Four Wheel Forum

I had a few spare minutes today and it's been killing me not to have made any progress on the Kawi ZX-7R. It basically smelled so bad from old fuel that I didn't want to even roll it into the garage. So I needed to drain all the old nasty fuel out of it and remove the carbs as well. Then I quickly realized the fuel lines were bad so all that stuff needs to be replaced. The fuel cap is also pretty rigged so I need to get a racing fuel cap for it as well. Here we go, another project started.

Smelliest bike award goes to...

Put on my gas mask, popped the fuel lines and let it rip.



The flatslide Mikunis are thirsty.

Bikes used to be so simple!


Just some more pictures for reference while I take things apart.

Now that things are a little less caustic I decided to roll it into the garage. Monday new tires will be going on it so it will be looking a lot better and actually roll easier. It's a trip how light the fuel tank is. It's really nice.

Time for tires!! Weeeee... Dunlop track tires here we come.





The chain is toast too... anyone want to sponsor this build-up??

I know a guy that sonic cleans carbs. You may want to PM me to get more info. Price is not unreasonable for the quality. He is in the Bay Area. I have sent several flatslides there.

THanks 57. I got the carbs completely cleaned like new inside and out. I completely rebuilt them with a buddy of mine and it took us 5 hours. They are incredibly cleaned and all balanced. I can't believe how many parts there were in those carbs. I'll be posting all the pictures and procedure we used in the future. I got around to working on it for a few hours today cleaning up the thing and getting gunk out of he drive chain area. It was completely packed and you could just hear the chain pulling through the dirt making a grinding noise. It was horrible. Plus the shifter seal is showing some leakage so I'll have to order a new one of those. There are just all sorts of little things that need to be addressed to make this baby an everyday, enjoyable, and dependable bike.

So basically blowing out the cobwebs today (literally) and oak leaves.

And I wonder what that grinding noise is when I spin the wheel? The dirt was caked in there from years of use. I HAVE seen worse though so don't laugh.

And after some more time cleaning everything out with a couple of cleaners, some brushes and some cut up throw away towels we are back in order here in ZX-7R land.



And as we continue to clean everything in site it's good to check over everything. Bikes stay clean in general for a couple years but then stuff starts to accumulate. When things start getting dirty then it just snowballs. But if you keep it clean from the start it's much easier to take care of and spot potential leaks before they get out of hand.

Here is where I call it quits for today. Your fingers can only take so much cleaning at a time. I got rid of a WHOLE bunch of gunk and dirt from under the ZX-7R. It's a lot harder when you have them both on a bike at the same time because almost all cleaners attack one of the other. It was a real mess under this thing before I snapped pictures. But I have to reach a certain point and clean up a little continuously at the same time I wipe off my hands to reach for the camera. Oh well it's coming along just fine. Tomorrow I'll have the other side done and I can start prepping the ZX 750's engine to get ready for start up.

If you have never run a bike with flatslide carbs, you are in for a run. They act nothing like standard CVs that are on other carb'd bikes. Be ready to gradually roll on the throttle. They are not vacuum operated. It is hard to get them not to stumble below 6000 RPM, but they love to be above 10K.

That's pretty much what the magazines said when they reviewed the ZX-7R model back when I was in school. I just read about them thinking there is no way I'll ever get to own one because they were produced in such limited numbers. They would write that you really had to fan the clutch to get rolling from a stop because of the close ratio transmission and it's tall first gear. It's gonna be a kick to ride this thing. I really want to make something of the 94 I'm getting and even take it out to the track here and there. Should be fun.

I picked up some Marvic 16in rims as a trade from a friend. They were the older style rims that they used to race on so I thought they would fit in with these Kawasakis. I'll possibly be upgrading the front suspension on my future 1994 R model and getting these on there if I do or don't put newer forks on it.

ZX10R forks all the way, especially with an Ohlins cartridge kit. I have three sets now that will be going on my projects. One is a true Ohlins R&T setup from Ohlins, one is an 09 front end with 25mm cartridges and the other is just the stock 09 ZX10R front end. I will get a cartridge kit before I put them on. I am also putting on the 09 ZX10R swingarm on this as well. They are way lighter, stronger and a fairly straightforward swap. Hope to have all three up before spring, including one of them on my 94 R. The 94 R will be getting a big bore ZX9R setup as well. Should go like a raped ape.

Wow you're going big! I was thinking about the Zx9 engine but I have too many project to get crazy like that. I'll be waiting for yours to be done. Sounds pretty wild.

I'll have to take some measurements and see which set of forks I want. ZX10R sounds perfect but I'll take anything modern that's an improvement on the original ones. I also need to take some wheel measurements into consideration as well.

Putting the newer swingarms on them fairly straightforward? I wonder what the measurements are between the 2. Time to get out the tape/ engineering rulers.