[knappyfeet]

Looking good tidying up the wiring system!

It's something I need to do on my GL1200..... but not looking forward to it.

 

[CaTacL1sm]

So, because if you give a mouse a cookie, I'm looking at using a 77-80 KZ1000 rear hub as the basis for a rear disc brake conversion.

I'm thinking of just using the drum brake stay on the swingarm for the caliper stay. Yes it will mean I'll need to use a power bleeder, or bleed the brakes off the bike. Then again it won't be too much effort to have my welder add a bracket on top of the box swingarm either. We'll see.
Right now I'm just looking into collecting the parts needed.

 

[CaTacL1sm]

So I picked up this seat for $16 on ebay...

I'm undecided on it.
Obviously it needs to be painted to match the tank, and I'd paint the snaps black...

I feel like the corbin+stock cowl seat flows better and I'm afraid this seat is too much into the "cool cafe racer bro" category.

Of course, paint plus black snaps and putting the side covers back on might help a lot.

Thoughts?

 

[CaTacL1sm]

Microsoft painted it for better visualization

 

[knappyfeet]

I like it.

Maybe you should Microsoft paint the rear the same silver as the fairing.......just to see what that looks like.

 

[CaTacL1sm]

So I'm sticking with the corbin for now, I ordered a Giuliari cover from ebay since it's cheap enough. We'll see how that works out.

I also installed the Ricks electric starter solenoid. Couldn't use the bracket from the stock solenoid since it was A: tack welded to the solenoid and B: didn't fit the Ricks one.

I wound up using a hanger strap and an allen bolt to replicate the original setup and was able to mount it to the stock location with the stock mounting bolts.

 

[kenessex]

The seat looks like it is the Vesco Rabid transit. It was a bigass seat that was supposed to provide some aerodynamic benefit. There was a fairing that went with it. It looks out of place with your tank and fairing. It is cool, but probably belongs on a different project.

 

[CaTacL1sm]

Agreed

 

[CaTacL1sm]

So this is some real bullshit.

View attachment 95159

Fork seals haven't even lasted a summer. They had both recently been leaving a slight film on the sliders, but this is way over the top.

 

[8ball]

Aftermarket or OEM fork seals? My experience is 50/50 with Aftermarket seals...of ANY brand. As in 50/50 chance of leaking within few miles.

 

[CaTacL1sm]

Aftermarket or OEM fork seals? My experience is 50/50 with Aftermarket seals...of ANY brand. As in 50/50 chance of leaking within few miles.

yea they were either pyramid or all balls brand.
I ordered a new set from Z1E, not sure of the brand

 

[hillsy]

You wont find OEM fork seals that were made after the turn of the century for a Z. They'll all be after market by now.

Really, it's only a generic type of oil seal. You could probably find a replacement from a bearing supplier if you give them the dimensions.

 

[CaTacL1sm]

They're cheap enough to get, it's just annoying to fix

 

[hillsy]

My buddy got one of those Seal Mate seal scraper thingys when he took his DR650 around Oz a few years back and said it's awesome.

https://www.mxstore.com.au/p/Motion...-Single/08-080395?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIpayc_crI3QIVgqqWCh22pwnyEAQYASABEgJtH_D_BwE

 

[XB33BSA]

check the stanchions for small tiny grain of sand pits ,where the chrome is gone and leaves a sharp bugger
all you can do is blend them in with 220 then 400 wrapped around a dowel
buggers like that will cut the fine seal lip

 

[TrialsRider]

Check your fork slider bushings if it has them, check the lower fork legs to see if they have worn out of round. The job of the fork seal is Only to hold the oil pressure back, if the stanchion is not traveling in the centre of the seal and the forces being carried 100% on the bushings, your seals will be destroyed in no time.

Seal mate thing fix can only serve to remove debris from immediately below the seals lip, if the forks were properly cleaned and serviced recently, where did that dirt and debris come from?


I recently rebuilt a set of USD forks for a friend and he bought a rebuild kit from all balls, half of the bushings were machined so far out of spec I had to put some of the original bushings back in because they fit better then the aftermarket replacements. Had it been my parts purchase I would have sent the whole lot back with a nasty note and insisted on something better. ymmv

 

[woodsman]

A good bearing shop beats the hell out of the internet searches.

 

[hillsy]

Most of the forks from the 70's didn't have replaceable / any bushes in the forks. Once they wear the lowers and there is slop you are supposed to replace the lowers / fork set. Otherwise you just keep ruining seals very quickly.

Not that you can get new fork lowers any more, so if they are worn you just gotta live with it.

 

[CaTacL1sm]

Ok so it's fixed.
But first, a few things:
I have a seal mate and it's neat, but obviously didn't work in this case.
Also, everything was thoroughly cleaned and inspected before assembly.

The reason they leaked was because I did not understand the way the seals functioned. I'm going to assume there are others as ignorant as I am do I'll explain in more detail:

I installed the seals upside down.
Here you can see the old seal. This is the bottom side with the deep groove in it. The fork oil pushes into this groove and the hydraulic pressure seats the seal against the slider:

I had installed them with this side facing down, meaning there was no hydraulic force creating a seal:

There you have it. Understanding how the fork seal works means it is impossible to fuck up the installation

 

[CaTacL1sm]

I'm having an idiot moment...

When filling the forks with oil, do you measure the oil level with the fork extended and the spring in, or the fork compressed and the spring out?

The clymer does not specify