BEFORE
AFTER
Sorry about that. I did a whole write up on how things came together on the bike, then somehow deleted it. :-(
Yes, I believe the other pictures had bags over the carbs to wash it. This is the latest pic.
SO, here's the story...
I was injured in an accident and have been paying off injuries since my last bike post. This summer was the year to get it on the road!
I have a mix of parts, '82 head, new top end, 4-1 exhaust, pods, k$n and no real fast engine parts though the '87 flat slides were a bit of a change from the round slides...
I got the bike painted and together and then realized it was running pretty rough. I figured it was because it wasn't vacuum synced so i hauled it into the tuner at Two Wheel Dyno Works. I had paid a local mechanic to get the jugs on and the head and shim it (again!) after the machine shop screwed it up. I was quite dispirited with the quality of the shops I worked with on this project. EXCEPT for Two Wheeled Dyno Works, which is incredible!
When I got a message from the owner, Nels, he said he thought my cams were off a tooth. Strike one, they were off a tooth and 1 day in the parking lot on a blistering hot Saturday pulling the tank, carbs, pods, cam chain tensioner, cams, and changing the chain one tooth ahead. I started it and it still wasn't starting good. Sure enough, only spark on the left coil pack! Coil 2/3 was dead (which explains the problem I had noticed on the previous post). There goes money on a $400 Dyna ignition, I thought.
Fortunately, I looked at ebay right before I ordered and found the whole set for 280 to my door! Wow, cheaper than Z1!
Another hot, miserable afternoon was spent in the parking lot at the shop attaching the Dyna S to the bike, not a cloud in sight and one of the hottest days of the year to be working on asphalt (97? @7pm in the dyno box!). I must say the directions are NOT adequate and it was not clear as day to a mechanic and first time installer. I did call Dynatek, which helped a little. Yes, it's easy now that I know what to do but I find their directions woefully inadequate of pictures to know what to look for. After a couple hours getting it installed, I found that Dynatek SCREWED UP and the slots in the plate were drilled WRONG. I ended up drilling new holes and elongating the current slots while also drilling a new 1/2" sight hole to align the timing marks. Basically, every hole was off 1/4" which is very annoying. Dynotek shouldn't sell this kit as plug and play. I wish I would have known as I could have done a much cleaner job with the plate off the bike in my shop and not drilling it on the bike. Grrrh.
So, after re-aligning the backing plate, everything lined up perfectly and she fired to life with a roar!
It did one tuning run on the dyno and after five minutes Nels came out grinning. "This thing rips!" was all he could say. It sounded like the only thing I need is to get the idle down to normal. The knob wouldn't drop all the way so I need to see if there is a vacuum leak or an adjustment that I can find to lower it.
Next to do:
Mounting some Bates hard bags to the sides and a different pair of bars with a better bend to go with a medium size fairing. I have ATV bars currently, but I want about four inches up and four inches back. I have the stock bars but I don't like their bend either. I'm a dirt biker and a motocross bend feels natural to me, unlike the cruiser bend of the originals. I probably will mount the top case (which looks ugly IMHO) but will be functional for a big ride way up north I am still planning. The top case will be used only for certain big trips as it even has a rack for strapping on a bedroll or tent. I'm thinking of a fishing pole too!
Finally, I found the correct vintage license plate for the bike to keep it a classic since we can run them in WA! For $40, I couldn't be more pleased. I'll post up some finished pics soon.[URL=
