The Zephyr Zone

"wont start' is a pretty broad statement. Done any tests? Still got spark when hot, still have fuel in the bowls, battery still spins the engine over strong. Anyway most likely cause is too tight valve clearances, how long since you had them checked?

Had to repair this bit on another engine. Several welding attempts that did not work. In the end we contacted Kawasaki Japan who sent a couple of filler rods that worked fantastic. Apparently the alloy has a high magnesium content. That was a long time ago and no I don't have the rod butt. So when y...

There is another method I have thought about but not tried. You can buy hardened bushes. So you drill out the existing hole larger and fit the bush with maybe a tack weld to stop it turning. Does not have to be spot on, close enough=good enough. One of my motto's

This is a common problem for bikes. I think people forget that the sidestand is only made to hold the bike up but we tend to sit on the bike with stand down and that adds heaps of weight on the pivot. I find the main problem is the "fork" on the mount spreads and the problem snowballs. I h...

Do you happen to have an alarm fitted? Could be capacitors in case some villain disconnects your battery.

Whenever I rebuild a head, I fit one valve at a time into the head and slide the cup in without any springs. Sit the cam in place, couple of caps if you like or put a rock on it to hold it down ;) Then just push the valve onto the seat with one hand and measure clearance with the other. Easy to adju...

Use the friction zone i.e ease the clutch in a little, it counteracts the abrupt throttle.

Den, I just fitted an inline filter. I figured it would be much more efficient than the wire gauze inside the tank anyway. Looks like you still have them so why not just leave them be? I still reckon fit a filter as well. There is not much spare space under the tank so it takes a bit of thought to g...

Conventional mineral brake fluid is hygroscopic, a fancy word for absorbs water and keeps it in suspension. Silicon fluid does not attract moisture but if any gets in it tends to accumulate and provides an ideal situation for corrosion. Both needs to be replaced regularly. Silicon withstands higher ...

Riding a Z900RS now so Zephyr retired to shed. I think 4 years before I can get Club rego. Still check in here every day so happy to forgo a beer seeing I havn't had one for the last 45 years.
Well done to the bloke who "volunteered"