The Zephyr Zone

Just got this back from Tony Archer Seats UK. Based the design on the new Z900RS

Great quality and i'm rather pleased!

Just to to sort the clocks out and new tyres.....should be good to go come spring!

Paul

hi that looks just the part ,have used the same foam or made a bit higher ,david

Hi David, I can still see the original foam from underneath the the seat frame, there are a couple of manufactured holes in the frame where you can see the foam.

I asked Tony Archer to take a view on the foam once he had the old cover off and do what he thought best. Looks like he thought it was still serviceable after all these years!

The quilting effect on top must be additional thin foam or similar. It does feel a tad higher but nothing of any real note.

Paul

That does look good - will keep a note of Tony Archer for next time I need a seat re-upholstered myself. (presume he can do them to original standard spec as well?)

jaggerboy wrote:The quilting effect on top must be additional thin foam or similar.

That's exactly how they did it to mine when I got them to make my plain 750 seat look identical to an 1100. Didn't need fixing, just thought it didn't suit the look of the bike. They stitched through a 1"? bit of foam to give the larger square quilting effect like the 1100 seat.

Anyhow, besides looking way better (don't know why Kawasaki choose to make the 750 seat plain and got the 550 and 1100 right, IMO) I always thought the 750 seat was too hard, the extra layer of thin foam on top to give the quilting effect completely fixed that.

Pulled the sump off and took it to the engineering shop to get the stripped sump plug thread repaired.

Having removed it previously so many times for various things e.g. starter clutch, its actually very easy to remove. Jacking the bike up in the air to get easy access under it is the key. I just use a pair of screw type car stands under the big hex Allen key inserted into the chain adjusters for the rear, and the front tyre sitting on a 2 brick high stack of bricks. Mufflers, oil cooler, exhaust, oil pipes, oil filter, sump off .... easy.

hmm, just reminded me that I have a similar job to do on the 900 when I get around to it. Thread's not stripped (I hope!) but the sump nut is rounded off and will need removing/replacing. Also want to look at the oil pump whilst the sump is off - been told it can all be done with engine in frame, even sat on the centrestand, but will be a tight squeeze to get underneath for a look-see.

A dry Sunday morning - too good a chance to miss! These four all made it out onto the Queen's Highway for a cold but most enjoyable ride around the local area. The Zephyr was number 3 out of the garage. The day is coming together very nicely for once - if it stays like it is now, then its a coffee shop ride for 3pm and after tea its a tinker in the garage evening, 'cos its cr@p on telly (apart from Countryfile).

EDIT - the rain and hail arrived just before 3, so that was the coffee shop done for - typical!

Refitted the repaired sump, headers, oil pipes and oil cooler.

Fitted #90 jets to the two outside carbies so that it is now running 4 same size main jets. Easy to change outside ones with the carbies still in the bike. As its a D1 don't relate jet sizes to a C model. For some reason they use VERY different size mains and needle/needle jets. Think it all relates to the different emulsion tubes (jet holder) used. Probably easier to think in jet sizes rather than numbers. A #90 main jet in a D1 is 2 sizes larger than stock in the middle cylinders, and 3 sizes larger than stock on the outside cylinders. All this is at sea level, with moderate temperatures (for Sydney) and humidity.

Fitted the 0.85 kg/mm spring to one leg (left the 0.90 in the other).

Off for a test ride .........

Back from the test ride ........

The #88 main jets are better, so put them back in. That just leaves the question of whether it would run better with 4 #88's rather than the current #88, #90, #90, #88. Have to pull the carbies out to make that change, so might just run the current setup for a while.

Decided the 0.85 kg/mm springs are the best so refitted them with less rider sag (previously 40mm, now 35mm). Might reduce it just a bit more in order to reduce the tendency of the lighter springs to 'tuck' into a corner.