Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

I figure here is as good a place as any to chronicle what I've done to the Z650.

The bike came from a guy at work who had bought it and spent approx $6,000 getting the engine fixed up...he started off thinking he did well with a big bore kit from Japan for something like $180 and it grew from there It's now a 720cc engine.

He got it going and rode it around for a while...I used to see and hear it at work sometimes and always told him if he was going to sell it to talk to me first. He then went overseas for a while then when he came back couldn't afford to get it back on the road, so it sat under a cover for about 5 years.

Then he needed to move house and was put under a fair bit of pressure from his wife to get rid of it before they moved. Luckily for me he didn't forget my original offer, and luckily my wife didn't have any major objections, so it came home to my place for the next phase of its life.....

Now I don't know too much of it's history before my mate had it. What I do know is that it's far from the original metallic green colour that the B1 model came out in circa 1976. It's also showing about 92,000 kays on the clock, and the engine rebuild was only about 5,000 kays before that.

Somewhere along the line it has had the whole frame, swingarm, and numerous nuts and bolts chromed. Most of it is in pretty good nick, with some rust spots here and there. It's also got a "custom" exhaust that has a mild steel rusting section in the middle that makes getting the oil filter out a bastard job.

I spent the full day of the first weekend just going over it and writing down all the things that seemed to be wrong with it. It ended up being a fairly long list, but thankfully there was nothing major on there that couldn't be fixed with a little bit of time, money, sweat and ingenuity...just the sort of challenge I've been looking for.

The other good thing was that the bastard redbacks that had managed to infest every nook and cranny had pissed off and only left behind the numerous bug carcasses and egg cases as a reminder of their occupation. Scared the bejeezus out of me when I first stuck my hand under the tank to pull it off and saw them there when I got it off though

So what did I find with the inspection?

First up the carby's needed a good clean as you couldn't even turn the throttle cos the slides were stuck. The fuel bowls were full of varnish...I mean seriously, opening them up smelt like opening a paint tin! A tin of carby cleaner and a good hit with some compressed air later and they seemed to be a lot happier. The foam pod filters had degraded and got thrown out...a set of chrome pods should be arriving today and the return throttle cable had snapped at the twistgrip, so I'll have to replace that at some stage.

The tank got a bit of a clean too, and shining a light into it showed that someone has already put some tank sealer in there. The only hassle with it is the fuel tap is a bit dodgy and you have to turn it on and off with a screwdriver

The battery was stuffed and wouldn't hold a charge. A quick trip to the Battery Factory for a newy meant that I had some power, but before I could fire it up I wanted to make sure some oil got moved around a bit, so I pulled the plugs and cranked it a few times with the kick starter. It also had a blown fuse, and inspection of the fuse box showed it was stuffed and had a few inline fuses patched in instead. Rather than stuff around with them I got a new fuse box from Supercheap and wired it in.

Plugs back in, fuel in the bowls, battery connected, ignition on, kick it a few times with the kick starter, get the shits with it and hit the starter button, replace the fuse that blew as a result, hit the starter again a few times then cough, splutter and bugger me the bastard fired into life!

....but it wasn't running real well, blew a lot of soot out and didn't want to keep going, so I stopped it and had another go at the carby's. Next time it seemed a bit better, but was still a bit rough. Investigation showed 1 and 4 weren't getting any spark, so I pulled the timing cover off and checked out the points...yep good old points like they haven't had on bikes for years

Attached the dwell meter and fiddled those little buggers until they were firing and then got them spot on, then did the timing while I was at it...and bugger me the thing is actually running pretty sweet now and I have this warm fuzzy glow of satisfaction...or maybe that's from the exhaust fumes, I should open the garage door

Next step (that I should've probably done earlier) was to change the oil and filter. A simple process made more difficult by the "custom" exhaust that is in the way of the filter. So I'm lying on my side next to the bike, pushing the exhaust while wiggling the filter out and the bike is on my rear race stand cos it doesn't have a centre stand anymore...and the bastard falls off the race stand and straight onto me! I knew I should've left the side stand down

Luckily this 200kg of bike has a low centre of gravity, and my body has cushioned it's fall nicely, so I push and shove and grunt a bit and finally get it back upright with no damage other than a bruised arm and a bit of oil on the floor....for now.

The rest of the change goes OK, until I fill it up and fire the engine to circulate it around. Check the book to see if I should do anything else...hmmm check for leaks? OK....what the fark!!!!! About a litre of oil pissing all over the floor cos the seal for the filter had popped out when I was manhandling the filter back in past the "custom" exhaust. Reseated it and dumped a shitload of sawdust on the oil then topped up the engine...all was well again.

Sounds like you're having some fun mate. Great stuff.

Next step, this model was a bastard arsehole as the B1 and C1 were the only Z650's with a three phase b type alternator. I've tested the rectifier and it looks like one of the three circuits is stuffed, but at least the regulator seems to be working fine from the testing I did. They both seem to be putting out enough power to the battery at the moment though, and because it's a new battery it's seems happy enough so far. I've found a place in Queensland that can supply a combined Rectifier/Regulator for this model, but it can wait a little while.

What I have done though is followed a suggestion from a Z650 forum (there's a forum for everything these days) and rewire the power for the coils so that the kill switch just operates a solenoid and the coils get there power straight from the starter circuit. This should mean better spark, and you can see the solenoid attached to the mounting plate next to the rewired fuse box above.

The kill switch was one of the other things that was a bit of an issue. It didn't seem to turn real well, so I pulled apart and guess what...it fell apart I've got some nifty epoxy plastic glue though, that I used on the 9's fairing at one stage so I know it's tough, and with a bit of jigsaw puzzling to put all the bits back together, then about 1 hour sitting with my sick daughter watching Garfield 2 and filing away at the excess glue, I had a rebuilt switch ready to be reassembled. It works really well now too.

Glen wrote:Sounds like you're having some fun mate. Great stuff.

I'm having an absolute ball mate, and apart from a couple of stumbles, everything has gone well so far (touch wood!)

More to come though, so I hope no-one gets bored easily

Next stop was the front sprocket cover. I went to pull this off because the neutral light wasn't working on the dash, so I had to check the wiring of the switch that's located under the cover.

Hmmmmm, there are meant to be four bolts holding this thing on, and I can only see two...one of which is a rounded out phillips head. I had to grind the head off the phillips screw, then when I cracked the other one, that's exactly what it did...went crack!! The bastard had managed to almost completely shear off.

Luckily it still came out, but I could see that the other two empty spots were because they had sheared off at some time in the past. A quick trip to a speciality fastener shop and I had some nice new bolts, an easy-out, and some anti-seize. I got one out with the easy-out, but the other was too tricky for now as it is behind the frame...I'll come back to that one.

While I had the cover off, I gave the clutch mechanism (that pushes on a rod when you pull the cable) a good clean and lube, then checked out the neutral switch. The switch seems to be working OK, so it's got to be something on the shift drum, so I'll live without it for now.

And on it goes....the leaky brake master cylinder was next on the list. There's only one for the front cos the rear has those lovely nostalgic drum brakes ...and then it only has to push one front caliper cos two calipers was only an "option" on the early models

Well it seems that the week or so of moving the bike around and pumping the lever had actually managed to seat the seal a bit better and the leak had stopped, but popping the lid off the reservoir showed it was full of a murky sludge that didn't even vaguely resemble brake fluid. Attached the hose the the caliper and managed to pour about half a bottle of fluid through the system to get rid of the old stuff. While doing this the lever suddenly got back about half of it's travel and felt significantly firmer, so it was a good result. This thing may actually be able to do something resembling slowing down...it may even stop!!!!

Another one that took a bit of time was getting the horn to work. I traced that farking wiring all over the bike, checked the switch on the bars, checked for shorts all the way to the horn...then realised I'd not checked the switch properly cos I needed to consult the wiring diagram and found that it had the problem. A bit of a rejig and the poor little worn out thing seemed to be working again with a very lusty little toot

When was the last time you saw the wife and kids ???

Great stuff Mick

So what's left? I've done a bit of polishing the chromework, but it will still need a good going over to really bring it up nice. I've got to fit the shiny new pod filters I just picked up, along with the new handgrips.

The tyres are the next big thing. The front is old and has cracks all over it. The rear has a leaking innertube and is as square as a car tyre. Both of them have chicken strips wider than Brett's Mums Arse and they'll both need to be done before I can get rego, as will the busted throttle cable which is the next biggy from a safety point of view...it's nice to know the throttles will close when you let the twistgrip go.

After that I'm hoping rego will be on the cards, then it's onto the less pressing issues.

To start there is the fuel tap that you need the screwdriver to turn on and off. Cos it isn't a diaphragm type I'm not keen on leaving it on all the time.

The rectifier isn't 100%, and this model's charging system was different from most other Z650's, so I'll have to replace it at some stage.

The fork seals are a little bit leaky, although I might be judging them by modern bike standards and the dust covers are cracked and falling off, so they'll have to be replaced. First up I'll replace the oil in them though and see how they go.

The chain and sprockets will need replacing some time soonish, but luckily I only have to go for an O-ring type in a 530 so it shouldn't be too pricey.

The seat needs recovering and refoaming as it looks like a cracked refugee from American Chopper. I've got an old sheepskin on it at the moment

I need to have a closer look at the rear shocks cos one of them had a bit of oil and dirt on it, so I'm not sure how well they are working.

The starter button lost it's little plastic cover, so I'd like to tidy it up a bit.

Then it's onto the cosmetic stuff like respraying and rechroming.

I'll keep you updated on the progress

mfzx6r wrote:When was the last time you saw the wife and kids ???

Great stuff Mick

Who?


I've been working on it of an evening after my daughter has gone to bed, and I made some time on Sunday to spend with her as well. Luckily I have a very understanding wife too, bless her

Good report Mick...

You do know it never stops...

I'm still spending my weekends fixing things up on the old zxr..
at least its not everyday anymore...

ONya "Smoothie"

hehehe good work.... so the crim keeps it company hey?? make sure crim is tight lipped, dont want crim letting any cats out of the bag!!

it knows the rules right?? what happens on tour.. ??


tho the old bugger's probably got a few stories to tell crim about his days...

maybe we should name the new bike "little gosling "?? mwahahahaha