Workshop Session - Saturday June 29th 2024
Summary of our Workshop Session on Saturday June 29th 2024
Kawasaki Z550 Limited.
Work on the Z550 remained halted awaiting the return of our Kawasaki Four Cylinder ace AKA 'A.J.' A.J. Is still on the road to recovery from a serious accident back on April 19th and we all had our fingers crossed that AJ's return to the club would be sooner rather than later. In this absence Graham sourced a Z1000 Limited front mudguard from a UK supplier of used spares. When he offered it up to the bike it fitted nicely over the front wheel and just needed some spacers to make up for the fact that it is roughly a centimeter narrower than the original. Considering its age it was in very good condition.
Kawasaki Z250 Scorpion.
At a previous session Graham had stripped and double checked the carburettors unsure why they had been taken apart as the bike had been running well although minus exhausts. Steve had done a fabulous job painting the top of the engine and lacquering the newly de-rusted starter motor body and oil breather housing. Once he had bolted them back on to the top of the engine he set about trying to refit the carburettors. They fitted into the intake rubbers without an issue but the rubbers from the air filter housing had shrunk so much that no amount of heating them up and using ingenuity could persuade them to stay attached to the carburettors. This means we may have to reluctantly ditch the air filter box in favour of after market bolt on filters. Watch this space!
Honda Vigor
At the previous session Graham had helped Mal to strip the front end of his Honda Vigor to replace the steering head bearings. This was because they had begun to rust and become 'Notchy' around the dead ahead position. Last time all efforts to remove the lower steering stem inner race had been defeated. However this time Graham came in determined to remove the stubborn bearing. The job is made very difficult by the complete absence of anywhere to hit or leaver the bearing inner race to start it moving up the steering stem. So the angle grinder had to come out. After quite a bit of careful grinding the bearing eventually gave up its grip on the steering stem and slid off easily. The outer races came out of the frame much more easily with a few taps on a long drift. There then followed the challenge of finding something with which to pull the new outer races into the frame. Eventually a long threaded length of stud plus two nuts, the large washer that secures the bike's fuel tank place and an old speedometer drive (Yes Speedometer drive!) were used to pull the bearings into place. The washer and speedometer drive were just a shade smaller than the bearings so when nuts on the threaded stud were tightened they pulled the bearings in. Next on the agenda was for Mal to tidy up the paintwork around the front of the frame before the forks etc. could be replaced.
Member's bikes...
Annabelle bought her new MZ150 into the workshop for the first time to replace the rear brake cable, which was done quickly and painlessly with a little assistance from another club member.
Annabelle then she set about trying once again to get her Dnepre 650 running properly. Having fitted it with a pair of new after market carburettors she was hopeful it could be pursuaded to run properly. The bike ran and ticked over beautifully but opening the throttles produced a lot of spitting and banging and not much in the way of increased revs. Graham found that opening the chokes made the engine much more responsive. So there were a number of things to be tried. First and foremost making sure that the carburettors were properly sealed against the intake manifolds. If that wasn't the problem things would need to be done like checking float heights and jetting and the position of the needles in the throttle slides.
Stephen W Bought his Triumph Tiger Sport 660 in and replaced his broken brake and clutch levers and handguards. He allso added a radiator guard and secondary engine covers. He was left working out how to straighten the foot brake lever and change the footpegs.
Other News...
Work was carried out to move the large Compressor into the building between the hall and the Chapel. This would not only reduce the noise in the workshop but also make it more convenient to use.