Swing arm pivot sleeve arrives

If you remember reading about the earlier trouble I had sourcing a swingarm pivot sleeve for the zxr since Kawasaki don't make them anymore and a fellow redmonkey helpfully advised my best option would be a sleeve from a ZX7R. So I went online to Cornwall Kawasaki, helpfully they have parts fiche on their site and can add to your basket straight from searching part no... VERY helpful. Ordered a 7r sleeve from them.

It arrived today and turns out its only .5mm shorter so should have no problem at all with clearence on all 3 bearings and shouldn't have trouble with too much side play, (there was speculation it could be a up to 3 mm out) If we look at the picture and compare it to the ZXR one it's apparent Kawasaki have made some adjustments, firstly it's steel with hardened outter rings as apposed to a hard anodised single piece as per the zxr one. Secondly becuase of this they have been able to make it with thinner walls, therefore lighter. Quite surprising to see advancements in development and metalurgy with just a few years difference between the models.



Anyway, all ready to fit on the weekend!

Get the forks on

With the front headraces done I was then able to rebuild the front end with the forks.
Picked these forks up from fellow rider over at Redmonkey.

Apparently have Racetec internals though I still haven't opened them up to confirm this. They have been re-painted and look really nice.

Don't have any pictures of actual re-assembling on the front end with the forks as I was just following the manual so it wasn't difficult.

Headraces done !

Managed to do the headrace bearings with fresh ones and build the front end on the weekend. Quite pleased with the progress as it's the first time I had done this on any bike.

Here's a picture of the old race still in the frame. It's been half painted over as I new I was to replace them and not in the best condition either.
So, heat the area around the race with a blowlamp to ease removal. About 60-120 seconds in a circular motion on the frame outside of the old race.

Find a soft aluminum rod, this is actually a redundant clutch push rod from the zxr itself, ideal.

Secure frame ideally with clearence underneeth for when the race pops out and still the push rod in and tap, tap and tap both sides - there are 2x cutouts either side behind the race for this. Race should just pop out with ease. Repeat for lower race.


Next clean out any debris or dirt from the empty race seats, make sure there's no damage to the aluminum seats themselves. Heat the area in a circular motion again like earlier.


Next place fresh new race on the seat, make sure it's all level in relation to the headstock.

Place a block of wood across the race and with a firm but careful hammer blow aiming at the centre of where the hole would be it should start seating inside of the seat. It may take 2 or 3 gental taps and be careful not to get it off canter.

Once it gets past a certain point and provided you heated the area enough before the new race should get 'sucked' in and then be firmly seated as below.

Give it a couple GENTLE taps around the seat edge with the aluminum rod to confirm firm seating and then we should be done!

Swingarm bearings done

I keep forgetting to take photos!
I end up doing the job and then realise I didn't take any photoes.

Hopefully I'll get some good shots of the headrace bearings I'm doing this week.
Anyway swing arm bearings weren't too much of a pain. Heated the area well and they tapped in ok.
I tapped them in with a same size socket - it's not ideal or recommended but if done gently with thermal aid it can be ok.
One thing that's become apparent is how badly damaged the swingarm sleeve was.
I'm currently trying to source a replacement and have got in contact with every major UK kawasaki dealer but no one has any in stock and Kawasaki no longer make the part.
I emailed Kawasaki UK direct and they advise they have none left even in their EURO or JP warehouses.

One of the buddys over at Redmonkey report I should be able to use a zx7r with success as it's only about 3mm shorter. Cradley kwak have asked for the dimensions of the previous one to see if they can cross reference it with any other. In the mean time here's a couple pics of my current
one.

Petrol tank arrives

Had a nice surprise when I came home, my lightweight K model petrol tank (Aluminum instead of stock steel) had arrived.

Got it for a relatively decent price on ebay.
It's been slightly modded by Harris to accomodate breather up front and tank re-profiled underneath to accomodate race airbox.

Condition is really great and it's apparent how much lighter it is over the stock steel one just by picking it up.

Bearing right

With a freshly painted frame next stage was to get a decent semi(as in no wheels) rolling chassis going.

Ordered a swingarm bearing kit from Wemoto which arrived today. Turns out though they weren't listed as such they are actually KOYO bearings. Bonus!

Still awaiting steering head ones and need to pick up some moly grease on the weekend but Sunday should be the day to get it rolling or paddocked up rather.

Back to basics

So where better to start then a bare frame and swingarm and go from there?

I tracked down a decent frame from fellow zxr'ers over at Redmonkey. Luckily they are not too hard to find and a savvy sifter can pick a decent one up from ebay v5 and all.

Next stage was to get it painted.
Friends who own lorry spraying business are always a bonus. (Thanks Louie)

Pictures don't show off the nice matt black finish as it should. The lighting was pretty bright so will try and get some better ones up soon.

Out with the old in with the new!

Unfortunately I don't have many photoes of the dismantle as I didn't have ready access to a decent camera. I remember one thing though, it took a while and I ended up chucking or ebay'ing more that I kept!!



The frame along with the engine had to be scrapped. Though the engine was still a runner I couldn't undo the notorious long bolt that runs through the frame and engine mount at the rear. It's half exposed to the rode and this bike only ran a hugger in the last year of it's life. That's about 19 years of through the year, all weather use. Yep that bolt wasn't shifting.



Perhaps if I had the tools like a decent compressor and an impact but unfortunately I didn't.
The frame had a couple bolts sheared off in it and the rubber damping from under the petrol tank edges had long since departed. As a result the edges of the petrol tank had worn deep grooves into the aluminum frame.

I ended up keeping the lights, fairing, wheels, few engine components, and some electrical stuff, some other bits and peices.
The rest went.
The idea was to replace or refurbish anything and everything that needed it. Turns out I severely underestimated that statement.

Still, out with the old in with the new!

The Project

So the dream is to restore the zxr back to it's full 1991 former glory with a few modest extras under the hood.

It's had a good but hard life.
Came to me from a less than loving friend who had done some of the clocks 32,000 miles on it.

It was in average condition when I received it. Alarmingly with no oil in the sight glass and no admission it's ever been changed by my friend or previous owner before him (The bike was known in our local circles)

Needless to say I refurbished the consumables and eventually went on to clock the milage up to just about 70,000 miles.

By this time the bike was screaming out for some TLC. It had gone through 2 rads in 2 years, numerous fueling issues 1 I solved the other was possible loose valve clearences ,exhaust had snapped off at the collector due to end can bracket failure, water pump broke, front fork seals gone, rear shock seal went and dropped all the oil in a car park, ride home from that was fun....

The engine was sound however and I have absolute confidence it would of gone on to do another 30k with ease. Alot's often said about the ZX7 engines and build quality is always high on the list.

Anyway, a recent change to something more commutable meant I can finally get the zxr off the road, and so the rebuild begins.