1997 Yamaha yzf1000 Thunderace

[Oldman99]

Title change, was : In trouble with my wife (again)
Found a 1997 Yamaha yzf1000 on Craigslist. Guy went into a ditch thanks to a truck from the oncoming lane interning his. Jacked up the fairing and fuel tank. He got a replacement tank, but wanted to just get a new bike. I picked her up and drove her 3 hours home. Ran great with no issues aside from needing new rear brake pads AND A MUFFLER OF ANY KIND!!!! Pretend your sitting on the trunk of this RX7.
At the very least, I got a new project and a possible new friend to ride with.

 

[Oldman99]

Got the old rear pads out.

 

[Lorenzo]

At least there are plenty of spares for this bike, given the interchangeability with other models.
The possibilities for a full restore or for a one-off special are there.
Think you are looking at a full strip down and possibly, at having the frame x-rayed for minute cracks.

 

[BurntKittyForge]

Cool.
I noticed this random funny thing on amazon other day HERE a few LOL last silly thing I thought was cool LOL "TURBO" jet bike...
Congrats on the new project.
Been thinking of getting "trouble with wife" myself by getting a GSX-R project (same engine block as my GSX)...trying to decide IF wait longer won't have to.

(I better get back of my pick-up cleaned out incase...

 

[Burque73]

Looks like a good score oldman99. Glad your three hour ride home was uneventful, given the poor brakes. Is the rotor still usable after the metal to metal grinding?


FROM BKF "Been thinking of getting "trouble with wife" myself by getting a GSX-R project (same engine block as my GSX)...trying to decide IF wait longer won't have to.

(I better get back of my pick-up cleaned out incase..."



This is kinda where I am now. I looked at a Honda ST 1100 yesterday and now I can't stop thinking about it. There's a couple of 90's models in great shape for under $2k. Better clean out the other side of the garage just "in case".

 

[Oldman99]

Looks like a good score oldman99. Glad your three hour ride home was uneventful, given the poor brakes. Is the rotor still usable after the metal to metal grinding?

It looks and feels ok. The surface is discolored, but no deep cuts or groves. I'm replacing the front and back wheel bearings, so I'll give them a better check when it's apart.

 

[Oldman99]

Shes dirty and needs new fuel lines. Carbs cleaned up nicely. This is only the second bike I've ever owned with a fuel pump, so thats different. Still waiting on ebay parts to show up...

 

[Guest]

Is that what Yamaha calls a Thundercat in other markets?
Lots of power to play with anyway.

 

[RichDesmond]

Is that what Yamaha calls a Thundercat in other markets?
Lots of power to play with anyway.

Yep. It was a one year bike here in the states, replaced by the R1 in 1998. In some other markets Yamaha sold them both for a few years.

 

[hillsy]

This one is the Thunderace. The 600 was the Thundercat.

Nice bikes the 1000 - I took one for a ride from the stealership back when they were new and remember just twisting the throttle a bit on the freeway thinking "I'm probably doing 110Kph"....only to look down and see 180 on the dial

 

[Oldman99]

This one is the Thunderace. The 600 was the Thundercat.

Nice bikes the 1000 - I took one for a ride from the stealership back when they were new and remember just twisting the throttle a bit on the freeway thinking "I'm probably doing 110Kph"....only to look down and see 180 on the dial

That was the ride home. She WANTS to go faster.

Wanted to bring up that this thing has coolant running in passages in the carbs. Info from a site I found.
"[SIZE=+2][SIZE=-1]Coolant is passed through the carburetors on this bike. This is done not to cool the carburetors but to heat them. The idea is to prevent the formation of ice in the carburetor throats as fuel is evaporated. Fuel evaporation can cause extreme temperature decreases in the throat of the carburetor. During particularly humid and cool weather conditions such as riding in clouds or fog, ice could form in the carburetors and prevent the engine from running."

[/SIZE][/SIZE][SIZE=+2][SIZE=-1]Got a $24 glasspack from summit. Added a baffling inside it to slow down the flow. It's high heat primer right now.

[/SIZE][/SIZE]

 

[Oldman99]

Also had time to make some proper radiator supports. The lower supports are fine, but the upper ones (that only had tiny rivets holding them on) where broken. Each spot where the supports touch the rad, I added some rubber hose.

 

[hillsy]

That was the ride home. She WANTS to go faster.

Wanted to bring up that this thing has coolant running in passages in the carbs. Info from a site I found.
"[SIZE=+2][SIZE=-1]Coolant is passed through the carburetors on this bike. This is done not to cool the carburetors but to heat them. The idea is to prevent the formation of ice in the carburetor throats as fuel is evaporated. Fuel evaporation can cause extreme temperature decreases in the throat of the carburetor. During particularly humid and cool weather conditions such as riding in clouds or fog, ice could form in the carburetors and prevent the engine from running."

[/SIZE][/SIZE][SIZE=+2][SIZE=-1]Got a $24 glasspack from summit. Added a baffling inside it to slow down the flow. It's high heat primer right now.

[/SIZE][/SIZE]View attachment 48481

My ZX9R had the carb warming thing as well - but I live in Oz so I just disconnected it because hardly anyone owns a sweater over here.....

I can see a new cam cover gasket in your future

 

[Oldman99]

Got the carb rebuild kits in and cleaned as much as I can. Still cold blooded for starting, but runs well afterwards.
Now the tack is doing a self test after the engine is started. Anyone seen something like this?
In other news, I'm super happy with the way it sounds.
(the gauge cluster is zip-tied in place until the new headlight comes in. thats why its way off to the side)

 

[hillsy]

I'd say you've got an intermittent power cut to the instruments / tach. They normally do that when they re-boot.

Probably a loose or broken wire / connection.

 

[Oldman99]

Found a forum from Europe (I think). They where saying this is yamahas weird way to say the exhaust valve has an issue.
I looked that up and found mine was VERY out of adjustment. Added heat resistant lube, cleaned all the rust and crud, and adjusted the cables. Now the issue is that its too late at night to test.
I'll up-date in the morning.

 

[Oldman99]

Sooo. That was scary. I guess the valve being out of adjustment was why it was so hard to start. Hardly needed any choke now. Took her for a test ride down the road and back. Did not get out of second. The added back pressure from the muffler and the ex-up valve working gave it sooo much more power. Waiting for the new headlight to come in before I can get an inspection and a tag.

 

[RichDesmond]

Sooo. That was scary. I guess the valve being out of adjustment was why it was so hard to start. Hardly needed any choke now. Took her for a test ride down the road and back. Did not get out of second. The added back pressure from the muffler and the ex-up valve working gave it sooo much more power. Waiting for the new headlight to come in before I can get an inspection and a tag.

Awesome,glad it's coming together for you!
Always liked those bikes, it's a shame Yamaha didn't see fit to sell it along with the R1 here like they did in other places.

 

[Guest]

Is this a 20 valve head like the R1?

 

[GS1150Pilot]

Is this a 20 valve head like the R1?

Yep. Thunderaces are way more pleasant to put miles on, too. NICE score!