Rear Wheel Setup.

Yessss.... Finally all the parts came in for the rear wheel. Well except the new bearings but I can make due with the old for now since I am not putting any motos in. 

 It has been a very long time since I laced up a wheel and was not really sure how this was going to go.

 As it turns out it went really well, got my offsets just right and the wheel is nice and true.  Took about two hours start to finish. Take a look back at the originals  OH Crack! , well this should be an improvement. 

Went with the 19" rear instead of the 18" that this bike came stock with. Just a preference on my part.  Thanks to Rad Mfg. for the sweet Green Nipples and spokes. Cool stuff guys.

SNEAK PEEK.......

I felt compelled to put some plastic on and take a look at what it is gonna look like.  So far I like what I see except for the seat pulling away from the tank.  Can't figure that one out. One would think that it would be a bent subframe but that thing looks really good. Every thing lines up really good except the seat at the tank. I have seen some other 86's that have the same issue so I may just have to deal with it.

Also got the rear shock back from Pro-Motion Suspension today, doesn't look much different then when it went over there but the insides are fresh and new. This weekend I will make the outside look fresh and new too.  With any luck some more of the parts that I have ordered will come in and I can put some good quality garage time in.  Was going to ride this weekend but northwest weather has turned on us and it is supposed to rain and snow with temps in the low 20's over in Goldendale so I think a fire in the stove in the garage and bike work is where I will be.

Its a Gas!!!

Getting new parts that is. I know Ive said it before that I love getting new parts, well I got some more. This time I am going to share the gas tank that I got. I did get some other parts too but the assembly is not complete so I will wait till everything show up. When I found this tank on ebay about a month ago I didn't think it would be the one that I got. I found some that actually looked better in the photos but when I would get in touch with the seller there was always some kind of problem with the tank, Most usually with the inserts that allow you to bolt the shroud onto the tank. They had a tendency to get spun in the plastic. Usually this happens when the owner puts too long of a bolt into the insert and it bottoms out making it stuck and then the insert just spins in the plastic and you cant get the bolt out, rendering the tank useless if you need to change the shroud.  So this tank turned out to not have that problem, I actually contacted the seller twice on accident to ask about it and finally went for it.  To back up a little bit, I was going to bite the big dollar bullet and purchase a new tank at about $260, I found many web sites that had it for sale only to find out that they really didn't have it and could not get it from Kawasaki. Also couldn't find an aftermarket company that makes them..this tank is different then the one that came with my bike. Only difference that I have found is that it seems a little wider in the middle underneath and the tread count and pitch on the cap is different.  Now I don't know if this one is a different year or if the one that was on my bike is not an 86. I could probably figure it out with the codes on the bottom of the tank but I don't know if it makes any difference to me. It fits so that is what counts.

As you can see in the photo it cleaned up really well. I did some practicing on the old one so that I would keep from messing up the one I planned on using.  It seems to have paid off as I got a pretty good sheen on the old plastic and the amount of scratches visible is pretty minimal. There were some deep gashes on one edge of the tank and they almost disappeared.  I wish I could figure out how to get rid of the sticker shadows left over from years in the sun.  Other then that the color looks really good.

Still Working

I am still working on things, some times it seems a little slow just because I have to wait for shipping or the process of finding the parts or researching where I can get the best price or who actually has what I want even though their web site says they have it then they get back to me and say sorry we don't actually have that part and can't get it.  In that case it starts all over with the next vender. 

This is a part that I just made for myself. It is a simple part, Rear brake caliper guard. Made from aluminium, cut out no bends or welds.  I am sure it wouldn't protect the caliper very well in a side impact but the stock one is exactly like this.

Got A Shock.

Well I finally got a shock that is right and was pleasantly surprised in the condition that it was in when it arrived.  It was pretty dirty and in the photos online it looked worse. 

 
 
 
 

 

 

 

Here it is on the bench just before getting the de-greaser treatment. Nice to see that the bump stop was still in good shape and soft. Most of the shocks out there this age have lost them because they dry out and crack then fall out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here it is all cleaned up and ready to be serviced.  I put it back together and took it over to ProMotion Suspension to be serviced. In About a week or so I should be able to bolt it back up to the bike and move forward a little more with the assembly process.