On The Road Again
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.