zxr400 track bike build

[98ninja]

So in 2018 I had a 1990 zxr400. I was moving from Inverell to Wagga Wagga and my girlfriend at the time thought that if
she told her employer that we were together, then we would get less removalist entitlements from her employer. I didn't have a way
to move the zxr400 so I put it for sale for 1500$ and it sold within 10 minutes. I regretted that sale ever since. I've since had a change in
circumstances and I'm waiting for a court case to be over so I have nothing but time and a steady income.
In December last year a 1990 zxr400 popped up for sale about 3km from me. I knew I had to have it. The bike came with an engine but was incomplete.
There was a number plate attached to the rear fender so I did a registration check on it.......... last registered in 1999......
So my first challenge was to make sure the engine was ok before I proceeded into putting any effort into the rest of the bike. I searched the internet
and found that webike in Japan had OEM head gaskets and sump gaskets in stock. I ordered them and pulled the cylinder head off and sump off to inspect the inside
of the engine. To my surprise everything inside was immaculate and all turned over effortlessly. The valve clearances were out quite a bit so I fixed that up
with some shims from Precision Shims in Victoria.
I started to strip the frame down. The frame and swingarm had some light corrosion as well as the fork stanchions. The frame, swingarm, wheels and rear subframe
were sent to a local powdercoaters where they were acid dipped and treated before they were powdercoated satin black. I bead blasted the fork stanchions and stripped
the fork legs off with the help of a friend. Separating the stanchions and the fork tubes required a blowtorch, a custom made clamp for the fork tubes and some freeze spray.
Once they were separated the fork tubes were sent to Radhard chroming in Brisbane where they were ground and rechromed. This was the cheapest option as I could only find one
place in the world who did H model fork tubes and they were 350 GBP each plus postage. I'd already priced up a 1999 Yamaha r6 or an RGV250 VJ22 front end as a period correct
replacement, but the rechrome option was cheaper and easier.
Both front and rear brakes were stripped down, bead blasted, rehoned, painted gold before being reassembled with all new OEM seals and bolts.
I stripped the dash and subframe down to their components and bead blasted and repainted them. The front H bracket for the fairings, cam cover, thermostat housing, clutch cover, stator cover, top part of the triple clamp, brake and clutch lever mounts and fairing mounts all got the same treatment.
The parts that were missing from the bike when I bought them included a radiator, coils, rear sets, carburettors, a seat and fairings.
I managed to source a set of H model carburettors from trade me in New Zealand. They were stripped down, ultrasonically cleaned for hours, blown out with compressed air and all the seals, gaskets and O rings were replaced. I managed to source a riders seat,H model airbox and 2004 cbr600 coils from Yahoo auctions Japan. Another webike order got me new 98 main jets to suit the standard jetting.
A search on the zxr400 forums showed me that the oil cooler lines can be blanked off if its a race bike, so I did that whilst I had the sump off. I cleaned a bit of debris out of the strainer for the oil pick up. The zxr400 forums also showed me how to wire up the cbr600 coil mod and showed that a 1998 zx6r radiator is a good replacement.
The forks returned from Radhard chroming so after another webike order, they were rebuilt with all new seals and bushes and fresh 5w oil.
I managed to get some old tyres to put on the powdercoated wheels that were given all new wheel bearings and seals.
I pulled the rear shock apart and saw that the shock shaft is pitted. Ken Watson offered the advice that the shock is rebuildable but not with a pitted shaft. I couldnt find a replacement showa part and was a bit discouraged and was contemplating a shock off another bike. I asked a question on the Historic Racing Motorcycles for sale facebook group and was given many answers that the shaft can be made very easily. So the shaft is off now getting duplicated. The suspension linkage was cleaned thoroughly and regreased. I wanted a rolling bike and I found that a spare rgv250 vj21 shock that I had slotted straight in.
I assembled the bike to a rolling chassis and made an aluminium tray to utilise part of the original underseat battery holder and mount a new regulator rectifier and the ECU.
There is still a few parts to source such as raceglass, an exhaust system (Delkevic have new ones), chain and sprocket etc
The bike is now sitting assembled waiting on those parts.
I hope people read this, I know the forum is somewhat dead but I'm hoping this might get some interest back to it.

[MadKaw]

Thats a great effort.
Looking forward to seeing the finished bike pics.

[BrettZZR]

Keep the updates coming!

(-B

[Smitty]

WOW.... !

amazing amount of work there !

[98ninja]

So I'm up to the point of filling it with oil and coolant, getting a battery and starting it and hoping my mechanic work
was good. The shock shaft has been made and returned. I have all of the components sitting in a box ready to send off to
Keo Watson for a rebuild and adjusting for my heft. I'm trying to source some race glass. H model race glass seems pretty scarce
whilst L model is plentiful.
I found a BEET exhaust on facebook marketplace for a zrx1200 or similar, drilled out the rivets and replaced the inner tube with one
that fit the Delkevic headers that I'd installed. I repacked the exhaust with new packing and riveted it all back together.
Custom rearsets to match the BEET dimension rearsets have been made. I bought TYGA gear shift pedals, brake pedals, and footpegs.
Braided lines front and rear fitted. Rear caliper put back together after all new seals. I made a cheap rear braided line guide for now until
I can find something better.
I'm toying with the idea of buying one of the replica Kawasaki Kit airboxes but I think I'll just stick with standard for now.