Following the failure to prepare properly and getting an MOT fail on the Z750 for perished brake lines I had to get them replaced. The hoses I had ordered from HEL (See previous  post saturday the 14th/) came on the Friday morning after being ordered on the Wednesday, can’t complain at that. As the postman left, having delivered the hoses, the rain was delivered by black clouds which obscured the sun which had shone brightly until the pipes had arrived.

I checked the new brake lines to ensure they would fit and found the lower one wouldn’t match the ends of the metal pipe to the calliper due to the flare on the old pipe. I fitted the top hose which was slightly too long, but could be routed to lose the excess, and then set off to get the metal pipe replaced locally. My local hose supplier had the pipe and tool but no fittings, so I went on a quest to get the pipe made elsewhere. Not so easy. In the end I had to buy the fittings from a place which kept them but no longer made pipes and then take them back to the first place who had the pipe and made it up with the new fittings.

By this time it was raining heavily and the day was wasting, so I worked in the rain and got the pipes all fitted. It was as I tried to get fluid into the system that the rain came down heaviest, so I waited so as to not get too much water in the brake fluid reservoir. Eventually the reservoir was filled and the bleed nipple opened, but nothing came out. The nipple (no sniggering at the back) was blocked solid and I was getting wetter (yes wetter than I already am to those who know me).

I removed the nipple completely to get the fluid flowing and then refitted it once the air was out, holding the brake lever to the bars as I did it up to stop air getting sucked back in. A couple of pumps and I had a brake again on the front. Just in time too as my wife came in and I’d promised to go out for the afternoon with her (have to keep her happy too).  After our trip out I phoned to arrange the MOT retest for the Saturday, the guy on the phone told me they could do it that night if I could get there within 15 minutes. I did get there and the MOT was done and dusted that day too.

Later on Friday evening my dad telephoned to say he and my brother would come up to my house and help to change the tyres. They turned up on Saturday and my dad had agreed to buy us all breakfast at the Super Sausage on the A5 near Towcester before we started. We took the bikes (my dad on his BSA, brother on his Kawasaki ZZR1100 AKA the fat slug) and as we ate breakfast my bro asked why I was replacing tyres which had just been given a clean bill of health on an MOT inspection. A valid point I conceded but I had seen signs of perishing previously which is why I had bought the tyres. When we finished breakfast the three of us stood in the car park examining my tyres, and none of us could see any reason to change them. Instead we decided to go for a ride and put some life back in my battery.

We rode North up the A5 and across junction 16 of the M1 to drop in on the original Lonesome if he was still in his same haunt. He seemed to be but looked like he was out. I was now the friend of the invisible man according to my dad and brother who had plenty of questions, like how does he shave with no reflection etc. ad tedium. After a short respite we headed back home to mine where they rested again before embarking on their long journey home.

The Z750 ran great again, is all legal again and I am reminded once again why I keep bothering to repair and keep it going, it’s just so enjoyable to ride for a few miles.  I guess I’m going to have to keep riding, and to do that I’m going to have to keep fixing, and enjoy the bike after the swearing’s done.

Forget Friday the 13th, read the following tale of horror and tell me whether the day after is worse…

So I have the Kawasaki booked in for its MOT test on Saturday the 14th and get out of bed, fill up on breakfast and get started. I uncover the bike to discover a perished dust seal on the forks which is now hanging off. Quickly formulate a plan and get that changed for a decent one from another set of forks. OK, on with checking the silly stuff.

Brakes working…check
Suspension moving and no leaks…. Check
Side lights… Check
Brake light (front and rear brake switches)…. Check
Headlight (Dip and Main beam)…. Check
Indicators (Left/right and front/rear) …. Check
Neutral light dimming to nothing …. Check oh wait that’s not good

Yep the battery has gone flat. No matter I have a spare I bought on the other Z750, just swap them. Al still never sent the keys so I try to jiggle the seat lock to get at the battery without any luck. Time’s running away quickly so I hope the battery on the old beast will recover enough to start, and after a few minutes turn on the fuel, choke and then ignition and kick start, it fires second kick and runs on choke. I’ll leave it running to charge a little I think to myself.

As I walk away to get the back gate open the bike stutters to a stop. Yep, stoopid here never put any petrol in at the end of last years riding and the final drips just ran out D’oh!!! I pick up the petrol can I used to fill the other bike a week or so ago with hope in my heart, yep there’s about a pint in there which goes in the tank. Getting close to the deadline for the MOT and I’m wracking my brains for the nearest petrol station, as I’m getting my jacket and helmet on. The long suffering woman who puts up with me comes to the rescue telling me there’s one garage on the way to the MOT station which I’d forgotten.

Wheel the bike out, turn on and kickstart the twin cylinders into life and then drive to conserve the fumes of fuel I have in the tank willing them to get me to the petrol station to put in some more. It works and I get fuel and to the MOT on time. It all goes pretty well with no black marks until the last couple of checks, as the front brake line has finally perished to the point where it can’t be legally passed on the MOT. Dammit.

The nice MOT tester offers advice on where to get the hoses for the brakes but they are shut over weekends. As I have some time off this week I left it until Wednesday and then took a leisurely drive out dragging the missus along for the ride (it’s her car after all so she should be involved). The recommended place no longer keeps hose in stock, so I try one of our suppliers we use for hoses at work with the same result both places give the same place as an alternative source. They’re in Silverstone so I ring first, they can help but not for a few days and I need the bike back in for MOT before ten days is up so it’s back to the drawing board.

In this case the drawing board is the internet search engine Google, which lists a few alternatives. I contact HEL Performance via email with some questions and they assure me they have the correct part, so now it is ordered and hopefully Royal Mail can get it here before the weekend. See the next enthralling episode here soon….

Allegedly the five P’s is the code to live by – Preparation prevents piss poor performance, we shall see about that. I was inspired to spend part of my weekend preparing the Z750 for another summer of riding. I started by moving it out of it’s winter home and draining and replacing the oil to keep it well lubricated. Once the oil was cleaned off the exhaust downpipes, the aftermarket exhaust puts the v shaped connection for the two pipes to go into one directly under the drain plug which means they smoke as they warm up after an oil change obviously no preparation to prevent piss poor performance, the bike was started.

As this was a first start after the winter lay up I expected a bit of a problem, but 3 kicks saw the Kawasakis two cylinders waking the spiders who called her home and sending them scurrying for cover. A little warm up and a test of all the lights and brakes to ensure everything still works, which it all does as well as it ever probably will. While the cover was off I put the new tax disc in place meaning it’s all ready to ride (at least until the MOT is due in 2 weeks time).

While the old warhorse was out of the way I also moved out Big Al’s Z750 which hasn’t been started or touched for nearly 2 years. It was heavy to move as the brakes are locked on, but I moved it out and changed the oil on this one too, with the same aftermarket exhausts to clean under the drain plug again. I opened the fuel cap, the petrol didn’t smell like petrol anymore, so the long suffering wife volunteered to go get a gallon of fresh fuel.

Once the clean fuel was added to the tank and sloshed around I turned on the fuel tap and watched it go through the filter towards the carbs. As the starter works on this Z750 it was used to spin the engine over, a couple of attempts and then another Z750 was turning fossil fuel into fumes once more. Having spoken to Al during the week and found out he is doing well, and happily married now, I had broached the subject of his Z750 twin and what he wanted to do with it. He handed over ownership, so while it was out in the sunlight I got all the details required to apply for the logbook (V5) and downloaded the forms to claim ownership and to swear it isn’t being used on the public road network (AKA SORN).

So soon I should be spoilt for choice as to which one to ride on a sunny day, but today was going to ride the old faithful that is all legal, until an inner ear infection has made me lose my sense of balance. I decided dizzy spells and lack of balance aren’t good to mix with two wheel action on the roads of the UK, yeah I know I’m just a wimp.

You may well ask, and I’d answer that the news is good for the Z750. Having had a bonus from work this month I treated the Kawasaki to 2 new tyres, Avon Roadriders. Admittedly they’re not fitted yet as I am awaiting new inner tubes and rim tape to arrive from a different source.

The tyres came from http://www.tyretectrading.com/ and their prices were good and delivery took from a late night Wednesday ordering to Friday to arrive which I thought was pretty darn good. The tyres look good too and should keep the Z750 on the road for a few more years yet.

Some other news to come soon, and it’s another good news story

I know it’s a bit late for a new years update, but the bike and this site have both been left standing for the past few months. The Kawasaki was almost completely forgotten until the yearly tax reminder came through in mid February, which was duly paid and a new road fund license (tax) disc arrived in the post a couple of days later.

Having been reminded of the bikes existence I had a quick look under the covers, still looks as dirty as I left it, where are the bike cleaning fairies when you need them? I also noticed the tyres are starting to look a bit sorry through lack of use and standing water, so it’s time to change them I think. A search online has shown that the tyres for the Z750 aren’t going to be as easy or cheap to get as I’d hoped, but there is hope in a couple of online sites offering affordable prices for motorcycle tyres and when my works bonus comes through I will be buying some new round black things.

If anyone still reads this site and has any links for classic road tyres for the Kawasaki please comment below

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.