1985 Yamaha FZ750 - rebuild

[GateKeeper]

tear down 4

tear down 4

Well it's Saturday morning, I thought I was going to do some yardwork first but it was cooler than I thought so it was into the garage and get at the bike.....

Well got the alternator out, there was a 3rd bolt holding it, it was covered by the water pump, so that had to come off first, then it was easy to remove the alternator, had to remove that one part of coolant tubing as well, and while I was at it, I removed the sprocket cover, typical mess, full of oil and crap, gear lever came off, as did the foot pegs, rear brake assembly, the kickstand safety switch.....

not bad for a bit more than an hours work,,,,but had to leave it, the sun came out, and so did the warmth so it off to the back yard to do some clean up....we just moved here and the landscaping more or less sucks, so 70% of the stuff is getting pulled up, then tilled and new sod put down, I like grass, not mud and dirt and half dead trees and bushes.....

I think I put a good dent into it, will finish the clean up today and into tomorrow.....it's already starting to look better....

and a few pictures as always....

 

[GateKeeper]

yard work

yard work

and the yardwork.....

 

[harley10]

When i first rode one of those i was impressed with the power did not feel like a 750 more like a 1100 , i wanted to buy one but never got to it , Brian

 

[GateKeeper]

Brian....

Have I got a deal for you....

I have a second one, you can make it out in some of the pictures, it's gong to be turned into a runner, might not be as perfect cosmetically as the one I am doing now, but it will be mechanically sound......would you be interested in buying it.....

Or I can do nothing with it, and you can buy it as is......

PM me if you have any interest.

.

 

[harley10]

hey you never know , lol, Brian

 

[GateKeeper]

SS Brake Lines

SS Brake Lines

Well the first of many parts that will be ordered over time and during the course of the rebuild have arrived......

Nice brand new SS Brake Lines, and the line for the Hydraulic Clutch....and to make it easy, they even put a couple of swivel ends on 2 of the lines to ease in installation.....how cool is that....

well a few pictures....































OK, I lied, there are a lot of pictures.....

But I know we all like pictures.....

.

 

[GateKeeper]

tear down 5

tear down 5

Well today was a productive day......

Spyug came down to assist, and the 2 of us together finally got the biggest part out of the bike....the engine is out.......so is the exhaust, the calipers and odds and ends.....we are almost down to just a frame...

It was a long day, lots of lows, and lots of highs.....

The beer was flowing, so was the swearing.....that threaded rod holding the engine was a real pain and really gave us a heck of a work out...

But before that we worked on the exhaust, it needed a bit of heat applied to the flanges as the 2 inner ones did not want to come off with out a fight, but NAP gas, and the big a$$ hammer, pry bar, they finally gave way and the exhaust was removed.

we then worked on the calipers, got them off with no issues, lots of meat left on the pads, so this will save a few bucks in the rebuild for sure....

the the engine, the threaded rod, and a whole lot a hammering, swearing, thumb busting, beer drinking, dinner, and it was finally out....

the engine is out and ready for cleaning, valve inspection, new oil, filter, paint, and get her ready to be put back in.....

and as always a few pictures of today's work....



exhaust is out....





a bit of rust, but can be used, I would like a 4-1, maybe I can find one...







some came out one way, some left the stud in the engine, at least none broke...








this looks OK



Lots of pad material left...

 

[GateKeeper]

tear down 5 cont'd

tear down 5 cont'd

and the rest of the pictures....



rotors are in great condition, but will have to measure to make sure they are still in spec..






this is the threaded rod that gave us hours of grief.....





What a pain in the A$$




She is FREE.........




Not a whole lot left








These need to be removed before the engine will come out, it pays to follow the manual, we tried to take it out with them still attached, that cost us time and aggravation





Getting naked




Parked for the night.....

 

[jwhelan65]

Just a thought but some of the early FZR 600 wheels bold right up to your project allowing 17" sport bike radial tires..

 

[GateKeeper]

Just a thought but some of the early FZR 600 wheels bold right up to your project allowing 17" sport bike radial tires..

Thanks for that tip.....I will keep it in mind, unfortunately I will try to keep this one as stock as possible, and the fact that everything around here costs an arm and a leg......and most times really hard to find but.....

I will keep my eyes open, I would also like to really change the exhaust to a 4-1, ya I know that is not stock either, it just looks better too me....

Cheers

 

[Guest]

What are your thoughts on that threaded rod? I doubt that's an OEM part? :-k

I find it interesting you would think that that bike's simpler to take apart than the GS...
Looking at the pictures (having not yet read your comment) I thought to myself: "Oh, this looks a bit more complicated that the GS...".

 

[GateKeeper]

What are your thoughts on that threaded rod? I doubt that's an OEM part? :-k

I find it interesting you would think that that bike's simpler to take apart than the GS...
Looking at the pictures (having not yet read your comment) I thought to myself: "Oh, this looks a bit more complicated that the GS...".

Definately not a stock OEM part, that is for sure, as it would not be threaded all the way as this was and caused all the grief as it had rusted itself in there, and it also bent somehow or another, this caused more pain trying to get it out, as it would catch and then release and then catch,,,,and so on...

so at one point after we drove it out far enough, we cut the rod, and then hammered it back the opposite way, then it was easy to remove between the 2 mounting ears on the engine.....

hammering at it with a 5 and 10 pound hammer took way too long, so it was in there hard.......

It's actually really easy to get the engine out, once the side bars are off, as it was just the threaded rod then holding the engine in place. about 5 bolts on each side for the side bars to remove, jack under the engine, remove the main rod, and sorry one more below and the engine was out...

I guess the easy part is your not trying to fit an engine into a closed frame as with the GS bikes, the whole front end and sides are open

I will take more pics when I install the engine, to show the simplicity of it...

plus frome what I see, once your putting it back in, there is really nochance of scratching the frame or engine when putting it back in......that is nice....

.

 

[spyug]

I would have to say from my point of view it is an easy frame/engine configuration to work on. I was first drawn by the simplicity of getting to the carbs. I mean they are right there once the tank and aircleaner are off. Undo the straps holing them to the intake boots and its off. No more than 3 or 4 minutes and they're back on. Slick that there is no frame in the way.

The only downside is that you can't tune the airmixture screws to highest idle as you can't reach them once the carbs are in place. In my recent case, I set the air mixtures to the manual which stated 2 turns out. Its running too rich and when I checked the previous set they were set for 3.5 turns out, so I'll need to readjust.

Getting the engine out would be a snap if we had followed the manual and if the PO had not used a threaded rod, that rusted into place it seemed.

I do like the setup of these frames and I would also say they are easier to work on than our beloved GSs.

Cheers,
spyug

 

[GateKeeper]

tear down 6

tear down 6

So found a bit of time today to get out to the garage and continue the tear down of the bike. Was not really sure what to do, but figured the simplest thing would be to get the back end off and out of the way, thus leaving me with just the front end.

not much to the removal of the back end, main bolt holding the rear wheel on came off, and that was out of the way, one bolt holding the shock adjustment gizmo and it was out of the way as well, this thing is funky and not sure if it's even working, going to have to strip it down and see how it functions if at all.

Then I took off two more main bolts holding the swing arm dog bone, and the one holding the upper part of the mono shock, and out it came.

Chain is dirty and not sure if it's OK, going to have to clean it up and see, give it a good scrub and a soaking in some kerosene for a day or two...

the rear hub is dirty as can be, but everything else seems to be OK, just needs the wire wheel, or the buffing wheel, and or some simple green, and it will all be like new again....

will check on the bearings once it's all cleaned up, too messy right now, and I have run out of time...

so here are some pictures, until the next time, at which point it will be the front end....

Cheers

































That's it for now....

.

 

[GateKeeper]

tear down 7

tear down 7

So tonight not a lot was done, had to watch the Hockey game....

But I did get a bit done, cleaned up some parts, removed the brake disc from the rim, even though I had one of the screws holding it in place was messed up, so people should not be given tools, after they stripped the head, they added some loctite, and then screwed it down as best they could, will this made it impossible to remove, had to cut a slot in the head and was finally able to get it out...

cleaned up a few parts on the wire wheel, the start of many more parts and hours at that wheel, fun times ahead.....

well here are some shots of the work tonight....



Bits and pieces clean up nice......














Here is the mess I had to deal with that the PO left for me....LOL

 

[The Jed]

I think that's the worst part of a projct....fixing what other people already "fixed". i hate snapping off/stripping bots almost as much as i hate hunting down wiring gremlins.

 

[The Jed]

....and I should pay more attention to my spell check...

 

[Sandy]

Just looking at the picture with your brake rotors brought me back to my FZ750 I had back in the day. It was a great bike, I raced it, toured with it and put 100,000 kms on it. It was as good the day I sold it as the day it was new. They can take a real beating. Anyway, those laminated rotors were very prone to warping when used hard for an extended period of time. Good thing is the solid, drilled rotors from the RZ350 and probably a few other models are a direct bolt on and don't warp. Maybe check the runout when you get a chance.

 

[GateKeeper]

I think that's the worst part of a projct....fixing what other people already "fixed". i hate snapping off/stripping bots almost as much as i hate hunting down wiring gremlins.

I am just glad it's not worse....and it was the only one that he messed up....I will look at getting all new ones, or just grab one from the parts bke I have....

Just looking at the picture with your brake rotors brought me back to my FZ750 I had back in the day. It was a great bike, I raced it, toured with it and put 100,000 kms on it. It was as good the day I sold it as the day it was new. They can take a real beating. Anyway, those laminated rotors were very prone to warping when used hard for an extended period of time. Good thing is the solid, drilled rotors from the RZ350 and probably a few other models are a direct bolt on and don't warp. Maybe check the runout when you get a chance.

Sounds like I should have a long run with this one, if it's anything like yours was....I will check on the runout for sure, this one is the rear so it might not be too bad, I will probably be more worried about the fronts. My parts bike has a solid drilled rotor for the rear, going to see if it's any good, maybe use it on this one, or look for as you mention something from a RZ350, going to have to search E-bay.....Thanks for the tip

 

[GateKeeper]

tear down 8

tear down 8

Well a bit more progress tonight, I finished disassembling the rest of the swing arm....then got to the front end a bit removed the top tripple tree, and now the frame sits on her own. Tomorrow going to finish up tearing down the front, take the front rim off of the forks, the rotors, the lower tripple tree, and that will be the end of the tear down I believe....

I have inquired about powder coating the frame, the rims, and a few tidbits, can't believe the initial pricing, 600 to 700 bucks, this will include all prep work, and then powder coat, well after a bit of searching and some luck, and a point in the right direction I seem to have come across a company that will do it for 350....wow, so this bike might get a better paint job than my GS, but I am still on the fence, 350 bucks can go a long way in the rest of the bike, so I have to give it some more thought....

So soon it will be time to start the clean up of all the parts removed, have to go to the store and re-stock on some cleaning supplies.....

Well a few pictures to show the work tonight, and as you can see it's almost done.......
































So far the best part is it seems all the bearings are in great shape, gong to clean them, grease them up, and it should be good to go for another 30 years......

.