Zed is missing its chrome seat bar and rather than finding a stock replacement I grabbed this $50, period-correct luggage rack from eBay. All my motorcycles have rear racks. I need a place to strap stuff because I get around, you know? I dig the square tubing and the big-hair, 1980’s plastic plugs filling the open ends.
Zed’s 41,000 mile, front wheel bearings are probably stock and I could’ve cleaned them up and re-greased them but a new set is not that expensive so I popped the old ones out and fitted new bearings.
I had an old-ish Dunlop tire in stock. I bought it new to put on Godzilla for a run from Hunter’s place in Oklahoma to Florida and that’s all the miles it has done. I guess I should worry about the rubber aging. In my defense, it’s been stored in a dark trailer and the Fingernail-Probe test reveals a fresh feel to the rubber. Anyway, the Dunlop is about 20 years newer than the tire that came on Zed so I call it a win. No one will believe this but I did install a new tube in the front and managed to get the tire onto the rim without pinching the tube.
The grease inside the speedometer drive was hardened so I cleared out the muck and squished new grease into the worm drive parts. I also had to swap the disc to the opposite side of the wheel as Zed came with the caliper mounted backwards. They tell me this mod improved handling but I’ll not ride around listening to Z1 experts constantly telling me my brakes are backwards.
My latest order from Z1 Enterprises showed up. It’s like Christmas in November around here. This pile may not look like $600 bucks worth of stuff but $600 doesn’t go as far as it used too. Hell, if you take your motorcycle to a dealer for an oil change and a tune up it’ll be $600 easy. The sprockets and chain are wear items so knock those off Zed’s repair bill. The brake pads and shoes also shouldn’t count against the bike’s total cost either as those would wear out if the bike were running. I’m changing them as a prophylactic measure. I don’t want old brake linings coming unglued at 130 mph.
The most expensive part of the order was the ignition advancer @ $159. My buddy Skip sent me a couple advancers in the hope one would fit but as luck would have it there must be 537 different advancers for the Z1. The left advancer fits the crankshaft bolt (loosely) and looks close from this side but the advancer has timing marks only for cylinders 1 and 4. Also note how close the “T” (top center) and the “F” (ignition fire) marks are. The center advancer unit has all the correct cylinder markings but the bolt hole is too small for the crank bolt. This unit also has “F” and “T” close together.
On the right is the new advancer from Z1E. This one fits the crank bolt snugly. Check out how much more ignition retard there is between “F” and “T”! The new unit also has all four cylinders stamped into the metal.
Moving to the backside of the three advancers we see that the left unit has a cup that prevents the advancer from sitting flush onto Zed’s crankshaft end. The middle unit will marry to the crank ok but note the slight degree angle difference on the locator-pin hole. Finally the new unit, like the bear’s soup, is just right.
To attach the points plate I had to shorten 3 screws. The best way I’ve found to do this is to run a nut onto the screw, cut the screw, grind the screw making the grinding wheel cut towards the center of the screw (or dragging the metal away from the threads). Removing the nut will clean any swarf left in the threads. The nut should start back on the screw without problems, if not, I’ll clean the screw up some more with the grinder.
Zed’s exhaust system hangs low and as such has hit the ground frequently enough to create pinholes. When pipe gets this thin I prefer to braze the holes closed. The brazing rod requires less heat and leaves a nice, thick pad to give a dirt rider something to beat on.
Finally, when I fit the exhaust headers I tape around the frame tubes to help prevent scratches. I also tape the headers to keep the exhaust collars from falling down the pipe scarring up the new paintwork.
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Your Z project coming along very fast hope the Z is faster than fast
It’s the fastest color: Rust.
We need to get a “Like” button on this blog’s comments section. It would be the one I’d click for your comment.
Getting more and more exciting as Zed starts to roil up from the bucket of rust and bits you first had to a polished road-ready stallion! Can’t wait to hear the review after your first “real” road test on the hearty beast…
Why do I HAVE to read every word Gresh writes? I mean, I have a life…I think….
It’s the same reason people slow down to look a highway crashes. We can’t help ourselves.
You’re already using a 4 into 1 , w2hy worry about “experts” telling you your brake was backward ? Swapping them around was as much a “period mod” as the luggage rack or pipe.
Ok, here’s my logic: The 4-1 pipe came with the bike. I’d love to have a set of stock pipes but they are very expensive.
The rack I needed because I always travel with a gear bag. Even if I didn’t find a period-correct rack I would install whatever, the rack is not negotiable.
Lastly, the reversed brake is something I can put back right without any cost and I’m not sure that having the caliper backwards actually improves handling.
Good work nice to have time for all that
Once I heard the bike run a new urgency has set in. I must ride this motorcycle!
Great report. This brings back memories of the late eighties for me. I should probably get back to work on my ’76 Bagger project. My square tube rack has a backrest that adjusts to use for rider or passenger. There used to be plenty of accessories at swap meets; they seem to have been traded in the nineties and are tough to get for reasonable money anymore. Keep up the good work, but don’t count on 130mph….