AfricaWim, sorry to hear of such a horror story about the last days of your Ninja! I hope its the more pleasant memories about the bike that will last! I had a good day in the shop! Cranked up the tunes! <iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KP2wbXrAAYA" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" width="425"></iframe> Installed the forks, repaired cracked fender, rebuilt brake cylinder, installed brakes, torqued axle and its ready to rock!
Fortunately the carbs were stored off the bike with no fuel in them. The jets and float needles are kinda corroded, a bit rusty, oxidized and in some cases plugged. So I'll give them a careful cleaning. New gaskets and pilot jets should be on the way soon!
Looking good ! Those were the colors for the 1986 model year. The float needles would harden up if they sat for any amount of time dry. I ended up just putting new ones in mine. Neighbor had a 1985 FZ750...now that was a smooth running bike...almost electric. 25 years later and he found a low mileage (1986) example last fall....he's never selling this one he says. Sorry for the hi-jack of your thread.
Tbone, thanks for the cool photos! The FZ 750 was a super bike, I remember how the magazines raved about it. These mid-1980s bikes are interesting, they show the trend in 16" front wheels, water cooling, multiple valves per cylinder and cool body work and graphics of the day. To me, its not a thread high-jack when people post good content that is related to the topic, like yours is. And even if stuff is not related, its just the internet...
I am fitting the body work to the bike, this is a trial fit to get the fasteners sorted out and make any adjustments to the mounting brackets. It will come off again for some crack repairs, then a final mounting to the bike. We will also be painting the upper fairing to match the rest of the bike. It is rather lean and sporty looking, if I do say so myself!
Most excellent indeed, axis! That is a very clean and sane-o looking GS 1000 (something tells me there may be a big bore kit in there?). Man it is great to see so much motor, and a round headlight! Your bike puts the "motor" in motorcycle for sure! Exciting! Thanks dude!
Tbone, its cool to see our old photos, brings back some memories for sure! It is interesting how, having the latest bike in the 1980's was every bit as exciting as getting new bike now. Sure the 1980s bikes suspension and frames were behind the curve compared to the motors, and sometimes the handling was rather scary, like the 16 inch front wheels, but we still raced the bikes and rode them to the limit! I like the big seats and tail sections, todays more sporting bikes have rather extremes styling, which does not make them as practical for luggage and a passenger. We have been doing some noodling on the web about Brent Adams, who owned Quadracycle in Austin. My brother worked for him, and he built the motor for the 900 Ninja. Brent built a lot of air cooled drag and custom bikes back in the day and knows his stuff. Several of his old bikes are still lurking around. Here is one of his old Hondas, found on a forum, where people are wondering about him! This bike was on a Honda SOHC Air Cooled site, I think the owner rescued it from his older brother that had it setting in a barn for a long time. Brent Adams built the motor in about 1984, and the guy that lived in Austin moved to Michigan. The current owner got it in Michigan and is putting new life into it.
We used this plastic repair product called Plastex, and despite the rather dubious packaging, it worked really good to fix the various cracks in the lower fairing and belly pan. Much better than JB Weld and the repair is instant. It uses fine plastic beads and a solvent to weld cracks, fill holes and even comes with a mold for replicating parts. I used a jig saw and file to cut out the relief in the belly pan to clear the header pipe, mounted the radiator and oil cooler. I installed the rather hard-to-find plastic filler pieces that dress up the gap between the fairing and motor. After some fiddling about I got the bars installed. Good thing we had two pairs on hand, as one bar was bent. The Telefix fork brace that my brother purchased in the 1980's fit very well. I am on to getting the electrics sorted out, I got the turn signals, tail light, brake light and starter motor working.
I cannot endorse plastex strongly enough. As long as the prep work is solid and the plastic you are repairing compatible, the repair will be solid as a rock. I.e. i've used it to fix the security remote for my car when i first bought that car second hand when the remote was about to fall into peices. The remote went on to survive daily (ab)use for a further 5 years before i had to touch up a crack in the plastic that i had only done a half arsed repair on in the first place. The bikes looking pretty damned good there.
Ok, so I cleaned the Mikuni RS Series Radial Flat Slide and installed new pilot jets, main jets and cleaned the float needles. I also put coolant in the bike, cranked the motor over and checked for spark and installed new plugs. The Mikuni RS Series Carburetors were designed and built in response to the needs of the world's top motorcycle road race and drag race teams. They required carburetors which would satisfy the precise fuel metering demands and high flow volume required by highly modified race engines. And yet, also provide the smooth, controllable throttle response that is needed by any rider pushing his motorcycle to its limits on the race track and under high performance use. The carburetors need to meter fuel correctly under a wide range of atmospheric conditions and engine tuning modifications while being easily accessible for trackside tuning changes which need to be made quickly. Designed for in-line four cylinder performance motorcycle applications, the Mikuni RS Series Radial Flat Slide Carburetors offer superior horsepower gains with their maximum flowing smoothbore induction tract and radial flat slide design. An adjustable accelerator pump system helps to provide instant throttle response, particularly in the lower RPM range. The RS series Carburetors feature a compact design which is 25% lighter than other performance carburetors, offers quick needle jet adjustment, and uses readily available standard Mikuni jets.
Thanks Pacman, it is a very rewarding project. I am getting excited, it should be running in a couple of weeks. And a new Corbin Gunfighter is on order. <iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1QiMuhACHWo" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" width="425"></iframe>
Oh man...looking at the close up photo's brings back memories of working on mine. I liked the Corbin on my 900's...just looks right. I also enjoyed my 85 FJ1100...awesome motor
True Tbone, the corbin solo seat looks far better than the corbin gunfighter Lady that was on it. My brother in-law got into motorcycling with us and bought a new FJ 1100 back in the 80's. His best friend got one too. They had some really great rides on it, and he still talks fondly of it these days. Thanks for the cool photos. I hope to fire up the GPZ 900, (actually 985cc due to the big-bore kit) in a week or so! Cheers!