My KZ1300 project thread (photo heavy)

It's really not too hard. A bit time-consuming, but not difficult. If I get a chance this weekend I'll get to the last few pieces. Soon enough I'll be hacking up #1 and #6 and getting ready to TIG up some new pipes.

Of course, before that hackery happens I'll need to plan out how I want it to perform and look.

Some progress -- most of it cosmetic -- has been made!



I've run some clean water through the radiator to knock out any crap, and there was indeed crap to be knocked. Once that was done I cleaned it up well and disassembled it. I cleaned the radiator, painted the rubber side pieces, and cleaned/painted the grille with the same enamel I used on the engine.

The exhaust headers are all polished up, too. I probably have 10 hours just in cleaning those bastards! It's involved a lot of Brasso, various grades of steel wool, and metal polish but they look halfway decent now. Since numbers 1 and 6 are welded to the collector in such a fashion that it would be difficult to repair if removed, I took a bandsaw to the downstream pipe on each one so I could clean everything up. I'm planning on ditching the stock mufflers anyway and making my own pipe setup out of stainless, though economy of time may force my hand and I may end up buying a couple off-the-shelf mufflers and flanging them in. We'll see.

The clamps I just threw in my ultrasonic cleaner to knock off most of the crud. Then they were wire-wheeled and hit with a coat of polish, mostly to protect against more corrosion. Ultimately I'll likely enamel them and the collectors.

The big thing is the carburetor rack. Look at that! It's all back together!



Check out that sexy, sexy fuel nipple -- thanks, Garry! I'm super-stoked about this, and I'm tempted to install the intake manifolds and carburetor rack before making any more progress on the wiring, you know, just because.

Looking good!

It's always amazing to see how we can bring those old rusty parts back to life. Nice job.

Well, I took a major step this past weekend.

I built the ignition system, using AW82 coils and 7mm plug wires and installed the spark plugs. Of course I didn't have those stupid screw-on caps, so I had to go buy a handful of lawnmower spark plugs just to get the caps, but oh well.



And here's the biggest step I've taken in a long while:



Carburetors. Installed. Damn.

Idle screws are turned 3.25 turns out. A couple weeks ago just to make sure I didn't have any air leaks I took flexible RTV sealant and sealed the outside of the manifolds. This past weekend I sanded down the high points and repainted the manifolds and slapped the carb bank in.

For this coming weekend my goals are to install the oil pan, make a gasket for the thermostat housing and install the cooling system, and maybe get the exhaust headers in place!

But carburetors are on!

Today my goals were to get the oil pan, exhaust, and possibly cooling system sorted. I accomplished 50% of those things. I didn't get around to doing hardly anything on the cooling system other than swapping a couple o-rings. The oil pan's on (but without the rear plug), and exhaust is on (but pipe #5 is inexplicably loose).

Anyway:

To install the oil pan I needed to have the bike free-hanging. Thus, the magical floating motorcycle!



I am ever so pleased I installed that suspension in the ceiling.

The oil pan went on next. Looks like I need to track down that rear plug.



So, what's up with exhaust #4? What's with that weird open casting?



But here it is!

Exhausts installed! (Yes, I know the impeller pump shaft is upside down. That was a temporary "just stick it where it won't get in the way" deal. Right now it's removed from the bike.)



. . . Sort of.

#5 is loose. I'll start another thread about it. I'm sure I'm missing something obvious, but pipe #5 has about 1mm free play in it after I tighten down the holder. Depth of the head port is 9mm, just the same as #4 (which is nice and snug). I'm installing it with a new copper gasket and two nice, clean split collars, just the same as all the others.

In fact, I've swapped gaskets and collars with #4. Pipe #5 is still loose, and I can't figure it out. Do I need to double up on this exhaust gasket or something? I shouldn't have to do: All the measurements look good and within spec relative to its neighbors, but for some reason this pipe has free play in it after I tighten everything down.



Any thoughts?