Restoring Zephanie

Document your ongoing rebuilds and restorations here
Stereordinary
Posts: 160
Joined: 05 Aug 2020, 16:21
Location: Vancouver Washington USA
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Re: Restoring Zephanie

Post by Stereordinary »

Stereordinary wrote: [*]USD fork swap. Yes, I've been vocal about this for a long time, despite my better judgement, I'm still researching options for doing a front end swap to some nice upside down forks. I've actually already bought two sets of forks thinking that they would work, but one set (ZXR250) is too short, and the other set (ZX9R) is too long. So the search continues.[/list]
IMG_4589.jpg
After having another look at it, I think the ZX9R forks might actually be a suitable length. However there's still the issue of their diameters at the triple clamp, and the axle.
A breeze from the west.
Jen-etc
Posts: 64
Joined: 26 Apr 2022, 07:44
Location: Norwich, UK

Re: Restoring Zephanie

Post by Jen-etc »

Just reading through this and think you've done a great job getting Zephanie (and you!) Back on the road!

I too am facing checking / adjusting the valve/shims and for some reason that scares me!

I've also been thinking about a front fork swap so will be interested to hear your thoughts and experience on that more too!

Keep on keeping on, sounds like you're pretty much there now.
Stereordinary
Posts: 160
Joined: 05 Aug 2020, 16:21
Location: Vancouver Washington USA
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Re: Restoring Zephanie

Post by Stereordinary »

Thanks Jen! For the last few weeks Zephanie has been running great. I do have a big trip planned in July, so there are some things I hope to take care of before then. And if push comes to shove, I can always take it to a shop.

I think you mentioned swapping your forks in your project thread, and I meant to ask what you had in mind there? I’ve seen others swap for larger diameter conventional forks, and a rider on Instagram in Japan has hers swapped for ZXR250 upside down forks. Truthfully, for performance I think keeping the stock forks and upgrading the internals with RaceTech springs and emulators is probably the best way to go. I just can’t get the looks of the USD’s out of my head, for better or for worse.
A breeze from the west.
Stereordinary
Posts: 160
Joined: 05 Aug 2020, 16:21
Location: Vancouver Washington USA
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Re: Restoring Zephanie

Post by Stereordinary »

Recently had some issues, and while everything seems to be fine now, I’m curious if anyone has any thoughts as to what may have happened and if there’s any maintenance I should approach to prevent future troubles.

About a week and a half ago I was a block from home, coming down a small hill, shifting from third to second, when something started to sound off. I pulled into my driveway, and by the time I was off the throttle in neutral the tach needle dropped below 1k and the bike died. I didn’t have time to investigate in that moment, but the next morning I couldn’t get it to idle. Seemed to be firing on all pistons, and I checked a plug, which looked good.

So I commuted to work on my bicycle the next couple of days, and on my weekend started the bike again in front of a friend so we could diagnose the problem. As it happens, the bike started and idled just fine, so we went and got lunch.

I commuted to work the next couple of days on the bike with no issues, until Friday when half way home, in the pouring rain, it died again, same symptoms. This time I managed to pull over and after repeated attempts got it to going again, and made it home. To clarify, once started the bike seems to run fine at quarter throttle on up, but would die below that.

No issue getting to work the next day, but after work on my way to get gas, it died again, this time leaving me stranded. At this point it seemed apparent to me that my problem may have been the simplest thing the whole time, I was just out of fuel. I called my girlfriend, who drove down with my empty gas can, picked me up and took me to a station, filled the can, drove back to bike, which I had probably illegally parked on a sidewalk, gas in the tank, and I rode it back to my work where I could park it indoors safely for the night.

Which brings us to yesterday. After work I emptied the tank into a clean tray, and did something I probably should’ve done a long time ago, I installed a brand new OEM fuel tap assembly, aka petcock. I then rode it over to the gas station, topped it off, and input my mileage and total gallons of fuel in an app that I use to track mpg.

This is the part that concerns me. My mileage seems to have dropped since before the carb tuning I did a while ago. I’m not sure how this could be, because all I did was lean out the idle jets. As described earlier in this thread, it was running rich and fouling plugs, thus I thought running too rich. So how would reducing the fuel in the mix drop the mpg?
A breeze from the west.
Stereordinary
Posts: 160
Joined: 05 Aug 2020, 16:21
Location: Vancouver Washington USA
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Re: Restoring Zephanie

Post by Stereordinary »

New shocks day!
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A breeze from the west.
Freddy
Posts: 695
Joined: 06 Sep 2017, 11:06
Location: Sydney Australia

Re: Restoring Zephanie

Post by Freddy »

What brand and type of spark plugs you running? The after market manual says they should be NGK D9EA (for B1 and B2 US models). DR9EA for all other models.

DR9EIX is the platinum alternative for both original plug types.
Stereordinary
Posts: 160
Joined: 05 Aug 2020, 16:21
Location: Vancouver Washington USA
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Re: Restoring Zephanie

Post by Stereordinary »

I’m running the DR9EA’s.
A breeze from the west.
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Richard
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Joined: 24 Aug 2017, 14:35
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Re: Restoring Zephanie

Post by Richard »

Stereordinary wrote:New shocks day!
Looking great (and familiar ;) )
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