Good stuff Ronski !!
Cant wait to see more pics
Cant wait to see more pics
Mean Green- ZXR750 H1 rebuild
5
my bike was sitting in my brothers garage for over 2 years, waiting for me to fix it. It just gave up on me one day and wouldnt start so i put it in his garage and slowly started to become one of those people who used to be a biker. Didnt like it that much. kept saying i would fix it, or get it fixed, but really didnt know what was wrong. I knew little about motors. but i had a manual and a socket set.
since i fixed it and got it back on the road, its been my pride and joy. seriously, i love it and ive done a ton of miles on it during the summer. (we actually had a decent summer in Ireland for once)
so im gonna put up some pics and describe what we did to fix the bitch. its been really enjoyable, and ive invested in some tools and even learned some stuff on the way. I also cursed a lot and threw some spanners around and lost some knuckle skin but thats a different story.
First off, we had to check the compression. It was brutal. Really low. but to get an accurate result, i needed the engine to be hot. the old girl had to be started for the first time in over 2 years. using jump leads and a can of easy start she fired up, after a lot of trying, and not before i managed to start a little fire. but it didnt damage anything and it looked quite nice, so that was okay. anyway, the compression was still really bad, as low as 30 psi on some of the cylinders. the manual says that the compression pressure should be between 139 to 213 psi. a squirt of engine oil into each of the bores brought it way up over 200, so at least we knew that the rings needed doing.
At this stage i hadnt even dreamed wed be capable of doing it ourselves, but after some astronomical quotes from mechanics, and during a night on the beer with my bro, we looked through the procedure in the haynes manual and decided "how hard can it be?"
D day arrived. bodywork off. rad off. exhaust off. chain off. all electrics disconnected. airbox and carbs off.
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Engine out:
![]()
Awaiting molestation:
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Dismantled the engine and sent the block and head off to an engine specialist. Cams, valve followers and pistons laid bare for your pleasure:
![]()
since i fixed it and got it back on the road, its been my pride and joy. seriously, i love it and ive done a ton of miles on it during the summer. (we actually had a decent summer in Ireland for once)
so im gonna put up some pics and describe what we did to fix the bitch. its been really enjoyable, and ive invested in some tools and even learned some stuff on the way. I also cursed a lot and threw some spanners around and lost some knuckle skin but thats a different story.
First off, we had to check the compression. It was brutal. Really low. but to get an accurate result, i needed the engine to be hot. the old girl had to be started for the first time in over 2 years. using jump leads and a can of easy start she fired up, after a lot of trying, and not before i managed to start a little fire. but it didnt damage anything and it looked quite nice, so that was okay. anyway, the compression was still really bad, as low as 30 psi on some of the cylinders. the manual says that the compression pressure should be between 139 to 213 psi. a squirt of engine oil into each of the bores brought it way up over 200, so at least we knew that the rings needed doing.
At this stage i hadnt even dreamed wed be capable of doing it ourselves, but after some astronomical quotes from mechanics, and during a night on the beer with my bro, we looked through the procedure in the haynes manual and decided "how hard can it be?"
D day arrived. bodywork off. rad off. exhaust off. chain off. all electrics disconnected. airbox and carbs off.
Engine out:
Awaiting molestation:
Dismantled the engine and sent the block and head off to an engine specialist. Cams, valve followers and pistons laid bare for your pleasure:
1 - 20 of 139 Posts
12
Ok ive this internet thing sussed now... more pics
got the engine block and head back from the shop. He honed the bores for me, pressure tested the cylinder head, gave it a light skim, took out all the valves, put in new valve seals, recut the valve seats, lapped em all back in.
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garage needs a tidy:
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freshly skimmed:
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nicely honed:
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now to rebuild the fucker:
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seriously, this is like porn to me:
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Pistons in. nice new rings. Circlips are cunts, arent they? PING
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Cylinder block on. That wasnt easy.
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head on. finally got to use my shiny new torque wrench
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cams and followers in. slathered in oil. good word, slather.
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just had to put the rocker cover on, and it was ready to go back in the bike! over a couple of evenings we got the motor back in, rad and exhaust back on, fluids topped up etc.
while the engine was out, i sent the oil cooler and rad off to a radiator place where they cleaned out all the fins properly and pressure tested them. Whatever they soak the rads in to clean them must strip off the coating too, cos they came back to me freshly painted too.
While i had access to parts such as the steel fan housing, oil cooler mounting bracket, rad guards etc i got all the rust off with a wire brush and gave them a proper painting with red primer and black hammerite. they wont rust again in a hurry!
so this is how she looked for the first test ride:
![]()
is that oil leaking on that nice clean forecourt? FUCK!!
turned out thet the oil was from the various banjo bolts in the plumbing around the oil cooler, despite using new copper washers. had to coat each washer with silicone and reassemble it all. it did the trick.
what was another problem was that the engine seemed to be overheating like a bastard. even though the gauge wasnt budging at all. Turned out i needed a new fan switch, new sending unit for the temp gauge, and when i opened the thermostat housing to check it, it wasnt there! some twat of a previous owner had obviously taken it out when it wasnt opening.
and that, kiddies, is where i leave the story for now, cos im off to bed
got the engine block and head back from the shop. He honed the bores for me, pressure tested the cylinder head, gave it a light skim, took out all the valves, put in new valve seals, recut the valve seats, lapped em all back in.
garage needs a tidy:
freshly skimmed:
nicely honed:
now to rebuild the fucker:
seriously, this is like porn to me:
Pistons in. nice new rings. Circlips are cunts, arent they? PING
Cylinder block on. That wasnt easy.
head on. finally got to use my shiny new torque wrench
cams and followers in. slathered in oil. good word, slather.
just had to put the rocker cover on, and it was ready to go back in the bike! over a couple of evenings we got the motor back in, rad and exhaust back on, fluids topped up etc.
while the engine was out, i sent the oil cooler and rad off to a radiator place where they cleaned out all the fins properly and pressure tested them. Whatever they soak the rads in to clean them must strip off the coating too, cos they came back to me freshly painted too.
While i had access to parts such as the steel fan housing, oil cooler mounting bracket, rad guards etc i got all the rust off with a wire brush and gave them a proper painting with red primer and black hammerite. they wont rust again in a hurry!
so this is how she looked for the first test ride:
is that oil leaking on that nice clean forecourt? FUCK!!
turned out thet the oil was from the various banjo bolts in the plumbing around the oil cooler, despite using new copper washers. had to coat each washer with silicone and reassemble it all. it did the trick.
what was another problem was that the engine seemed to be overheating like a bastard. even though the gauge wasnt budging at all. Turned out i needed a new fan switch, new sending unit for the temp gauge, and when i opened the thermostat housing to check it, it wasnt there! some twat of a previous owner had obviously taken it out when it wasnt opening.
and that, kiddies, is where i leave the story for now, cos im off to bed
2
ok where was I?
oil leak sorted, bike overheating like mad. ordered the following parts:
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and fitted em:
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dont new shiny parts just look so fuckin lovely?!
but fuck how they look, the main thing is that they work properly. Temp gauge now reading, and the fan was coming on properly. no more overheating!
time to put her clothes back on![hr]
oil leak sorted, bike overheating like mad. ordered the following parts:
and fitted em:
dont new shiny parts just look so fuckin lovely?!
but fuck how they look, the main thing is that they work properly. Temp gauge now reading, and the fan was coming on properly. no more overheating!
time to put her clothes back on![hr]
and gettin this thing back on the road was like christmas for me!K916 said:
4
so, i finally got to put the fairings back on:
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And she was good to go!
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since then ive had the carbs out for a proper strip and clean. ive had a dynojet lying round since forever, but wanted to get the thing running properly before i fit it. she was still running a bit rough, wouldnt tickover, would hesitate when given full throttle etc etc. no amount of fiddling with the pilot screws would fix it. so i decided to fit a spare set of carbs i had aquired a long time ago, just to see if it was any better. Stripped these to clean them, and fuck me if they didnt have a dynojet kit already fitted..
put the new carbs in, holy fuck she was sweet. pulling like a train. so i fitted a K&N filter and it only got better.
![]()
next installment: the breakdowns, the alternator issue, and just what the hell is a Gunson Colourtune anyway?!
And she was good to go!
since then ive had the carbs out for a proper strip and clean. ive had a dynojet lying round since forever, but wanted to get the thing running properly before i fit it. she was still running a bit rough, wouldnt tickover, would hesitate when given full throttle etc etc. no amount of fiddling with the pilot screws would fix it. so i decided to fit a spare set of carbs i had aquired a long time ago, just to see if it was any better. Stripped these to clean them, and fuck me if they didnt have a dynojet kit already fitted..
put the new carbs in, holy fuck she was sweet. pulling like a train. so i fitted a K&N filter and it only got better.
next installment: the breakdowns, the alternator issue, and just what the hell is a Gunson Colourtune anyway?!
Wish I had the time for a project, everyone seems to be working on something as the weather is getting warmer
All funds are currently being channeled into useless yet necessary shit
All funds are currently being channeled into useless yet necessary shit
1 - 20 of 139 Posts
