My Ramblings

So, while I get the Z750 back on the road I'm using my backup bike. its a 1982 Honda CB750 imported from Japan in 1999. I've had it since 2010 and it's been off the road more than on since then. it needed a new exhaust, and I just didn't make the time to get it fixed, so that kept it garaged for a few years. but it's all up and running now (well, sort of). I was riding it to work a few weeks ago, and all was fine, but on the way home, it started to play up. I'm not sure how to describe it really. I was using a steady throttle doing about 65 (it is an old bike) when all of a sudden it started to feel like the breaks were being pumped on and off fairly quickly. I pulled in the clutch and let it coast and it was fine. that ruled out the breaks to me. this went on for a couple of miles, and then it cleared up and was fine again. when I got home, i did what you always do when you have problems - I Googled it. Some of the results pointed to HT leads, and ...

Not really done much on the Z750. We had to have one of our dogs put to sleep last week. it is easily the worst thing you ever have to do, and its not easy to get over. every time I think of him I start tearing up, and being male, I fight my brain away from the thoughts so as not to show too much emotion. its been over a week, and I'm still finding it hard to concentrate on anything but the fact that there is a great big hole in our lives. my wife is taking it harder, but then he was her dog really. followed her everywhere. that's another reason i need to be strong. i have to support her through this. how long will this continue? that's a question I have actually googled and there is no answer. this year has been a bad one for us. we lost our Labrador in January, and now we've lost another on. fingers crossed we don't lose any more this year, or for a few more years. I have started work on a memorial slate for them, and i think that that will help me an...

I thought that the injectors were probably gummed up, so I put some injector cleaner into the fuel hose and left that for a few days to see if it could get through and unclog the injectors. So after more than a few days (i.e. when I remembered) I put the tank back on the bike and hooked up a battery. I crossed all of my fingers this time (waited until after I'd connected the battery) and pressed the starter. Was my luck holding? No of course not. it's never quite that easy, so I poured a little fuel into the injector line fuel hose, hoping enough would get through to at least hear the engine try to fire. still no luck. Now I already understood how carburetors work, by allowing fuel and air mixture through. I hadn't realised that fuel injectors don't just let fuel through, but fire it through under pressure (yeah, I know it's kinda obvious, but my brain must have been having a holiday). My wife suggested that the fuel pump could have gone through the alarm and...

I realised that this was going to be a little bit more involved than simply attaching a new battery and firing it up. I guessed that the alarm could be stopping the ignition circuit and that is when I found that the alarm remotes had non-replaceable batteries. I also read that if the alarm sits for extended periods with no power then it can be toast. So my next step was to remove the alarm. another Hmmmmm moment. I have never removed or fitted an alarm. I've never even looked into how they work and what they do, so this was quite a daunting task. I took the insulation off the cables that attach to the alarm. now we've all seen nice electrical systems with all of the different colour wires to make it easy to see what goes where, well this thatcham alarm had a very large bundle of cables and all of them were black. No help there. So I had a look at how they were wired into the bike's loom. there was a bundle of wires going to the rear, which I guessed were for the i...

now I understand that petrol that has been left tends to emulsify and clog up delicate engine parts like fuel injectors and filters and that the piston rings can rust in place and seize the pistons, so the first thing to do is see if I can get the engine to run. I removed the seat, cleaned out all the wildlife that had taken up residence (by the way, did I mention that I really don't like creepy crawlies !) and removed the (dead) battery. The first thing to do would be to start the engine, but as it had been sitting for a while, I didn't want the piston's moving in old oil. so task one was to change the oil and filter. an easy job. Well, not on this bike. the sump bolt actually turned easily enough, and I thought it as going to be an easy job then I tried to unscrew the filter. no joy. it was stuck firm. so I gripped it tighter and turned again, it's moving. oh, no its not moving, the grips are moving but not the filter. I was gripping it so hard I tore off the o...

I have a friend who currently can't ride. they left their 2004 Kawasaki ZR750 outside for the past 7(ish) years. I have taken on the task of resurrecting it. It was not "layed up", there was no preparation for leaving the bike for an extended period. it was parked up one day, and now years later I am looking to get it back on the road. it was on an optimate for a while, but due to where the bike was (outside) coupled with the optimate being needed elsewhere, it's had no power for the last 3 or 4 years. so, to the bike. as it was left outside; under a cover most of the time, but wind and dogs have way of removing covers, so there were periods where it was outside and at the mercy of the elements. Having decided to get it back on the road the first step was to take off the spider infested cover and have a look. Obviously the battery was dead, but that meant that the alarm battery was also toast. this was not good news to me as the battery for the alar...