ZZR-1100 Advice

[Mister_T]

One question to ask, handle bars straight, front wheel is cocked to the right. Something bent or something need adjusting/aligning? It rolls smoothly.

To start with, have the bike on the centrestand and maybe use a jack and a piece of wood under the frame to keep the front wheel off the ground.
Then loosen off the front axle and upper triple clamp (leaving the forks tight in the lower triple clamp) and wiggle the bits around to see if they spring back to a better position. There would be plenty of vids around on Youtube to demonstrate. This is a also a good time to check if the steering head bearings are loose or notchy. Beyond this you would be pulling the forks apart to check them for straightness.
With a bike like that there is no guarantee that the triple clamps themselves are still straight. It would have been crashed multiple times by multiple owners, but at least parts would still be around, given how many of these bikes were sold over the years.

[Daisy]

You can also loosen the top and bottom triple on one side at a time and try turning the fork tube. You'll know if it is bent.

[Alf Stewart]

Ah sweet, seams simple enough, I remember after posting that the bloke I got it off mentioned he replaced the right handlebar because apparently someone jumped on it while the steering lock was on, dropped it and it bent the handle a bit. I'm guessing once he noticed wheel was out he gave up on the bike or possibly upgraded.

Visually nothing looks bent but I haven't had much of a look, the front wheel guard (forget proper name), sits against forks good and looks straight, the wheel is off centre of the guard. Seems like it should be a simple fix, the weekend should soon tell.

Once again thanks for the quick feed back

[Alf Stewart]

Picked up oil/fuel filters and some fresh oil. Might get some motivation tonight. But most likely tomorrow.

[Alf Stewart]

Gave the gpx a wash, cleaned the carbs, drained the tank and put in some fresh fuel. Changed the oil and filter.

It lives! Starts and idles fine, clutch and brakes all sweet. Gearbox feels pretty smooth, doesnt even really clunk into first at all.

Got the front wheel straightened up. Overall a successful day yesterday.

Has a dicky plug or wire for head light, at full lock the light will turn off, fiddle with plug and comes back on so I'll need to pull off front fairing and get a better look.

Only other issue is once it hits about 6k rpm it struggles, bogs down, pushed it through to about 10k rpm and no improvement. The carbs look good, everything is hooked up im pretty sure, dont think the tank vent is blocked. Positive there is no air leak between carb and head. Hard to say if its down on power below 6k because jumping from the zzr onto the gpx its going to feel slow regardless hahaha.

Diaphrams looked good, needles had a little residue on them but cleaned up ok.

Any ideas? Don't think i over filled the oil but i will check just in case. Didn't look at the plugs. Air filter is nice and clean.

Also anyone know where i can find a workshop manual? I can only find an owners manual which isnt much help for testing things. Plus i have no idea what all the carbs settings are so would be nice to know.

I will say though that these bikes are a massive pain in the arse to remove and install carbs, especially compared to the zzr.

Seeing as its mothers day, and this was my partners mothers day present, I'm gonna try teach her to ride today. At least i don't have to worry about her going over 6k rpm haha.

[Alf Stewart]

Been a while since I posted, not a lot has changed.

The zzr remains the same, flushed and bled the front brakes. There's a little more resistance in the lever but still feels spongy, seams to be a build up of residue/fluid on the rotors so I'll grab something to clean them and see if that makes a difference. Still haven't bled clutch or rear brake. Still need air filter. Next thing on the list is track down a full fairing bolt kit along with a windshield so I can at least put it back together and work out how much repairs fairings need.

The gpx is still being a pain and has me at a loss. Bogs down at WOT and high rpm. Might pull the carbs apart again but they looked fine. Guess it can't hurt. Fixed a leak in the fuel tank. Petcock seems to operate fine, tank is venting (made no difference with cap open). The intank screens looked good when I had them out. Engine does seam a bit 'knocky' at low idle when cold. Also when cold the clutch is a little sticky and doesn't disengage properly. In first gear moving bike down driveway, pull clutch lever and bike still pulls, tap the break and it lets go. Putting that down to being cold.

On another note have recently become a stay at home Dad. So once I get on top of everything around the house I should have a bit more time with the bikes, but at the same time lack the finances to do much. Will see how things go. No real rush to get things done and coming into winter I'm not exactly stressing.

Have been getting both bikes out about once a week for few laps of the block. I put some additive in the gpx to see if that helps, I think it's running slightly better each ride but that may just be a placebo effect. My wife was happy with her present for Mother's Day and as a bonus her helmet and gloves fit perfectly. Got her on the bike and she was happy riding up and down the driveway. At this point I took my bike around the block and stopped at the back neighbours house (a fellow kwaka owner) when I got back home the wife was up the end of the street grinning ear to ear I assume. So that's a small win in my opinion.

Other then that not much to add. Nice weather today so will be getting the bikes out I think!

[Alf Stewart]

Here's a happy snap, not exactly a piece of art but it's a work in progress.

[Daisy]

The brakes on the zzr have never been all that flash. The calipers are the same as the 600. We have 6 pots from a gsxr on ours and it still feels like trying to stop a b double. Some people have had success with the Nissin 4 pot from Hondas.
The knocking in the gpx is perfectly normal. When I first got mine it ran for a few seconds and wouldn't rev - and knocked like a box of hammers. I put a new engine in it and it did the same thing. The knocking stops if you pull the clutch lever and the air cleaner was blocked.

Congratulations to the wife as well.

[Alf Stewart]

Ah thats a relief with the knocking. Will see if clutch makes a difference when i start it up tomorrow.

Didn't even think about air filter, looked alright from memory but ill pull it out tomorrow and see if that makes a difference. It would make sense though. Once again thank you for your help.

And i have read many times the front brakes aren't that great, will keep an eye out for some gsxr ones. Have seen a fair few being parted out lately.

[Alf Stewart]

Didn't touch the bikes today, but did have a little impulse buy....

IMG_0771.JPG (164.15 KiB) Viewed 14710 times

It's kinda like a bike haha