New Member, New (to me) Zephyr

Introduce yourself, share your heroic Zephyr tales, put the world to rights, gossip, etc.
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b_v2000
Posts: 7
Joined: 07 Jun 2020, 00:21
Location: Seattle, WA

New Member, New (to me) Zephyr

Post by b_v2000 »

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Thanks for add and hello all. Picked up this ‘93 1100 a couple weeks ago with just over 25K miles from the (presumably) second owner. Looks to be mostly original besides the paint and maybe rear fender. Don’t recall seeing a silver 1100 during my research before buying so my guess is someone had it painted along the way. Under the seat, the rear fender says ZR750-C2. So, was there a fender swap at one time or are these emission controls shared across other platforms? Other than that, it appears to be unmolested to my untrained eye.

Questions for the group...
1. Any issues with the Zephyr I should address sooner than later?
2. Are 2nd gear shifts best dealt with now?
3. Wiper seals are in order so should I experiment now with fork oils to help with any nose dive? This could be a rider preference thing I’m sure but thought I’d ask anyway.

Thanks for any help in advanced and until then I’m just going to ride, ride, ride.

-Bryan
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Ivor
Posts: 239
Joined: 06 Sep 2017, 20:49
Location: Hampshire UK overlooking the Needles :)

Re: New Member, New (to me) Zephyr

Post by Ivor »

welcome bv2000 :) the 1100 looks well tidy (obviously hasn't seen any British roads and winter salt.... :x ) hopefully the more technical minded of us can help with some of your questions.
1995 ZR1100A2
b_v2000
Posts: 7
Joined: 07 Jun 2020, 00:21
Location: Seattle, WA

Re: New Member, New (to me) Zephyr

Post by b_v2000 »

Thanks, Ivor.

Lively crowd.
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Eddie
Posts: 180
Joined: 28 Oct 2017, 19:46
Location: Reading Berkshire

Re: New Member, New (to me) Zephyr

Post by Eddie »

Hello,
Welcome to the zone and a lovely looking bike you have got yourself.
The Zephyr in all it's sizes 550 750 1100 is a pretty robust simple bike and on the whole very reliable bike with only corrosion it's main enemy... Here in the UK a zephyr will disappear before your eyes after a few winters with no tlc!!

As regards 1100 suspension a set of progressive springs and thicker fork oil will improve things no end. The 2nd gear issue is probably the 1100's weak point and there may be some old posts on here detailing that, but basically if your 2nd gear is fine and not jumping out under load you can protect it by fitting a "Factory pro" kit (best to google zephyr factory pro kit) and that will explain it!. The standard gearbox can be fragile if the bike is abused ridden very hard etc
It's all subjective really, lots of people have fitted pro kits and like them, some haven't and had no problems.... Personally my 1100 has done 35,000+ miles the gearbox is still fine but i don't ride it like a twat in the lower gears!!

Hope that helps and enjoy it, lovely bikes

Cheers eddie
92 Kawasaki Zephyr 1100
78 Kawasaki Z1000a2
10 KTM 990 SMT
76 Yamaha XT500 supermoto
80 Honda Z50R Monkey
b_v2000
Posts: 7
Joined: 07 Jun 2020, 00:21
Location: Seattle, WA

Re: New Member, New (to me) Zephyr

Post by b_v2000 »

Yep, already placed an order for the shift kit from Factory Pro. They claimed they only make them once a year so perhaps my timing was right. Also got their 1.0 carb kit for some pep while still trying to keep it factory looking. I say this now of course.

Factory Pro also mentioned that us Yanks (my word, not theirs) don't pay tariffs if ordering something from Japan. If true, that opens up a lot more options for bits and pieces.
Freddy
Posts: 695
Joined: 06 Sep 2017, 11:06
Location: Sydney Australia

Re: New Member, New (to me) Zephyr

Post by Freddy »

b_v2000 wrote:Yep, already placed an order for the shift kit from Factory Pro. They claimed they only make them once a year so perhaps my timing was right. Also got their 1.0 carb kit for some pep while still trying to keep it factory looking. I say this now of course.

Factory Pro also mentioned that us Yanks (my word, not theirs) don't pay tariffs if ordering something from Japan. If true, that opens up a lot more options for bits and pieces.
Word of caution regarding using aftermarket jet kits. I say this owning a 750 and not an 1100. I wouldn't use any aftermarket part in the carbies, and certainly not jets under any circumstances. And I certainly wouldn't make non reversible modifications such as enlarging holes in the vacuum slides which these kits often suggest. You have no idea what size jets your actually using in this kits and what precision they are manufactured to. Genuine Keihin jets are dirt cheap and easily obtained, at least those used in a 750. There are online jet shops in the USA that had genuine jets in any size you are likely to need.

It was actually quite easy to figure what best performance size genuine main jets to try for my 750. Just go to the detailed carburetor parts page for your model/year (CMS is a good site) and it should list all the various jet sizes used in your bike in different parts of the world. If you live at sea level and somewhere than doesn't have extremes in temperature or humidity, just look for the largest size set of jets used by Kawasaki in the bike. They will have done the hard work and figured what size genuine gives the best all round performance. What will have been fitted is likely to be smaller than this to comply with local emissions requirements. Obviously if you live at altitude etc, then adjust jets sizes accordingly.

P.S. https://www.cmsnl.com/kawasaki-zr1100a2 ... uco8UUzY2x Looks like a set of #105's (or possibly #102's if you live at an elevated level) would be a good starting point.
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