Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

by **slimey** » Tue Nov 11, 2014 2:08 pm

Need to pull the rev counter and speedo apart and refurbish. The Z1-R has the tripmeter knob on the face of the clock (shaft comes through the front of the glass - see attached pic) and I haven't been able to remove this - don't want to force it! Anyone had one of these apart and are there any tricks/traps/tips ? Ta, Slimey.

by **Gosling1** » Tue Nov 11, 2014 6:04 pm

mate - unless you have the right gear, this is a job for the professionals - believe me. I will do just about any job on a Zed - but working on the gauges is not one of those things. Those re-set knobs are just a tight push on/pull off fit and the easiest job of all

.....

the difficulties start with those steel retaining rings that hold the front and rear internal sections of the gauges together. These are specially pressed into place and cannot be removed and used again - you need the right gear to press a new ring over the 2 sections once the internals have been cleaned up. Its easy enough to remove the rear cover from the instruments - its just held on with 1 small screw......but getting to the gauge faces is where it gets difficult.

Lionel Otto is your man. He does these for a living and uses the right parts to re-build the instruments back to as-new, once the internals have been cleaned up.

by **slimey** » Wed Nov 12, 2014 9:36 am

Gosling1 wrote:mate - unless you have the right gear, this is a job for the professionals - believe me. I will do just about any job on a Zed - but working on the gauges is not one of those things. Those re-set knobs are just a tight push on/pull off fit and the easiest job of all .....

the difficulties start with those steel retaining rings that hold the front and rear internal sections of the gauges together. These are specially pressed into place and cannot be removed and used again - you need the right gear to press a new ring over the 2 sections once the internals have been cleaned up. Its easy enough to remove the rear cover from the instruments - its just held on with 1 small screw......but getting to the gauge faces is where it gets difficult.

[url=Lionel Otto]http://www.ottoinstruments.com.au/[/url] is your man. He does these for a living and uses the right parts to re-build the instruments back to as-new, once the internals have been cleaned up.

Ok - thanks for the info. I have seen some instances where this task has been undertaken by non-pros who have posted their methods and results - which look fine. I have seen a couple of ways of separating the upper and lower halves to get at the internals: one is to make a special tool to carefully lever the chrome ring away from the body of the clock, the other is to use a dremel or similar tool to carefully cut the chrome ring to allow it to be expanded slightly and removed (after the refurbishment the cut ring is placed over the 2 halves and clamped with a large hose clip then a metal glue is used to bond the ring ends together. I have new decals for the clocks (which are fully functional) and am willing to give it a try - depends on how many $$ Otto wants for a refurb as to whether I have a go or not. I'm waiting for a reply on a ballpark figure for the cosmetics.

by **wiggy** » Wed Nov 12, 2014 12:46 pm

Slimey,

I replaced speedo decal on my '77 Z1000 with a KMH decal, z1000 does not have the reset knob but I used a very small flat screwdriver to lever up the chrome edging and folded it back down with needle nosed pliers, key is to be patient and take it VERY SLOWLY!!!! Looks ok, you would not notice it unless looking hard for it, however if concourse resto would recommend following Gos's advice. Good Luck!!!

by **slimey** » Wed Nov 12, 2014 1:06 pm

G'day Wiggy,

The Z1-R has only the face of the clocks visible - see attached - the chrome edging strip is hidden under the fascia of the fairing so any marks aren't going to be a problem. Did you have any problems with removal of the needle and did you apply the new decal directly on top of the "old" face or did you strip and repaint the dial black before putting the new decal on?

Cheers,
Slimey.

by **h.b.bear** » Wed Nov 12, 2014 4:47 pm

Is there a website for these decals?? I have never heard of them or seen them so I would be interested in a look.

by **wiggy** » Wed Nov 12, 2014 5:14 pm

I have confused you a bit Slimey, what I call a decal was a full face of both the speedo and tacho, made of cardboard and exactly the same as original. Once the clock is apart undo the two small screws, use two small screwdrivers to pop off the needle (at opposite sides of the needle) and simply place the new face on and reverse the procedure. When crimping the ring back down put a bit of cloth on the pliers to stop steel onto steel and crimp down say 1 mm approx at a time. do one crimp and then go to the other opposite side, takes awhile but better than sending off to someone else to do. I got the faces from Z1Enterprises or ZSpares, I cant remember which and they are not expensive and come with detailed instructions. you will get some skinned knuckles doing this, or maybe it was just my lack of ability and patience working on something so small and fiddly!!!!!
Z1-R looks in good condition!!

by **slimey** » Wed Nov 12, 2014 8:54 pm

The bike is not mine - just a pommy one to illustrate the clock setup in the fairing. I got the decals - actually transfers, not cardboard, from Repro Decals in the u/s of A for about $Oz 30-00 who also sell full decal warning sets for about $Oz 50-00. How much were the cardboard jobbies? - might be easier than friggin' around with transfers, stripping and repainting the faceplates!

by **wiggy** » Thu Nov 13, 2014 7:33 am

www.z1spares.zoomshare.com

Australian company, will take 2-3 days to receive goods, $60.00 for tacho and speedo.

I use them a lot, excellent service, if the Z1R section does not have them listed look under Z1000 parts listing.

by **slimey** » Thu Nov 13, 2014 2:47 pm

Hey Wiggy,

Checked on Z1Spares - they have the decals for the Z1-R (same as the ones I got from Repro Decals ) but not the cardboard ones. Thanks for the info.
Slimey.

by **slimey** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 9:12 am

G'day Guys, some pics of clock restoration progress coming your way - will send 'em couple at a time with some words.
These first ones are of the tool I made to expand the clamping ring - version one was from a piece of mild steel - door shaft. This was too soft and bent when I applied it to the ring

. Need to use tool steel or similar as a sharp thin edge is needed to get under the ring to lift it. I made the final version out of an old chisel which had a 5 mm wide edge and did the job without twisting/bending

.

by **slimey** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 9:26 am

These pics show the clocks before disassembly and the position of the tool on the clock. Note the initial condition of the clamping rings, some distortion and marks evident - not sure if anyone has had a go at this already...? However, the Z1-R clocks only have the front face visible - the rest is covered by the fairing so it's not too critical - just need to be happy with the end product, unless a concourse resto is the aim.

by **slimey** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 12:33 pm

During the disassembly of the clocks I discovered that the trip meter reset knob is on a LH threaded shaft - see pic- so be careful not to bugger up the knob/shaft by pulling on the knob or trying to loosen the LH thread with too much force or it'll strip!

by **slimey** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 12:40 pm

Now a few pics of the subject ring as it is gradually removed using the tool to lever it away from the body of the clock. Note that only the inner/lower side of the ring is expanded - this hides any marks from view if you're using this technique on a non-faired instrument.