the spindle nuts. A few minutes later and the sag was gone from the chain once more. A little lube just to finish the job and all is well. All that remains is for me to get a new or at least decent mudguard for the Z750 twin.

Yeah I know it’s been a while again since I posted anything here, but here’s the latest in the saga of the Z750 twin. I have been trying to get out with the Thursday night gang as often as possible, which means as long as it’s not raining and the bike is ok. So a few weeks ago we met up at our usual rendez-vous point and Graham was riding an RD he had been rebuilding for someone. The usual ride was had to the pub, all made it there safe, had a couple of diet cokes and left in the dark to go home.

Again a pretty uneventful ride back, and coffee was prepared at my house for the guys. I’d been talking to Graham about getting his opinion on the Z750, so I offered him the chance of a lifetime ride on the Kawasaki which he accepted. Pete and I stood listening to the bike disappearing and then the sound of the exhaust as Graham rode around the small estate where I live. He came back and said the bike had nearly killed him and it didn’t do right hand turns. A claim I refuted as I never had a problem. He took it to turn it around, and came back saying the steering locked as he was turning. Strange.

We all tried the steering for bearing play, or sticking and all agreed it was fine. We recreated Grahams turning by diving the forks as we turned the handlebars (he was braking hard both times as he turned, something I rarely do as I brake in a straight line ready for the turns) when we noticed that on turning right the exhaust was hitting the mudguard if the forks were compressed quite hard. I knew the mudguard was a dodgy aftermarket one size fits all affair, and when we checked it was sticking out a long way at the rear of the wheel. Also the left hand exhaust downpipe sits a bit further forward than the right hand one, hence it only doing it one way.

So true to my usual form I rushed the bike into its parking slot, and vowed to look at it soon. Three weeks later, I decided it was soon and removed the mudguard (funds are short to buy another at the moment) and packed it off the wheel a bit closer than it had been and hopefully giving more exhaust clearance. Marking the mounting lugs on the brackets I pulled the mudguard out, and drilled the new holes. Refitted the mudguard, pulled the brake and turned the handlebars, success it now misses the exhaust. Went to wheel it back into position and found the mudguard now rubbed the wheel.

Yes the spacing had been ok when it was on the wheel, but the strengthening for the bracket was inside the mudguard and a bracket for the speedo cable pushed the mudguard over slightly, causing it to hit the wheel. Cue the swearing and much hitting with a hammer to clear it. Then cue defeatism and retiring to watch TV and miss another week of the Thursday night gang.

So today I hit the mudguard with a hammer again, and it clears the wheel now it looks terrible but it’s rideable.  I also set about a spare tank I have in the garage with a view to a bit of a colour change, as I have almost a full set of coloured parts to paint and swap without messing up the ones on the bike currently. I’ve removed the paint, and a lot of hidden filler which was filling dents in the tank. So I now have a nearly bare tank, some rubbing down paper and some primer. See you soon for more krazy Kawasaki kapers.

Yes we are still here and still getting along on the Z750 twin. Just haven’t had time to write so much about it. I missed a couple of Thursday nights with the guys for various reasons including apathy. Then Graham rung and I decided I’d go along again.

As usual the Kawasaki fired up perfectly, as usual it was heavy to get out to the road, and as usual it ran nicely and felt great since the last load of adjustments etc. So I met up with the guys at the appointed time, and Graham had a call from another of his mates, after some directions were given we waited for him to arrive. A little later and another phonecall of directions to a biker lost somewhere near Newport Pagnell. Still he did arrive and we did get to ride to the pub.

An uneventful but fairly quick ride to our cokes, and for Graham and Pete to fill their faces with chips. A good hour or so of chat about all kinds of stuff from bikes, to cars to films and all stops in between. Soon it’s time to saddle up for the journey home. Fired up the two cylinders and turned on the lights as it was getting dark, but there was no increase in forward visibility. Only sidelights were on. I hit the dip switch and the headlight lit up, back to low beam and nothing.

I suspected I had disturbed the wire when checking the bulb to source a Halogen replacement, so made the decision that as I had to get home I’d ride on the high beam which still didn’t blind anyone unless they crouch in front of the bike. For some reason again all the guys with their modern lights which could bring daylight to the roads ahead of us decided to follow the Kawasaki with its failing torch level of lighting.  No matter we lead and made a dash for home, and managed to keep a good speed up in the dim glow of the 70’s lighting.

It was just about a mile from home and luckily on a lit road that the high beam also went AWOL. So with just a sidelight showing people in front that I was actually there, I trundled into my street. My daughter had heard us coming and opened the gate so I could ride straight in, which was nice.

Being the kind of guy I am, the lights weren’t checked until the Wednesday a week later. I suspected a loose connection so it would be a quick and easy repair ready for a ride with the Thursday night gang again. Wrong! The headlight bulb had completely burnt away one of the (quite thick) internal wires and left a very blackened glass in its wake. It is a dead bulb, it had ceased to be. So I searched Ebay, and ordered a bulb, but missed another Thursday excursion. Happily the bulb arrived the following Saturday, and on fitting all the lights were functional again. And that’s all there is to say about that.

Grumpy Graham from work rung me again a couple of weeks ago, and asked if I wanted to go out on the bikes again. I turned it down as it looked like rain. It didn’t rain and they had a decent ride out I was informed. This week when he asked, the weatherman had promised a warm and dry evening, and I jumped at the chance to test the newly improved handling of the Z750.

Thursday nights is their regular ride night so I got home on Thursday got ready, and fired up the Kawasaki’s 750cc twin engine ready to go. Two kicks saw life, and we were on our way. The handling in the first few corners was noticeably better, and roundabouts were no longer a challenge to get around at a sensible speed. So I enjoyed a quicker ride to the rendez-vous point. The suspension soaked up the roughest of bumps now without putting a shockwave through my whole body, too.

Soon Graham and Pete turned up on their beasts, and we headed out to the back roads between Newport Pagnell and Stoke Bruerne. This time, I could at least get the Z750 around the corners without slowing to a crawl, and didn’t have Pete almost rearranging the rear of the Kawasaki with the front of his Bandit every bend we came to. In fact when we made it to the pub (the Ship Inn at Stoke Bruerne) they both remarked how well it had kept up this time. Fait Accompli then.

After a couple of diet cokes, it was time to head home. The sun was fading into night and I hoped the new speedo bulb would light up the dial enough so I could keep the 60mph the other two liked to ride at. No problem there, but with the glow-worm in the headlight shell still a bit poorly forward visibility was still down to a few feet. Luckily Pete led the way along the unlit road, and Graham sat behind with his headlight lighting either side of me. We did manage to keep a steady 60-ish too and soon got back to Milton Keynes.

After my biker gang had finished their coffees and headed home I went online to find a better headlight again. I found out during our conversation that there may be a Halogen upgrade for my light, so I have ordered a halogen bulb which looks right in the picture. Hopefully I may soon have a light which I can at least use to illuminate the road enough to see if there’s a kerb imminent. Which is nice.

Hopefully I’ll be able to test it on the next meeting of the Thursday night gang.

I have been meaning to write a book about procrastination, but just kept putting it off. Much like I have been putting off fixing the niggling faults with the Z750 which showed up on the last ride. I know they need doing but just find other more important issues to deal with, like eating too much.

I awoke this morning to a lovely sunny day, just right for riding motorcycles, and just as good for fixing them. As Graham my workmate kept telling me, it wouldn’t take long to drain and fill the forks to the correct level, and to maybe push them through the yokes a little so they are the same length as the originals. So spanners in hand I set about the simple task.

Firstly drain the old oil from the forks, an easy job on the left hand side, just undo the drain screw, and wait while it drains. It didn’t drain. So undaunted I removed the top plug from the fork, and then the oil drained out of the hole at the bottom. I set up a bottle with the mark at a level indicating 165ml and poured in some fork oil (actually hydraulic oil) to the level ready to pour in.  Refitted the drain and poured in the oil. I struggled a little to get the top plug back in, it has to be forced against the spring, but not too hard. One side done.

The right hand fork should be just as simple. I undid the drain plug screw, or rather turned the screwdriver which promptly chewed the cross out of the screw leaving it round and useless. After swearing at it had proved to have no effect, I slotted the head of the screw with a hacksaw and used a flat head screwdriver to undo the offending article. Removing the top bung saw a torrent of oil run out from this fork leg, much more than I’d have expected.

While I waited for the oil to drain I measured the oil out. As soon as the drips stopped, I fitted a new drain screw (new as in old from another fork leg) and refilled the fork and refitted the top bung. Immediately I could feel there was more movement in the front suspension, and it still damped the spring on rebound. Excellent.

Next I measured my old bent fork and, having loosened all the clamps, moved the fork on the bike (they are longer ones from a Z650) up through the yokes to equal the height of the originals as this should improve the handling a little by changing the rake, and the wheelbase slightly. Carefully measuring both sides to get the lengths the same, I clamped the forks in place and checked them again. Now the steering geometry should be as Kawasaki had intended it.

Next I removed the speedo to change the bulbs, then realised I didn’t have any only to notice a set of clocks in the boxes under the bench. Bulbs removed from those were fitted, tested and the speedo refitted in it’s bracket.

I was just about to stop work on the bike to check my daughters punctured bicycle tyre when I decided to check the tyre pressure on the Twin. OH! 10 psi is not enough for this bike at the front, so some legwork with the footpump was required to bring it to a more reasonable pressure. I checked and pumped up the rear tyre too. Note to self, check tyre pressures more often.

With all the work done I decided I should treat the old Kawasaki Z750 to a clean and polish. She scrubs up ok for an old un. Then it was out for a quick test, and all the work seems to have paid off, the handling feels better and the bumps are being smoothed out much better. All in all a very productive day.

It all started with a phonecall about work. My colleague was asking about some work related issues, and before he went mentioned he and a mate of his were going across the top of Milton Keynes on their bikes on Thursday. Would I like to meet them at Newport Pagnall? I said yes, and so it was settled.

Thursday night I started the bike, dragged it out to the road and got ready. I stopped for petrol along the way, and got to our rendez vous point just outside Newport Pagnall by 7:20 and waited. Soon Graham on his Yamaha and his mate Pete on a 1200 Suzuki Bandit arrived, and we set off for the Canal Museum car park at Stoke Bruerne going via he back roads. A pleasant enough ride, and Graham and Pete were graciously holding back for me on the Z750.

After a few decreases in road size and deterioration in road surfaces we came to Stoke Bruerne, and down into the Museum Car Park (some wags keep covering the “C” in Canal museum to leave the hilarious results on the local signs). I lost Graham in the car park, but soon found his Yamaha skulking in a corner, and Pete and I parked up nearby.

Across the canal we headed for a pub, and had a coke outside in the dying sunlight. Then went inside for another. Here we found a quiz night had just started so we joined in with the locals, and answered questions as “Norfolk n idea”. A couple of diet cokes later and we were declared the winners, accepted our prize and went back outside to find a cold night had settled in.

We all mounted up, all of us in motorcycle jackets, but only jeans on the lower half. As we set off the chill of the April night was immediately apparent. With Grahams words in my ears “Keep it at 60 on the A 508, should be easy enough even on that old crate” I headed for the main Northampton road back to Old Stratford and Milk n Beans. As we got onto the unlit A508 I realised I still hadn’t replaced the speedo bulb, so judging 60mph to be a tad over 3,500 rpm in top I aimed for that.

The second thing which hit me was that the last time I rode the twin at night I hadn’t been able to see a thing over 3 yards in front of me with the 70’s lighting of the old Kawasaki. This situation still held true, and was compounded by the two modern bikes lights glaring in my mirrors. So I headed along the A508, judging 60mph (wrongly it transpired) and trying to navigate by the dying candle of a headlight. Not great, reacting to white line changes as they happened a few feet ahead  isn’t recommended to anybody.

Going into the small hamlet of Grafton Regis there was at least a few street lamps, so I could see I had slowed to 25mph for the 30mph limit in force here. Unfortunately that also meant the visor on my crash helmet misted over just as we exited the lit area of the road. So foggy visored I tried again to hit 60mph and hold it with a visibility measurable by a regulation school ruler. In addition my legs were going numb under my faded blue jeans.

At the A5 roundabout Graham and Pete peeled off to head back to Bedford, grateful that they would be able to add some speed I guess. I went across through Old Stratford and home. I arrived cold, but beaming and full of enthusiasm for the next ride out. That’s if Graham will offer an invite again, as he rang on Friday on another work related matter, and dropped into the conversation some of the finer details of the ride along the A508. Firstly my speed judgement fell short, hitting at best just over 50, and mostly around 45mph. Secondly the two modern bikes had burnt a lot of brakes just trying to avoid my rear as I suddenly braked to make the turn they could have seen from half a mile away.

To give them their due, the guys were gracious, and didn’t mock me too much and sort of accepted my excuses re: lights in the speedo and headlamp. The proviso is get a speedo bulb before the next ride, and I decided for my own peace of mind to find a modern headlight or upgrade to help me see where the road is going in the darkness. A 7” round Suzuki Bandit one allegedly doesn’t look too bad on the Kawasaki Z750 twin, so I’m going to look for one of those at an affordable cost. Anyone giving any away? Oh wait, Grahams mate Pete was on a Bandit wasn’t he, I just wonder….

The first really nice day of this year since I got the bike on the road came this Saturday. Unfortunately just at the time the brakes and discs needed replacing on the wifes Zaffira. What to do? Ride the Z750 in the nice weather and leave the brakes for another day, not really an option safety wise so I spent Saturday fitting pads and discs to the Vauxhall. Nasty job.

Sunday dawned and the weather looked great once again, so I made the executive decision to take the Kawasaki out for a quick ride. The board of governors (well her indoors) agreed, so I dragged the lump of Japanese metal out onto the road. While I was sitting on it ready to start it, our friendly hairdresser and biker gal Emma pulled up in her car and suggested a ride out to a cafe up the A5 with a bike meet going on.

So I waited while Emma and her hubby got their bikes ready when they returned, a swift kick saw the Kawasaki spring into life, and we all set off together for Towcester. Before too long the Yamaha and Emma felt the need for speed, and her hubby Simon on his GSX-r followed as they began overtaking slower cars. I sat back on the old Kawasaki happy to enjoy the scenery until we all met up again at the cafe.

I arrived to see them waving me over to them, and parked up to view the other bikes. An old Brough Superior sat next to a new Yam, and next to that a Norton and so on. All era’s and many makes from all parts of the world all sat together in the car park, while the owners talked about each others and their own machines. And the sun shone.

We decided it was time to return, Simon and Emma had decided to take a longer route back and give their bikes a bit of welly on the dual carriageways. I had little petrol and no money so I bid them adieu and went back along the A5 for a quiet and uneventful run, steady and admiring the views and enjoying the warm spring breeze on my legs. 

Soon I was back in MK, the Kawasaki had purred all the way back and given me another 20 miles of relaxing ride. This is what Spring was made for right?