What did you do to your motorcyle today?

[Runningdog]

It is a nice seat, Paul, there is just too much of it.

[754]

Here I thought Paul was all around straight shooter... but he told a whopper today ..
 But hey that looks a hella bunch better than my first seat attempt. . Lol..

[hardrockminer]

I finished up the KZ 550 carbs (TK 22) today.  Interesting little critters!  They have a dual purpose bowl drain...first to drain any overflow and second to check the float level.  To do that you have to back off the screw a couple of turns to let fuel out of the bottom of the bowl and into the measuring device.  But you don't need to take the screw right out.  It's much easier to set floats on these carbs compared to Mikunis.

The hard part is taking the carbs off the bike and putting them back on again.  It took over an hour to take them off and an entire day to put them back on. 

This bike has always been a hard starter when cold.  It takes a good 15 minutes to warm up enough to take the choke off.  So I was expecting to run the battery right down just starting but....it started right away!  Must be my lucky day!

[Galactica]

About a month and a half ago, on a Sunday coffee ride, the base gasket on my Led Zed let go. 

I’m done doing the major wrenching on this old crap.  So I called Manny at Burnaby Kawasaki.  After I removed all of the extraneous bits, he came by and picked the bike up (it’s right on his way to work).  I told him, no rush, so it’s been three weeks, but he dropped it off on his way home from work. 

Rick did the re&re with parts that I supplied.  Manny gave me a smokin’ deal on the labour.  They did stuff I didn’t ask them to do, no charge, like checking valve clearances and new spark plugs.  Burnaby Kawasaki is the best. 

So now that I have it back on the bench, I’ve a few things to do.  Gonna install a set of ‘75 Z1 carbs I have kicking around (2mm bigger) just to fun.  Of course I’ll have to balance them, and go through the mixture process (I’ve never been successful doing it by finding the highest idle rpm).  And while I have the Yoshimura off, I’ll change the oil of course. 

I’m into the rum just now, so this is all for tomorrow.  Weather is supposed to be crap for a while, so carb mixture setting will wait.  Also the insurance expired while it was at Bby Kawasaki.

[hardrockminer]

I've never heard of anyone blowing a base gasket.  Was there a reason?  Did the oil pressure bypass not work?

[rz5mark]

Paper gaskets on older DR650's were known to blow. Suzuki upgraded to a metal gasket in the early 2000's. I replaced one on my 02, my 96 was fine.

[Galactica]

I've never heard of anyone blowing a base gasket.  Was there a reason?  Did the oil pressure bypass not work?

It didn’t just “blow”.  It started leaking a bit at the front right corner, and got worse and worse.  

It’s not an uncommon problem.  Rick at Bby Kawasaki has seen it often.  Not sure why, generally with a gasket that’s already been replaced, like when you do a rebuild.  Probably just different engine pieces expanding at different rates until the paper gasket has had enough.  Now granted, the gasket that was in there, and now the new one, weren’t a Kawasaki gasket.  It was, and is Vesra which I’ve had no problems with in the past.  

[Twisted_Twin]

See Ross, if you had a Harley, the leak would just be a feature and not a fault.

[hardrockminer]

Vesrah are good from what I've seen (and I've used them at least once) but nowadays for base gasket, head gaskets and valve cover I use only Kawasaki.  Interestingly, the OEM base gasket is the least impressive of the three.

I've never seen a leak on a base gasket either.  There's no pressure on the oil in the sump under normal operation.  I wonder if your head bolts backed off?

When I bought my red Z1B back in 2014 I took it to Burnaby to be checked over.  A week after taking it to them they had still not looked at it and wouldn't commit to a date so I picked it up and took it home. 

[Wheels]

My base gasket on the Z1R started to weep last year after 110,000 KMs so far I just give it a wipe after a long ride hoping to get through this season then replace it next year.

[754]

I think what often happens , is head has been placed on , but comes off again for a few reasons , and cylinder would get bumped or moved . That is one cause .
 Improper cleaning while apart, gasket residue, nicks or gouges, not being flat, all can contribute..
 And Plain old cheap gasket that won't last forever.

 On Honda's some have 60 lbs oil pressure on startup, that can put some force on it.
 I know a few tricks some builders use to make them hold up better.

[hardrockminer]

Is the oil sump on Honda crankcases vented to atmosphere?  Kawasaki has the oil separator at the back of the top case.  It essentially keeps the crankcase at atmospheric pressure.

[Runningdog]

I guess I inadvertently planned ahead this winter to be at home a lot......two bike projects to fill my time, although one (1971 Mobylette) was almost finished by mid January.   Still a few small things to work on on that biciclette, like get it running....waiting on a petcock, and that should be a go.

The SR250 is a good runner, so just getting all bits of it, aside from the motor, working properly, plus some cosmetics.   Finished sanding the tank, and primed it this afternoon...now the real condition tune-up can start, before it gets colour and clear.

This is the first body work I've done, so learning lots, and accumulating more tools.   No squawks from my little Mugwump about this, as she has been working from home, and has taken over my office.  When they expect her to work a full day, she is delivering, believe you  me.

[rz5mark]

I ave never cared for the brakes on the ELR-R (front). After searching online for a period of time a few years back I got the consensus that 84 and up 900 Ninja calipers were a pretty good upgrade so I picked a couple up a few years ago. Like most people, I got a bit of time on my hands so I thought I better get on with it. Wasted the better part of the day making the brackets. Now I will have to order rebuild kits and fresh pads. The master is apparently compatible.

[hardrockminer]

Nice mod Mark.  Why did you dislike the originals?  Did they not perform well?