It's been a while I hear you say.... Yes, yes it has. But not a quiet while, a "very busy haven't got time to post" while. As you can see, my last progress with the Fazer was snapping the stud. No problem I think my last post also said, I'll get that stud out without a fight. I was wrong. I put some bolts on, tightened them up against each other and went about getting this stud out. The stud had the last laugh, before it hopelessly passed in to the afterlife - that's right, it snapped flush with the head this time. If I was a swearing man, I probably could have been heard saying something that sounds like puck. Who am I kidding, I did say something that sounds like puck.
Well, I decided to start on the downpipes today. It was going well, 7 nuts off with no issues. Great.... snap. Number 8, typical, inevitable. Thankfully it has left some stud protruding so gives me something to play with without having to have head drilled. So my plan is:
1) Two nuts on, locked against each other 2) Dremel the stud to fit a flat head screwdriver 3) Mole grips I'm going to try them in that order as that seems the order of least destruction. Hopefully one of the three will crack it - I really don't want to have the head drilled. Watch this space for more info. Today has been a mixed day. We tried to fire up the GPZ, which was a massive failure. We bypassed the tank, which resulted in a load of petrol pouring out the bottom of the carb - stuck floats we think. So I contacted the local salvage place, and bit the bullet. He gave me £75 to take it away - not exactly what I was after, but at least I got something for it and have a little more room in the garage to work on the project. That was until I noticed the Fazer has a blow on the downpipes. So bad news, good news, followed quickly by bad news. Or was it good news - I'd been wanting a set of stainless on the Fazer since last summer, but never gone for it. Now this has given me the reason to do it. So yeah, a couple hundred quid going out, and work to be done on Fazer meaning project has to wait, but it is progress at least.
Anyway, excuse me while I go blow £200 while the wife isn't looking. Yep, I know nothing has happened recently. Things have been manic at home. I do have stuff in the pipeline though. Tomorrow Mark and I are going to try and fire the GPZ - he said if it fires he'll take it off my hands, which to be honest I'm looking forward too, for no other reason than I'll be able to focus on my project.
Also, I've gathered a few quotes for powder coating all my bits, and it has come in cheaper than I thought - so as soon as this GPZ is gone the KZ will be getting naked. Well, progress has been made. Not in the traditional sense of working on the bike, but I have totally cleaned out the garage and I now have a lovely clean workshop to start my project. I even have a whiteboard now! The one problem I have is the light isn't exactly dazzling, so I think I need to install some fluorescents to be able to see properly (as I want to be working with the garage door shut - perhaps a project for the very near future. So they've arrived! With some fantastic help from my friend Mark, both bikes are now tucked up at home. Yes, I know what you're thinking - that garage is a mess. Leave me alone, we've just moved house, and everyone knows the garage is the first place to suffer. By the end of Sunday it will be sorted, transformed into a fully functioning bike workshop (that reminds me, I need to ask wife for a hydraulic platform to save my back).
So I've had a little time to think about a couple of things. The first is the manifold for the carburettor and the second is the seat design. The latter is a little more complicated so I'll start on the manifold.
My idea is to the left here. That's some 35mm tube that is made up of five segments. I hope the drawing itself is plenty explanation, but here's a helper. The dotted lines are welds, and the shaded box is to be cut away to allow the final piece to be installed. Now I know this is some pretty accurate cutting that is needed, so the whole thing might be reviewed. Overall I think the squareness (I've seen a few round ones) gives a more industrial look, and might be just what I need for a brat style bike. Why are you worrying about a manifold for a carburettor I hear you ask. Ok, so it's not the first job on my list, but it is a job I want to do never the less. The carbs on the KZ440 have a poor reputation, so this manifold allows you to throw out the shoddy factory carbs and fit a single after-market carb. Namely, a VM34. This carb has rave reviews when fitted to this model bike, and adds another advantage in that you only have one carb to blame should things need diagnosing. So I've had a bit dabble in Photoshop and have come up with a few ideas. These ideas are not extensive however, so if you have another suggestion I would love to hear it. I am sort of set on the matt black frame and white seat, but if you have a suggestion please let me know.
Personally, I lean to the white trim, and think it looks pretty nifty with the tiny flash of red on the air pod. Please select two options when you vote: One from the first five options, and then one from the last three - this way you can choose both a trim and an exhaust style. Ok, I have a GPZ500 for breaking - I'm hoping to get rid of this quite quickly so contact me for parts pricing. There are two ways to do it for now (I haven't listed anything on eBay yet): first is you leave a comment on this blog post; second is, and this is the preferred method, you sign up for an account here (GPZ forum) and leave a post on there - doing it the second way will allow me to easier track who wants what.
Anyway, if you want the best pricing contact me soon before I start and list items on eBay. |