'76 KZ900 (ZRX1200R) Build

531blackbanshee wrote: where are you living now?
leon

Hey Leon,

I moved to Port Wentworth, Georgia. Basically Savannah, Georgia.

Cory

So I wanted to point out this is not dead.....lol I am in the home stretch, and hope to have it done by summer. We'll see.....in April it will be 8 years..... WTF..... So some goodies showed up and hopefully this will be updated consistently from here out.

More to come....

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

Yes it is the LONGEST build thread in history.

Cory

Well done (so far...)!

Glad to see the progress and this post reactivated. I have referred to it several time while contemplating a custom build using similar parts.

Thanks for all the well wishes. Like I said, I am shooting for a summer debut, but there is thr following to yet:

-Glass bead and rebuild carbs.
-Finish building wiring harness.
-Blow bike apart and finish detailing/polishing/etc various parts.
-Rebuild and PC the calipers.
-Get Drive chain fitted.
-Make guard for belt drive alternator.
-Plumb fuel and oil cooler.
-Leather work to the grips.

Cory

Is there any issue using the factory head nuts with APE studs? I got the new studs, but was planning on running the stock nuts and washers. I certainly don't want to end up with oil leaks.

Good to see ya back at it man!

leon

Welcome back, Cory!
I seem to remember reading somewhere that the extra hardness of the APE nuts is necessary to keep the threads in tact since they will be torqued to a higher value than stock and there will be more pressure inside the combustion chamber for the nuts to contain. I guess it is not a problem at the lower end of the studs since the threads are longer. Perhaps you could have the APE nuts chromed to look more stock and to resist rusting.

The APE studs are of a higher quality material, but nothing about then should prevent use with stock nuts given the dimensions (deck height, head thickness, etc...) are acceptable for the length of the exposed thread.

Your CMEP (Cylinder Mean Effective Pressure) is the force that is try to lift the head with a little material expansion due to heat thrown in. Unless you are supercharging/turbo charging or nitrous, the CMEP that will be developed on a natually aspirated pump gas motor will not tax or exceed the stock head nuts capacity regardless of the APE studs material improvements.

APE does not require the use of their nuts with their studs to my knowledge that I can find. The benefits to their nuts are higher grade of material and extra depth for when additional clearance is required.

I will just keep a light coat of oil on them but then this bike will be treated well and stored in doors, so it is not a worse case for corrosion.

FWIW....

Cory

So where do we begin?  Been many years since this bike has been touched due to moving, work, health, and other distractions.  I was worried that I was going to never finish it and should maybe sell it.  Well, I started feeling better, and since it is sitting inside my formal living room, I had no excuse.  So I began with the engine.  I assembled this engine back in 2017/2018 when I lost my job at Cummins.  I would spend the morning on interviews and job searches, and the afternoon in the garage trying not to get burned out on being unemployed.  The ONE thing I tried to remember for 7 years years.....PUT LOCTITE ON THE CAM GEAR BOLTS!  After I had degree'd the cams to the 110 LSA that was discussed with the great (and late unfortunately) Larry Cavanaugh of Pennsylvania.  During my attempt at this, I was only loosening one screw at a time, and only realized on the intake cam gear, only one screw was tight!  So I decided to retime the engine to be sure nothing moved. 

I also re-shimmed the valve after rechecking base and ordering the handful of different shims I needed.  Chased all my VC bolt holes, new gasket, a little Honda Bond on the corners around the end plugs, and added my SS Allen bolts and torqued to spec.

Cory