another rz/fz/fzr

[Off Road]

Hi kpke

Wow, the bike is looking really good, and it's sooooooo clean.
Actually, your whole shop is exceptionally clean.
My bike hasn't been that clean since it rolled out of the dealers shop back in the 80's.

It looks like our beautiful winter spring like weather is gone,

Ahhhh. Does than mean that the temps are only in the high 60's?
I feel your pain, but mostly I'm just really jealous?

[kpke]

Thanks for the compliments.

Today it is only going to get to 50°. Real winter weather, you know? We have some much needed rain scheduled however, when I look at the weather forecast the rain cloud icon is becoming less. I think it's snowing like mad up in the Sierras though.

[tacky1]

The Sierras are a mess at the moment, We woke up to a foot of snow, Love it :)

[silverstrom]

The Sierras are a mess at the moment, We woke up to a foot of snow, Love it :)

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/weather/topst ... d=msedgdhp

[tacky1]

The Sierras are a mess at the moment, We woke up to a foot of snow, Love it :)

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/weather/topst ... d=msedgdhp

We are back down to lower ground. No snow, but crazy rain and winds!! Out of the fire........

[kpke]

The Sierras are a mess at the moment, We woke up to a foot of snow, Love it :)

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/weather/topst ... d=msedgdhp

We are back down to lower ground. No snow, but crazy rain and winds!! Out of the fire........

Yep, here we go. Humongous wind and rain all night last night. From that article...

"This heavy rainfall combined with the burn scars of the record wildfire season of 2020 brings a dangerous risk of mudslides and debris flows.

Forecasters are especially concerned about Monterey County and Santa Cruz County where evacuations are underway, according to a statement released by California's Department of Forestry and Fire Protection."

[kpke]

2/5/21 Friday AWS day
Yesterday I picked up the machined down sprocket carrier from Julian. Today I got the Nomar out in the early afternoon and fought with it to get both new tires mounted. No chips and no scratches on the wheels so it is worth it to me. I still need to learn how to use this thing better. One of these days.

I put up a couple of videos using the Nomar. I had to split it into two because it got too long.

https://youtu.be/FZBdKoqWkaY

https://youtu.be/UF3H483cfCE

[kpke]

2/6/21 Saturday
The wheels are on, stator cover installed, shifter hooked up, the chain is installed with the rivet master link.

I still need to install grips, bar and mirrors, the horns, the chain guard, maybe a few other little details. Of course the bodywork needs to be painted.

I finished enough assembly on the bike today to go for a test ride tomorrow.

I put up a video using the DID rivet tool

https://youtu.be/LrC6qtoLCRo

[kpke]

2/6/21 Sunday
I took the bike out and it started on the second kick after sitting for six or eight weeks. This motorcycle has not been on the road for 20 or possibly many more years.

After warming it up a bit I put on some gear to ride it around the block. I did two laps and all was well. The bike feels really good. The engine feels great, it sounds good, it shifts good, the brakes work fantastic.

Then went for another two laps around the block and parked it in the driveway and… Houston, we have a problem. Here’s a video of the event.

https://youtu.be/9vo06_tDm4A

The puppy wants to come out and see what’s going on.









I am much better looking like this.






The motorcycle has 1.3 miles on it now.

[tacky1]

Sounds great Ken. Nice and crisp. Shame about the copper.

[75RD350rider]

Sounds good and crisp!!

[vespaman1]

Sounds great - sorry to hear about the head gasket, but it's a lot easier to change than a 4 stroke

[kpke]

Thanks guys.

Head gasket is due tomorrow.

vespaman, nice to hear from you. Did you pick up another RZ yet?

[kpke]

Last weekend I took the head off and cleaned everything up preparing for installing a new head gasket.

Before



I did want this thing to work but it’s all a big experiment, isn’t it?





Resting, waiting for new head gasket.



Here’s a video of me monkeying around taking it apart.

https://youtu.be/F4BXM4nLlGc

[kpke]

2/20/21

Today I installed the chain guard having to slot 1 of the brackets due to the chain moving out from the offset countershaft sprocket. New rear sprocket nuts were installed. New spark plugs and spark plug caps were installed. And the biggie, installed a new Yamaha head gasket.





I ran it for quite some time in the driveway. No problems.

Then I geared up and rode around the neighborhood a little bit. No problems.

Then I ventured outside of the neighborhood. Riding around with no plate, no horns, no mirrors, no registration. It is bogging a little bit down low so will need some expected carburetor tuning. Once it gets going big smiles. I’m sure it will need main jet tuning also as it should be purposely a little bit fat right now. It’s certainly getting a lot of oil as evidenced by the tail end of the silencers with little oil spits on them. Reminds me of my 500 which makes a big mess of itself every time I ride it. I need to do a little oil pump cable adjustment also. The Spec2 carburetor kit that I installed on this motorcycle included brand-new throttle cables. Including a spacer to be installed at the end of the oil pump cable. I will have to check this out closer. Going off of memory the Spec2 instructions wanted you to have it feed lots of extra oil.

And made it back. No problems. The bike now has 6.5 miles on it.





Here is a video of the activities.

https://youtu.be/MFZsvpgaYh0