2016-01-23 KZ1300 Break In Ride

2016-01-23 in Creston, Cali dawned crisp and rain free. Thinking of something Ray Slocomb told me... 

"Don't let the KZ sit too long.. you'll have carb problems and other issues. Ride it."

So I did.

But, the old gurl was reluctant to fire. Didn't want to stress the starter motor too much.. so took some time, pulled the plugs, checked for spark. Check. Got Spark.

Plugs.. not even wet.

Hey, where did all my gas go? 3 months ago left it with a full tank and now the gauge must not be reading correctly cause it shows real low?

Hmmm, let's look, hey, where's the gas?

Fill the tank, try again and she fires, but rough, not happy. Maybe 4 of 6 firing. After a bit, the reluctant two come online and we have fire in all the holes.

Note to self. She don't like full choke. Half is fine, Thank You. No more.

Trailered to Creston, Calif.. Where she was hard to start, again. Too much sitting.

Road 229 is perfect for a break-in ride. Lots of uphill and downhills, 2-3 gear work.. Load the engine, deaccelerate, set rings, let engine break in be a happy event.229 

At this point, still running  a bit rough and not all that happy. I'm thinking I'll have to pull the carbs and do cleaning again. The last time I rode her, about 3 months ago, I put SeaFoam in the tank and ran the carbs completely dry, even on the choke circuit - so I'm somewhat baffled why she aint happy.

Winter time in Creston, Cali, is good riding time.

A couple of mile up the road and the KZ has found stride. Running strong, all 6 hitting hard. Life is good.

Even the sun recognized the event and broke through the clouds..

 OK, enough yakkin' let's get ridin'..

I think she looks pretty fine.

As the miles roll on, she's running stronger, cleaner, happier. 

It occurs to me I'm an true idiot. Fresh rebuild on a 1979 and here I am where no one would ever find me, and hardly any traffic or houses/ranches to ask for help. Good thing I got a great tech by the name of Ray Slocomb from La Pine Oregon working this bike. JSNS.

I know the paint is outdated.. but it will stay. I like it. When I got this bike I rode with Mike Hendrickson, he's dead. I rode with alot of peeps that didn't make it through that era. I did. I'm a survivor.

A barn-door fairing that doesn't move up and down is OK if it's the right height. And I'm really happy with how well the big Six moves down the road. It's NOT an FJR but it handles very well with the new Progressive shocks and  re-worked front forks.

Does anyone see Snoopy?

Riding a 37 year old bike like she's meant to be ridden.. Now the RPM's are flowing, and the clutch is clutching, the tranmission is transmissioning, the brakes are braking... and I take this pix for my buddy who I've lost touch with, ToeCutter, Bob F. These couple of pix for you, Bob!

Station 40 is small.. but them guys have heart, and saved a major portion of my hood from fire just last August 2015. They were amazing. Thank you, firefighters, Thank You.

The ride nears the end. The Quacker is Quacking at full Honk and running great. A later plug pull will reveal the inner cylinders running way rich and I'll need to make adjustments. I have a certain road in mind where I'll trailer her out and properly jet. I wish I knew someone with  a dyno and another who could install bung holes in the headers so we could properly intsrumentate for fuel air mixture. 

While the nice ladies were making sammywiches, I took a few last pix of the Quacker. Nice keys in the trunk, Don. Nice.

There, that's better!

There is a local San Luis Obispo group, led by Bill Greene and son, who ride ancient 1970's Jap stuff. I got to hook up with them and go riding. Cause they get it that you might just have, umm, issues.
But on this day, no issues... WooHoo!

Epilog..

Trailerd home, found gas leaking from the plastic yellow gas fuel line at the fuel filter and petcock. Replaced it with good 5/16" ugly black hose. The yellow plastic stuff was all, umm, what's a good word... fluffly, soft.. Leaking. 

So then, there it is. About 70 miles on a new motor and she ran better and better as the miles and smiles rolled on. Can't wait to have this bitch fully broken in and riding like I stole it.

Things to include:

• Fix speedo. It lags horribly. Come to a stop and it still registers 30 mph. I think it's magnetically coupled and probably just goooey.
• Fix start swich.. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. UPDATE - removed and cleaned, it works great now.
• Tank not fully draining to reserve.. Sigh. a problem from day one - got to look at kz1300.com and see if any peeps have fixed/solved.
• Rear brake pedal.. lots of movement before it engages.. but once engaged it works great.. just too much travel.. about 1/2 inch

Thanks for reading along.. and what a fun bike! Can't wait to ride it again tomorrow!