More fixes

Last time on Ratchets Rantings I posted that I had fixed the petcock issues.. Well, I didn't. I thought I had, but 2 days later I ran the bike and it still leaked. So, I recently bought a K&N Petcock rebuild kit from J&P Cycles, and installed that tonight. NOW IT'S FIXED FOR SURE. Also, last week I was gonna run to town for lunch, got to the stop sign and the throttle cable broke right at the throttle. So, I had to pull the cable by hand to get back to work. Ordered the cable from Z1 Enterprises and got it in just a few days. Put that on tonight, rebuilt the petcock, Put the Stator in that I got last week also.. Yeah, it charges on it's own. So I took it out for a ride tonight.. Then the Headlight went out... On the highway nonetheless. Flashers were bright enough to get me back to the shop where I discovered a blown fuse. Replaced that so we'll see how long that lasts... I don't have a Multi Meter to use right now so I'll have to wait til I see my neighbor tomorrow to use his and see if I'm putting out too much juice or if it was just that old of a fuse. Thanks for reading and I'm gonna get some good riding time in tomorrow to help wash away some of this bad week that I've had. Don't want to get into that right now... I'm too pumped about riding again... More photos coming soon.

Petcock Troubles - FIXED

Ok, so I only got to ride the bike a little bit before it got cold and I am not a good enough rider for the rain and last fall was WET.
But it's been sitting in the garage all winter with the battery disconnected and in the house to keep from freezing, the tank couldn't keep fuel though.
So I got a wild hair up my arse the other night and decided to take apart the petcock to see what made it tick... Since it is a vaccum style, I didn't think it should keep running gas into the carbs and losing it all.
After taking it apart and explaining to my son how I thought it should work, something didn't seem quite right. When the diaphram has vaccum, it's supposed to let fuel through but it was letting it through all the time. Then while putting it back together, I realized that someone had already put a new diaphram and spring in it... BUT, they put the spring on the wrong side of the diaphram. It was continually holding it open. I changed this around and it works perfect now.
I am now realizing that when you buy a used bike that is in a few pieces, don't trust the guy that you got it from if he never put it together himself. The bike had belonged to a kid before he got it and the kid had done a bunch of the work himself so this would explain why things were soo messed up.
It really does pay to take something completely apart a few times to really get to know what makes it tick and to understand it... Now I just have to figure out the battery issue. I think its the Stator but I bought a used Rectifier just in case... Only 10 bucks so worth it if I ever need one. Now I am gonna start it up and try to get readings from the stator to see if it is even outputting any juice and the right amount at that. Got the book in hand and ready to tear into her again.
Also, one of my boy scouts had a sissy bar and luggage rack for a Yamaha about the same year and I made that work on it too. Next beyond that is to change out the rear shocks for some Progressive 412 series that I got for a good deal, BRAND NEW and in the box.. Never installed.
Wish me luck everyone.

New Adventure

My mother and her boyfriend have recently purchased the Rainbow Supper Club in Anamosa, Iowa. This is sure to be a great new adventure for them. I am doing everything that I can to help them get things off the ground. Dealing with family isn't always easy but this time seems to be working out great. As things progress, we'll be letting you know how things are going.

1982 KZ 1100

Here are a couple of new photos... got this backrest and luggage rack from one of my Boy Scouts that didn't have anything to put it on anymore. The Bag is a Saddlemen Over the seat luggage bag.

My neighbor helped out putting it on. The bike is more complete than before.. There isn't much left to do except fix the charging system, the gas leak in the carbs or petcock, don't know which yet, the headlight, brake light switch from the front brake control and put the saddle bags on....

It's a work in progress but hey, it runs don't it. And I didn't go to a dealership and order a bike and call myself a biker... Don't really say I am a biker now, but I have more right to than some do....

IT'S ALIVE

The bike is running. It runs great too. I have had it out riding a few times and I love it.

I got the cam chain tensioner installed and the re-did the timing which was off 180 degrees causing the NO COMPRESSION issue.

Fish did the wiring for the tail light and turn signals for me and I still have to fix the Front Brake connection so that it works but that is minor.

Here is a photo fo me with the bike for the J&P Cycles Employee photos page in the catalog.

Again, this is a 1982 Kawasaki KZ 1100

Cam Chain Tensioner

I think we nailed down the problem with compression. CAM CHAIN TENSIONER.

I took it off and it was really stiff to push in and out. It would stick in sometimes too.

This was causing a slack in the timing chain that I beleive was making the valves open prematurely.

I have ordered a new one from Z1 Enterprises.com and am anxious to get it and put it on. Hopefully this will take care of the compression problem, if so, then this baby will be up and running shortly.

I also finally added the oil to the front fork tubes and the seals that I installed seem to be working well.

I almost made the mistake of using the air compressor to put air in them, then the guys caught me. ONLY USE A HAND PUMP ON THIS. It can push way too much pressure into the forks causing damage if you do.

I'll let you all know how it goes and hopefully have some riding shots and footage soon.

Thanks for watching.

Hurry up and wait

The J&P cycles Open house was a huge event. I had to put the bike in a trailer for storage while the event was going on and with a Week of Boy Scout Camp and then a week of family vacation along with all of the other hassles of life I haven't gotten around to working on the bike.

Now I am having a problem with compression. This could be timing, this could be bad rings, I don't know. We are going to dig into it this Sunday and see what is wrong. We are going to work on it again soon to get it finished.

I did get the brake lines cleaned up, filled with fluid and bled. I still need to get fork oil into it.

I'll keep you up to date as things progress.