FZS600 Project. A Bike Called Polly

[apage16]

Hi All!


Thought I'd share my ongoing project for a little criticism, hopefully a little praise and generally a touch of banter.


Bought in October this year.

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From the off, it needed:


new chain and sprockets,
Fork Seals,
Back Tyre,
Oil Change,
Headlight Mod,
Engine repaint,
New Mirrors,
Downpipe replacement/repaint,
Carb Balance,
And a general deep clean and polish!!


But for £500 with 48k miles, and a couple of months MOT, I think it was a deal and a half.


And so the project (and the fun!) begins....

[Hedgetrimmer]

Hi apage,
 
Will be an enjoyable project to watch, so keep us posted!
 
I'm especially interested to see how the carbon wrap comes out; there's a few of us on here who have started down the carbon dipping route, especially devilsyam who I think was the first to introduce many of us to it.
 
Sounds like you got a good deal for a project base there, assuming you have the time/skills/money to throw at it!

[apage16]

Thanks Nick!


I'm pretty happy with the Carbon so far, and for relatively little investment. A lot of time and swearing though!


But like any good storyteller, I'll start at the beginning and leave the best bit til last!


If you're sitting comfortably, then I will begin...

[Hedgetrimmer]

Ooooh, look, a green Kwackernaki thingy! Hmmmm, not a ZRX, they have a squarer tailpiece. Z1? No, wrong indicators, and the tail piece still doesn't look quite right. Zephyr? Must be getting warm now.....

[reillypadraig]

They are a good project, that's not bad, I didn't have to get new down pipes but mine came with 1 knackerd engine and a new engine with 15,k miles on it with only 2 bolts holding it in the frame, had to source a lot of parts and bolts,( if something is missing you can get parts but no1 keeps the bolts for some reason, (pain)

She looks in good enough nick,

Enjoy!!

Keep us updated

[apage16]

The first job on my list was to change the chain and sprockets. The set on the machine when I bought it had a truly ridiculous tight spot.


But this was offset by the fact that the back wheel was wonky as I rode away and upon trying to straighten it in the first garage forecourt I discovered that the chain tensioners were seized solid.


So a careful and slow ride home was followed by a complete dismantling of the tensioners and generous smearing with aluminium grease (like copper grease, but silver, due to the aluminium. clever that). Also replaced the nuts with non-rounded shiny stainless ones and attacked the tensioner plate with Autosol.


removed plate, rusty threads!

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Clean and shiny tensioner! (and straight wheel!)

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So with that done, it was time for the chain and sprockets.


Dirty horrible gears with the worst tight/loose spot I've seen.

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I ordered a D.I.D gold chain and JT Sprockets set from Busters for £79.99 but specced it for 2 teeth bigger on the front and 2 teeth smaller on the back. (I drive an old diesel car as well, so it'll still feel PLENTY fast enough, I tell myself!)


While waiting for the chain and sprockets I picked up this bad boy:

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So while I had the back wheel off, I also had a Metzeler Z6 fitted (from M&P) at http://www.ultimatebikegear.co.uk/ in Papworth. for just £12.50 balanced.


Here was the first clanger. The previous owner told me the chain and sprockets were relatively new (i was VERY sceptical due to the aforementioned tight spot) but on replacing the whole set I KNEW he was lying.


No photo (sorry) but the front sprocket had shark fin shaped teeth. And it STILL had the original 9mm thick front retaining nut. So another couple of days wait and the new nut and retaining washer arrived from wemoto (just over a fiver) and I cracked on.

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I took the opportunity to remove the swingarm and give it a proper clean, check and re-grease the bearings. Which also allowed me to rivet the new chain off the bike. Much easier on a bench!


All Done!

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All shiny and fresh looking!


I gave the wheel a good clean and polish while it was off. Luckily, almost no scratches and absolutely no corrosion or blistering. Looks like a new wheel now!


As for the new gearing, due to the closeness of the gears, I haven't really noticed any large drop in acceleration. And when I get above 8,000 rpm it still feels like someone lit a rocket under my @rse!


The first bonus is that in top gear, the revs have dropped by about 1,000 rpm for any given speed. Im doing about 4k rpm at 60 mph. So the bike is much smoother, which I like (I'm getting old before my time).


But the real win is that I now get at least 200 miles before the light comes on. And I've bravely ridden as much as 50 miles after that. Current highest range is 265 miles. And this is with the 20 litre tank.

[apage16]

Cheers reillypadraig, I'm loving it so far.

The fact that it's such a great bike to ride makes the skinned knuckles worth it! My engine seems pretty solid so far. And from what I've seen, at 48k its got plenty of life left.

You're good Nick! It's a 1979 Zephyr 750. Kind of the motivation for the aesthetic efforts on my Fazer as it's in truly amazing condition. Belongs to my dad and he ensures that we ALWAYS have a tube of autosol handy. There isn't a single piece of aluminium on it that isn't mirror finish.

He can't touch me on the twisties though!

[apage16]

Next Up, due to the impending MOT and the oil dripping down the stanchions and sliders, was the fork seals.


A technical error with my phone (I 'dropped' it), means not many pics of this, but it's not too exciting so thats ok! 


The forks were painted black, but it looked like what paint hadn't already corroded off, was put on with a broom.


You can also see the led DRL I've mounted under the fairing. Very unobtrusive, but traffic definitely sees me better when I'm filtering than they ever did on dip beam. Queues part like the sea! Could be the slight bluish tinge though?...

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So I took them off, stripped them down using a guide on here, thanks John Silva


http://foc-u.co.uk/index.php/topic,42.msg120.html#msg120


and replaced the oil (15w for a firmer damping, I'm almost 15st) and the seals.


While I had the sliders off, I stripped the paint off and polished them up with a buffing wheel and some Autosol.

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They now look the business, passed MOT and don't bounce like pogo sticks!

[Ruby Racing]

I ordered a D.I.D gold chain and JT Sprockets set from Busters for £79.99 but specced it for 2 teeth bigger on the front and 2 teeth smaller on the back. (I drive an old diesel car as well, so it'll still feel PLENTY fast enough, I tell myself!)

Blimey! That seems a very radical gearing change. I thought you were going to say it's too much, so was surprised when you said it wasn't.


Can you tell me the product name for that aluminium grease please?

[Dead Eye]

Nice progress and good write up - looking forward to seeing more

[apage16]

Thanks Dead Eye. Nice to hear it's worth reading!

I'm afraid I don't know the brand of the grease Ruby Racing. It was just silver slippery stuff in a plain white tin! My Father was a vehicle mechanic in the army for 25 years or so (VERY handy!!) so as well as his experience he has a whole wealth of wonderful tools and engineering consumables. Sorry. Copper slip grease will do the trick, just not the right colour!

[apage16]

I completed a few small jobs after the forks.

Balanced the carbs. Now have a smooth tickover and quicker pickup/ throttle response.

The mirrors were all rusty and the glass looked like it came from the hall of mirrors so I bought some replacements on ebay. Sadly it was a case of "buy cheap, buy twice" and the replacements, although better looking, were just as crap. Vibrating more than a teenagers phone and just as bendy as the originals. So I'm waiting for a set of Thou mirrors to replace them with. (I complained to the ebay seller and got a 50% refund without need to return the mirrors. So a partial win!)

Completed the headlight Mod (thanks to John Sliva and Moffmeister http://foc-u.co.uk/index.php/topic,181.msg92567.html#msg92567 )
I also replaced the candles in my headlights with Osram Nightbreaker plus bulbs, which are incredible for halogens. Furthermore, I removed the reflector in front of the left H1 bulb (snip the tabs so it drops into the headlight, use a magnetic rod thingy to fish it out through the large H4 hole) So now I can see. sort of.
The bike passed MOT with both of these modifications. Though I did trim the H4 bulbs tabs so I could rotate it slightly clockwise (from behind) to make the beam cut-off cleaner.

Changed the oil.

Changed the grips (which appear to have been covered in UHU glue) for some funky red ones. Top tip, Hairspray. spray it in to the grip, it's slippery enough to slide it on, leave it overnight and it'll be stuck harder than solid effluent to a woven warming device.

With all this done, there was nothing left to put off the engine respray any longer...

[Ruby Racing]

I'm afraid I don't know the brand of the grease Ruby Racing. It was just silver slippery stuff in a plain white tin! My Father was a vehicle mechanic in the army for 25 years or so (VERY handy!!) so as well as his experience he has a whole wealth of wonderful tools and engineering consumables. Sorry. Copper slip grease will do the trick, just not the right colour!

No problem. Did your dad "liberate" the grease? 

[apage16]

I'm afraid I don't know the brand of the grease Ruby Racing. It was just silver slippery stuff in a plain white tin! My Father was a vehicle mechanic in the army for 25 years or so (VERY handy!!) so as well as his experience he has a whole wealth of wonderful tools and engineering consumables. Sorry. Copper slip grease will do the trick, just not the right colour!

No problem. Did your dad "liberate" the grease? 

Ha ha! I doubt it. He got out almost 20 years ago. I think it's more a case of missing/worn label. I'll quiz him when he's about for a brand.

[apage16]

So with all the smaller jobs out of the way, I had to tackle the engine's apparent dermatitis.


As you can see, the bike had a pretty bad case, lots of white powdery sea with islands of loosely clinging black paint.

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I also noticed that the carb rubbers were pretty badly cracked. But given my good fuel economy and performance coupled with the solid advice I've found from the FOC community I'm not worried just yet. Might get some self emalgamating tape or black silicon to cover over the cracks. Just to make them look nicer if nothing else.

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I attacked the flaky paint and corroded aluminium with a combination of small wire brush attachments on a dremel tool and cordless drill. Plus the short edge of a steel rule for scraping duties without gouging the alu.


As you might expect, this was long, arduous and boring work. So i got distracted by the dull and scratched engine covers. I rubbed off some of the paint and in doing so pulled a thread that just kept unravelling. Before I knew it, I'd polished up all the engine covers. Nothing like a polishing wheel on a high speed drill to aid procrastination from the monotony of wire brushing. It just looked nicer so much quicker! 


Anyway, all stripped back with shiny covers. (kind of disguises the scratches from when the bike has clearly been laid down at some point before my tenure. Other symptoms are steadily becoming apparent)

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As the wire brushes smouldered and the drill cooled, I raided the magazine rack and set about masking off the bike as I intended to use aerosol paint to ensure a good finish. No brush marks for me thank you very much.


Looks like a badly wrapped, but still quite fantastic gift. I'd be happy with it on Christmas morning!

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Other side

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I completely removed the generator/alternator/stator cover and stuffed paper into the cavity. easier than carefully taping.




B&Q's Matt black Barbecue paint stepped in for the covering duties on account of it's high temp resistance and no need for a primer.


I wiped the whole engine down with Isopropyl Alcohol to ensure good paint adhesion and got on with it. Lots of very thinly misted coats with 5-10 mins in between and I'm really very happy with the result.

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I think the shiny silver covers really set off the black and vice versa. It's all about contrast darrrrling!


Now I may set a cat among the pigeons here, but I like the semi fake cooling fins on the Fazer and I like them to be silver. BUT, I firmly believe that one of the reasons that the paint seems to just fall off the engine is that the silver fin effect is created by rubbing the paint back to the metal, thus creating an incursion point for moisture, air and all the corrosion related woe that their marriage creates. SO, I painted the edges silver using chrome effect enamel paint. i dipped a firm, flat, cube shaped sponge in the paint and wiped it across the fins in order to only get the vertical face.

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Really happy with the results so far.


Here it is once again, looking much cleaner, with the Rear end of the enigmatic Zephyr and in front of one the most ridiculous bikes ever made! A Triumph Rocket III.

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[Ruby Racing]

Nice work!

[Lez72]

Excellent write up and good results with the engine paint. It's looking a lot tidier now. Good effort fella 

[Hedgetrimmer]

What a brilliant write-up apage! You haven't hung about have you?!
Can't wait to see the finished bike - I think it's going to be a stunner!

[Hedgetrimmer]

Belongs to my dad and he ensures that we ALWAYS have a tube of autosol handy. There isn't a single piece of aluminium on it that isn't mirror finish.

He can't touch me on the twisties though!

Don't forget to tread on the open tube of autosol while it lays on the garage floor!   

[fazersharp]

like your thinking on the silver fins and your work around ---I dont like to see them just black.
Can we have some better pics of your polished forks please -once you sort your phone out

[reillypadraig]

Fair play, good bita work done there, that polished engine covers looks good!!

[apage16]

Belongs to my dad and he ensures that we ALWAYS have a tube of autosol handy. There isn't a single piece of aluminium on it that isn't mirror finish.

He can't touch me on the twisties though!

Don't forget to tread on the open tube of autosol while it lays on the garage floor!   

I've already done it time and again! tbh a large chunk of the polished parts are from having 'excess' polish!

[apage16]

like your thinking on the silver fins and your work around ---I dont like to see them just black.
Can we have some better pics of your polished forks please -once you sort your phone out

No problem. Just need to make sure they're still nice and shiny!

[apage16]

So....


With the mechanicals in order and the engine looking peachy, it was time to start on the cosmetics. And what bigger cosmetic on a gent's motorbike than the paintwork? So mine is looking pretty tired. This bike has clearly spent too much time in the sun without the appropriate SPF!


I've always liked the look of Carbon Fibre components, ever since the Spinergy 4 spoke wheels of my mountain biking days. So without the cash flow to bankroll Carbon Fibre composite body panels, vinyl wrapwas the clear runner up.

Several youtube videos and a healthy confidence in my own hands later, and I set about wrapping my bike in sticky plastic.

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You can see just how bad my paint is. The bike is more orangey pink than the 'vivid red cocktail #1' that it should be. And the carbon vinyl sheet looks WAY too flat to fit the panel!

But after an hour of pulling, smoothing and warming with a hairdryer (I have a heat gun, but the hairdryer slows the heating down enough that I didn't destructively melt anything! "if it doesn't burn your fingers, it won't hurt the vinyl" youtube) I managed to make the flat sheet of vinyl hug the panel.

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I particularly liked the way the vinyl is thin enough that it subtly shows the Yamaha decal.

[Limit reached]

Only shame is that the 'Vivid Red Cocktail #1' now looks worse than ever.

[Limit reached]

So I guess I'll be doing the rest of the bike now... 

[apage16]

Anybody got any tips on why the images now say "Limit reached"??