Taxation

I paid up for a whole years tax on the 31st October so the Z750 is on the road for at least 12 months more. That’s tax, MOT and insurance paid for a while now anyway
Next to put some of our liquid gold priced petrol in the bike.

A Great Start To A Weekend

What better way to start the weekend than to get on a Kawasaki?
How about getting on a Kawasaki Z750?
Or even better getting on your Kawasaki Z750 twin?
Going a step further how about getting on a Z750 Twin riding to the mot station and despite having mot’d 3000 bikes in the past 12 months, the mot tester remembers every detail of last years mot?

Yep this year the mot tester remarked on the bikes failure last year and immediately checked the forks to see if they were parallel, which they were with the new yokes. Thoroughly tested brakes, bearings spokes, headstock, forks and everything else for the mot and then wrote out the new mot certificate so it’s safe for road use for another year.

Next the road tax is due at the end of October but that’s days away so no need to worry about that yet.

After finishing work today I dragged my unwilling carcass out into the cold to finish putting the Z750 twin back together. I tightened the steering clamp mounts, and refitted the newly painted clock assembly.

Then I polished up the front mudguard and put it and the cable and brake hose guides back on the forks. It all looks rather nice as my wife has painted the fork sliders and a few other parts.

Next came the hard work, I got the missus to hold down the back of the kawasaki, while I pulled up the forks to fit the front wheel in place. 3 attempts later and the wheel was in, then I refitted the clamps, one of which had been held in by a bolt instead of the stud it should have. I removed a stud from some old forks using two nuts and loctited it into the forks I’m using.

Next I refitted the front brake calliper after smearing the back of the pads, and the slider bolts with copper grease as they used to squeal badly. The pads are worn but servicable for now, so I will replace them in the near future. Once the calliper was bled out and the reservoir topped up, the brake was back to its old self, probably not the best thing, but apparently that’s just how they are on these old Z750’s - crap.

Another major drama is refitting all the wiring into the headlight bowl, but while it was all exposed I repaired some old bodges which had been done to the wiring harness. I refitted the headlight, and it’s adjuster bracket, then tested all the lights and run the bike up, all worked ok.

Finally a quick last check of all the bolts to make sure they’re tight and then a road test. The steering never felt heavy before, but it feels lighter now, either psychological, or the taper bearings made a real difference, not sure yet. The front end all seems to be better aligned, so that’s made it worth while.

Finally, back on the stand for another check around the bolts and clamps and check for play in the headstock bearings now they have settled a bit. All good, so tomorrow it’s in for its MOT test, watch this space.

Am I On A Roll Or What?

Tonight, I got home from work to find the new taper bearings for my Z750 twins’ yokes had arrived. So all enthusiastic like I ran out and knocked out the old ball bearing races. Not as easy as it sounds in writing, I had to use a lot of brute force and even snapped one race in two getting it out.

I drifted the new bearing shells into the headstock and the bottom race onto the bottom yoke shaft. Packed them all with grease and fitted the replacement yokes into the headstock. Looked nice, so I adjusted the bearings and fitted the top yoke and handlebars.

I then trial fitted the forks, and with the first one in the second slid nicely and squarely into its own holes. So much easier then the first time I fitted forks to this Z750 as that time they had to be forced into position.

I then slid the forks out and cleaned up the chrome surrounds which hold the headlight and indicators. I placed them in the yokes and went to refit the forks. The left hand fork no longer slid nicely in place. I removed the surrounds and cleaned the insides with emery cloth and pushed them over the forks off the bike. I then greased the insides and refitted them to the bike. This time all slid into place with minimal force.

I retightened the lower yoke clamps on the forks and called that it for the day. I am spending some time cleaning and painting the parts which are inaccessible when it’s all together or rather my wife is doing it for me. Once they are painted and dry I will refit the rest of the front end and see how it all looks then.

All in all though another great evenings work.

Following the recent post about the possible yoke replacement on my Z750 twin, I decided now’s the time. I finished work and started removing bits with the intention of doing just a little of it.

I started by removing the headlamp unit, and then the clocks as an assembly. Intending just to look a little further I started removing the handlebar brackets. Then the front mudguard and brake calliper followed.

After a bit of umming and aahing I decided to remove the forks and just leave the yokes in the headstock to hold the handlebars. Once the forks were out I decided to undo the top nut and see whether my bike had taper bearings in the headstock. So I cable tied the handlebars in place on the headstock and undid the nut, then removed the yokes.

So it’s now all in bits, I have old style roller bearings but some new taper ones on their way. I also cleaned and painted the headlamp unit ready to go back on. I also checked the bottom yoke which is definitely twisted, and I have the new ones to go on when the bearings arrive.

More soon…

Petrol Shortage Over And A Late Ride Out

Today I sent the long suffering out in her car with a petrol can to get some juice for the Kawasaki. When she got back we aimed a gallon of unleaded into the tank and wheeled out the old girl.

As Big Gay Als (bum) Bandit needed an mot he had come to my house on that, and mot’d it around the corner at Stratford Road Motorcycles. We got suited up, and went for a ride to Northamptonshire to visit the owner of The Lonesome Twin Kawasaki Z750 Forums to see if he was still around, and sort out some problems with the website.

I made the executive decision to take the scenic route up the A5 instead of the M1 motorway for this journey. It was gorgeous, the sun shone brilliantly and there was no wind, and taking it easy through the countryside on the Z750 enabled me to take in the autumn colours of the trees.

We encountered a lot of other bikers, out making the most of the crisp but bright autumn day, along the way. The journey was only around 20 miles each way, and seemed to go quickly in both directions.

The guy we visited had taken his Kawasaki Z750 twin off the road for repairs, but we enjoyed a bit of a chinwag about bikes, websites, and friends old and new. Before long it was time to go home again as Big (not quite so) Fat Gay Al had to get back to collect his offspring.

The journey back was also event free, but I took a bit of a detour and went under a bridge to hear the echo of the roar of the Z750 twins single predator pipe. NIIIIICE

Now I’m just waiting for some headstock bearings and then I will dismantle the front end to replace those yokes (see the last post) before it’s winter rest.

Time For A Quick Z750 Update - How To Avoid Running Out Of Petrol

It was a couple of weeks ago when Big Gay Al and I went out on the Z750 twins. Before we set out on a short ride I checked the level of my petrol tank, no fuel gauges on a Kawasaki Z750 Twin so it’s open cap and check by eye time. Looks like there’s some in there so we’re off.

We headed up to the A508 which is a nice twisty kind of road and makes for a fun ride. Having covered around 10 miles I pulled in a petrol station and checked the fuel level again. OOOPS the petrol was lower than I thought, and not knowing which postion of the fuel tap is on, and which is reserve means it’s a bit hit and miss. I check my pockets, and Al checks his, between us we had ventured out with ?0.00 so no chance to fill up here. GULP

We headed back home in fuel saver mode, or at least I did, Big Fat Gay Al was doing his best to ensure my last dregs of fuel wouldn’t take me home. Taking it easy, and hoping we managed to make it home, and checked the fuel again. It was below the higher of the pickups, and getting close to the lower one. So I guess it was already on reserve and nearly finished it.

So the bike has been off the road since, but that meant we could look closely at the forks which seemed to be out of alignment with each other. On close inspection it appears we have a bent bottom yoke, which on reflection would coincide with the bent fork on one side when I got the bike as the yoke is twisted on the opposite side.

Luckily I have a spare set of yokes so Big Fat Gay Al took them to work and removed the paint from them. Last weekend I bought some primer and black paint and repainted them in gloss black ready to be fitted. I also located a friend who has some taper bearings for the headset, so I can fit this upgrade at the same time as the new yokes.

Expect to see some pics of the process of yoke replacement soon.

I recently joined the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club as the old Kawasaki Z750 definitely fits this category being both vintage and Japanese. I also found out that one of the guys where I work (Hi Graham) is also a member and lives not too far away. Additionally I discovered that the local area meeting of the VJMC is held at the Flying Horse Pub in Clophill just along from my new work colleague and by happy coincidence he attends regularly on the last Monday of the month.

After chatting about bikes (Graham owns two stunning Yamaha RD’s one 400cc, and one 250 cc model as well as other vintage bikes in various states of repair) we arranged to meet up and ride on to the meeting at Clophill. So Monday night I got ready and went across to Bedfordshire to meet up, and see the Yamahas, before going on to the meeting proper in Clophill. The Kawasaki fired up with a couple of kicks on the starter and after warming up a little I was off.

The journey to my new colleagues place was great in the autumn air, if a little cool around the legs (note to self jeans are not for cold weather riding). After admiring each others bikes, he started his Yamaha XJ1300 ( ok and I’m going to follow this?? ).A short trip and we were first to arrive at the Running Horse in Clophill.

Shortly after we’d picked up some cokes the first of the club members arrived on a Yamaha RD 500 LC, a great looking bike in red and black which brought back memories from my younger days of admiring the RD LC’s of all sizes. I hope I got this right now, but I think this was Stan who co-ordinates the meets of the herts Beds And Bucks area of the VJMC .

Shortly afterwards some more bikes turned up, including a Kawasaki GPz 750 in black, another bike I would have liked to own earlier in my life. After meeting and greeting the other members and talking bikes for a couple of hours it was time to leave, and I fired up the Z750 on the electric foot. I followed Grahams XJ1300 out of the car park, and round the roundabout on to the A6.

The modern lighting of the Yamaha lit the road in front, as long as I stayed with it, which was easy as long as Graham held back a little with the throttle. It was after he turned off to go home and I was relying on the 70’s lighting technology of the Kawasaki Z750 to pick my way round the unlit lanes of darkest Bedfordshire that I realised how inadequate the headlight really was. High beam helped a little, but even that didn’t help with the bulb which blew in the speedo, which meant judging speeds past Gatso’s most heinous invention (speed cameras) meant an intelligent guess related to the rev counter reading.

So I was having a lot of fun trying to follow the twists in the poor light, concentrating hard, and judging speeds to avoid painful fines when the first drops appeared on the visor of my crash helmet. The moon disappeared and the drops became more frequent. By the time I got home my top half was still nice and warm and dry thanks to my proper motorcycling jacket, but my jeans had done little to prevent water or rain penetrating to my legs. I HATE RAIN.

All in all though a good fun ride and meet up, and as usual these days the Kawasaki Z750 twin took it all in its stride, never missed a beat even in the rain and got me there and back with little fuss. Gotta love that Kawasaki for that.

Today we went to a local classic vehicle show at the Wolverton Museum Of Rural Life. The Z750 was entered as an exhibit for the show, as most people say I’m always making an exhibition of myself anyway. In its current (and probably future) state it’s never going to win any prizes but it did attract some attention.

My dad also entered his BSA Star Twin for the show, and that draws a little more attention especially from the purists finding all the bits which aren’t right. The bike was ridden 60 miles to the show and home again, which many of the exhibits weren’t so that’s a good reason for not having a perfect bike isn’t it?

In addition to the usual good looking British machinery were some great looking classic Japanese bikes which are becoming more of a feature at classic bike events now.

This Honda was for sale

Hondas seem to be best represented at this show though

another one too

My daughter loved grandads BSA though and posed with Nan for the picture below

A great fun day out, and then my dad tried the Z750 for size, but says he’ll stick with the Brit iron he’s used to, probably too much for the old feller to handle a?

Again The Z750 Gets An Outing

Twice in one week the weather has been good enough for me to get out the trusty steed which is the Kawasaki Z750 Twin. This time we pressganged one of my neighbours to join in for an afternoon jaunt on his Honda CBR 600.

The day started when Big Fat Gay Al arrived on his 1200 Suzuki (BUM) Bandit to go to breakfast at the Super Sausage Cafe a few miles from my humble abode. I fired up the Twin and we had a short but fun ride along the A5 to the cafe where we enjoyed a brunch of sausage egg bacon and chips mmmmmm.

We rode back to my place, having spoken to some friendly bikers at the cafe, and phoned my neighbours wife to see if he could come out to play. She said he could so we awaited his arrival.

Then we went for a nice steady ride from Milton Keynes to Buckingham and back to the bottom end of Milton keynes. I was hoping the old classic Z750 twin wouldn’t hold the other two up too much on their more modern machinery, and made use of the torque to ensure some fast acceleration off bends and roundabouts. The consensus was that the old Kawasaki is still no slouch on acceleration, but its limitations would be seen later.

After a nice long gentle ride with some fun roundabout shennanigans we headed for the A5 Dual carriageway so the boys on their newer machines could open up a little. So it wasn’t very far along when they both pulled alongside on the Bandit and CBR and then shot off leaving me and the Z750 behind. The bike made a valiant effort above the legal speed limit but with no protection from the wind my ample figure was causing a lot of drag, and I was losing the battle to hold on. So I backed out and the nice guys waited for me a couple of miles up in a layby.

Then we headed home, and all in all a varied and fun ride out had been enjoyed by all, from old classic Kawasaki Z750 twin rider (me) through CBR600 and up to Al and his 1200 (bum) bandit. I should just add though that I let the two boys go on the dual carriageway so they didn’t get too upset if I beat them on a 30 year old bike. Me and the Z750 twin’s torquey engine coulda whipped them really you know?