Hello From Melbourne (Kawasaki F11B)

[JADERD]

Bike arrived safe and sound yesterday, no hiccups at all.
Spent last night flicking through the owners manual that i at one point thought had lost, also tucked in their were about 5 rego stickers fro 75,76,77 and some 80's etc.  This gave me orig rego which is great as im guessing like with cars in VIC you can seek old rego's and purchase if available.

Tomorrows plan is to do some basic stuff.

put some fuel in - now im guessing i will have to buy a little of the lead replacement stuff that you add to motors that were made to run on leaded ?...also is it ok to buy 98 octane unleaded ?

Buy some engine oil and some 2 stroke oil for the oil injection.
New spark plug.

that will keep me happy if i just do those things, give her a kick over see she starts like usual etc.  Once im happy that it is running ok i think i will start pulling bits and pieces off. Starting with simple things like headlight, pegs, indicators, exhaust etc and begin to clean them all up.

I think seeing as though im in no rush to ride it and havent got my licence yet etc i might as well strip it back to frame (not pull motor apart though) and give the frame a new lick of paint.  I noticed at super cheap auto at the moment they have a sandblasting attachment for air compressors and comes with 10kg of sand (top gun in link), i actually dont mind the 3rd set down as it includes nozzles for spot spraying etc.  Has anyone used any of these type of home job sandblasting tools? good results ?

http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/search-results.aspx?keywords=sand+blast&look=GO

Other option i guess is to out source and get someone to sandblast and powder coat in one go.

im guessing most ppl would reccommend PC over rattle can painting of frame ?

Cheers in advance for any advice.

Pic of bike in melbourne safe and sound

[DR]

I look forward to seeing the progress Jaderd. One thing though, don't worry about the lead replacement stuff, leaded or unleaded makes little difference with the 2 strokes. Octane rating does however so use the premium fuels whenever possible

[JADERD]

Cheers thanks for the advice....i got some other advice that mentioned dont worry about running premium as the old carby bikes are tuned for around 91 octane ? i was going to run BP ultimate (98)....would that be ok you think ?

also from reading i was thinking i may make the tank up at a 50:.25 ratio with 2 stroke oil, just incase the oil pump isnt functioning as good as in prior years, does this sound ok as a bit of a safety precaution ? i know if not using oil pump just normal mix that should be a 50:1 so im guessing even if pump working perfect it may only be a tiny bit too much oil which is ok ?

Cheers

[DR]

Never fear. A bit too much oil won't bother anything thing excepting maybe the neighbors but in all honesty I doubt there'd be anything wrong with the oil pump. It's an item that's has the stigma of unreliability but it is extremely rare for a 2 stroke oil pump to fail. Failures are usually caused by incorrect adjustment or people simply forgetting the oil and letting the tank run dry. Pretty sure there is a method for adjusting the throttle and oil pump in the manual. If not I have a full service manual and it's bound to be in that

[JADERD]

cheers guys,

Today consisted of buying

more garage shelving
elf transmission oil
penrite hi-performance 2 stroke oil (dont need yet)
carby cleaner
sandblast gun
fuel.



Started by having a good look at the bike as never really bothered as a kid. 

Then pulled out spark plug and cleaned...as was only replaced a few years ago.
took off tank and pulled apart the fuel tap thing and cleaned everything and replaced a few rings/seals inside.
Then put a few hundred ml in the tank and shook it around for a few mins then dumped that fuel out, didnt seem to be too much gunk in it.
Fitted tap back on and put litre or two in, kicked the bike over and it started on the second kick, ran it for a bit and realised the clutch would not work.

Dumped the tranny oil and pulled apart the clutch cover area, had a look at it all, pulled it apart and figured out how it all works, quite simple really.  Saw how the clutch cable pulls on a spiral type setup which makes it come outwards and push the pin in towards the engine, im guessing when running the clutch pin is “pushed” out so when you pull the clutch lever it pushes the pin in and should engage the clutch ? I was able to pull the pin all the way out and wipe it clean, it seemed fine no abrasions on it etc, slid back in not a problem.  Set it all back up, adjusted the clutch cable at the hand lever so has more play in future.  I popped the rubber cab off so i could see the adjustment screw on clutch and could see that when you engage the clutch it was pushing the pin in/out etc so seems to be doing its job at that point.
Then refilled with 1.2l of the elf oil, went for a ride and the clutch still has no effect at all, though is tight to pull in and you can look down and see it spin in and out (cap is off)….does it take time to work re. being a wet clutch or what should I check next ?

Noticed also that there appears to be an air lock in the autolube so I will bleed that tomorrow and add around 1-2% oil to the fuel so it will end up being a little oil rich once autolube working properly etc.



Noticed a small exhaust leak (rust) directly out from the cylinder near the bend, will prob take exhaust off tomorrow and start sandblasting it and testing the supercheap auto sand blast gun out.

Cheers

[DR]

I'd say your clutch plates are stuck together giving you no clutch and the extra heavy lever J. A common thing on bikes that sit for any period of time. Best bet is pull the oil pump and clutch cover off on the left side. Drain the gearbox oil first naturally Once the kickstart and outer cover are removed the clutch is staring you in the face. Pull the clutch pressure plate off by removing the 5 retaining bolts remove the springs. Note the sequence and order the plates are fitted. Top and bottom or fiirst and last plate must be fibre type and not steel. There are also steel rings between the plates so note those also. The plates should be cleaned (kero or metho is fine) and the steels if very very smooth or polished looking can be sand blasted to roughen them up and help the clutch bite. Reassemble all the parts in reverse order, bleed out the little bubble in the oil line when you reinstall the pump and all should be good You will more than likely need another clutch cover gasket or you can make you own from '0.80mm' thick gasket paper available at Supercheap or wherever.

PS, If you need a service/workshop manual l have a good used genuine kawa item for $25

[JADERD]

cheers doc.

All sounds pretty straight forward, just noticed that yeah the enitre pump comes out with the overall casing then...so all of the pump aspects are disconnected so then can be bled once re connected.I found this link that mentions how to do it, just checking if its correct it states the following.

Link http://www.kawasakimotorcycle.org/forum/vintage-motorcyle-info/46324-1975-f11-bogs-when-starting-out.html

what it stated to do

"The engine must run to bleed the oil pump. First, Put 2-3% 2 stroke oil in the gas tank (as in premixing. That's 2-3% of the ammount of gas in the tank) Then fill the oil tank with 2 stroke oil. Then open the inlet banjo (1) and close it when the oil comes through. Start the bike and let it idle while you turn the oil pump lever on full by hand. The oil should now be pumping slowly through the lines. When the lines are filled up, you're good to go.
Number 3 lets oil in with the gas and number 5 lubes the crank. Not sure what number 2 is, but it might be a bleed valve. I have barely looked at my F11 yet. I'll look into it.

Personally, I would pull the cylinder and have a look at the piston and cylinder walls before doing anything of the above.

For the picture, right click on the pic, choose properties, copy the URL address. When you post here, click on the little picture of the sun and mountain above the text box. A new box will open with an address line that starts with http//:. Remove the http and paste the line you copied from properties in there. Then click OK."




Cheers.....ill grab the manual off you to, please PM me details re how you want the cash

really appreciate the quick feedback...gives me a plan of attack for tomorrow morning

[DR]

PM sent. Maybe start a new F11 project thread in the Kawasaki section of the forum cheers

[JADERD]

Is a moderator able to move the whole thread into the Kawasaki thread area ? save starting all over again.

Cheers

[DR]

I'm sure if we ask nicely Mr Ozvmx could grant that wish graeme??

[JADERD]

Did a little bit today, adjusted the clutch properly as per owners manual.

Bled the oil pump which released the air bubble nicely....first added around 1-2% oil to the fuel to be sure all safe etc.

Was going to attempt the clutch fix but decided i would wait until i get the manual off Doc as i dont feel confident just yet and would rather some visual instructions in front of me

Removed the exhaust, one of the studs came out as the nut was rusted on, have it soaking in some wd40 now so should pop it off soon no prob and screw stud back in.  Noticed that the cylinder was visible and had enough space to stick my finger in, top of the cylinder felt very rough prob carbon buildup i guess ?.

The exhaust has a few pin holes in it at the bend, so once i sand blast it i will see how prevalent they become then figure the best way to fix them, future father in law has a welder so will see how it goes.

other than that i think thats it for now.

Have purchased 5 or 6 bits of memorabilia of the F11 from ebay, some articles and sales brochures, laminate them and hang them around garage.

Took off front and rear guards and built another shelf and affixed it to the wall so can store everything.

some pics below....old helmets im just going to rub back and paint for display purposes.

bike just fits in garage with my other hobby, Toyota corolla AE82 twincam, running the Yamaha built 4age motor.

[JADERD]

Have done some research into powder coating versus painting and i really dont have the skills honed to properly paint the bike the way i would want it to look and like some ppl mentioned on the forum here sometimes painting can add up and really not be that better off cash wise.

I have decided as i am in no rush that i will strip the bike completely and get everything powdercoated (everything possible)
the front mud flap and rear tail i will do the orig silver color.

The seat i have decided to spray with VHT vinyl paint, black so it atleast looks a bit more like the orig one, as i cant justfiy the $100 + dollars for an orig cover...not just yet.

Doc is sending me the workshop manual in next day or two so i can start pulling everything to bits.

I bought 2 divider container boxes to hold all nuts/bolts so i can label them.

as for the wiring thats the thing im a little stressed about re remembering where it all goes....i will label all with some ties etc and thinking of pinning it out on a 5X2 foot piece of ply board i have in shed....atleast i can then stand it up against a wall out of the way and it not get all tangled....

looking forward to all this ahead.

Once motor out i will start asking more q's re. should i pull head off and inspect / rebuild ? or leave it as it seems fine and is pretty easy to pull a motor out of a bike at anytime compared to a car etc.

Cheers guys

[JADERD]

found a tread pattern i like.


They call in Continental twinduro....although i think its actually the TKC80
http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/de/en/continental/motorcycle/themes/motorcycletires/enduro/tkc_80/tkc_80_en.html

not sure of price but love the tread pattern.

[JADERD]

Did a little bit of work tonight, everything came apart pretty easy....WD40 works a treat.

bikes getting naked nice and fast.

[JADERD]

just purchased proper rubbers for petcock rebuild, one i put in temporary were not an exact fit.

looking forward to stripping it down further over the weekend