[Zed7]

Hi all, I'm going to look at a '01 7S tomorrow. It has 19,000 miles on it and by the pictures looks immaculate. I have not yet spoken to the owner so I know nothing of the bike.
I'll check for a rusty gas tank, leaky fork, shock seals. Brakes. Sniff the oil. Start it and listen to the engine and take it for a quick spin if necessary. The usual stuff.

If I can't see a service history I'll assume the valves have never been adjusted. The bike is Bone stock with newer tires.

Can anybody point out to me a trouble spot on the bike that isn't obvious?
Thanks.

 

[Ozninjaguy]

Sniff the oil.

You got me at 'sniff the oil.' Just what does that establish?

 

[Zed7]

Well, for one, to see how fresh or burnt.
But more important would be if the petcock leaked and the fuel got buy the float valves and filled up the engine with gas. It would not be the first time I've seen this happen.
Does the 7 have a vacuum operated petcock?

 

[Ozninjaguy]

Well, for one, to see how fresh or burnt.
But more important would be if the petcock leaked and the fuel got buy the float valves and filled up the engine with gas. It would not be the first time I've seen this happen.
Does the 7 have a vacuum operated petcock?

I guess that you must have a keen sense of smell if you can determine fresh or 'burnt' oil just by sniffing it. Also if fuel 'gets by the float valves' most, if not all carbs, have an overflow vent, so unlikely to fill the motor and corrupt the oil with fuel - the reason for the overflow vent.

"filled up the engine with gas. It would not be the first time I've seen this happen." - I have been working on motorcycles for 40+ years and never seen it happen...but hey, strange (but unlikely) things do happen.

Fuel usually only corrupts oil through flooding the motor where the fuel leaks by the piston rings into the crankcases - but the motor will not 'fill up with gas.'

Anyway - good luck with the bike, if it's really cheap and no major issues, then it can be a good project.

 

[Zed7]

My ZRX petcock leaked and filled the crankcase to the point that it overflowed the oil fill hole when I removed the cap.
My friend rebuilt the carbs on his Ural. Went in the house to suit up for a test ride and when he tried to start the bike a half hour later, the engine hydro locked and he bent the crank shaft.
Another Buddy with an old Concourse had a leaky petcock and hydro locked his engine. He bent a connecting rod.
I had a fuel injected Triumph Daytona with gas in the oil which got there through faulty injectors.
You are lucky to not have had an issue.

You got me at 'sniff the oil.' Just what does that establish?

I guess that you must have a keen sense of smell if you can determine fresh or 'burnt' oil just by sniffing it. Also if fuel 'gets by the float valves' most, if not all carbs, have an overflow vent, so unlikely to fill the motor and corrupt the oil with fuel - the reason for the overflow vent.

"filled up the engine with gas. It would not be the first time I've seen this happen." - I have been working on motorcycles for 40+ years and never seen it happen...but hey, strange (but unlikely) things do happen.

Fuel usually only corrupts oil through flooding the motor where the fuel leaks by the piston rings into the crankcases - but the motor will not 'fill up with gas.'

Anyway - good luck with the bike, if it's really cheap and no major issues, then it can be a good project.

 

[Zed7]

I blame the ethanol in the gas it gums up the fuel and causes corrosion.
Needless to say I StaBil everything.

 

[Ozninjaguy]

I blame the ethanol in the gas it gums up the fuel and causes corrosion.

Yes, ethanol is hygroscopic. Leave it in a metal tank for too long and it will certainly cause rust.

I have no choice here - all fuel has 10% ethanol, but fortunately my tank is plastic.

Haven't heard of StaBil before - thanks for the tip.

 

[Obo]

Does the 7 have a vacuum operated petcock?

Yes it does have a vacuum operated petcock.

As for what to check, the normal covers it.
Gas tank, tires, chain, sprocket, plastics and turn signals (to indicate if it's been dropped)
They are a fairly straight forward bike.

There are a lot of "s" models without fairings which when folks say "I wanted a streetfighter" I take as they dropped it and didn't buy new fairings.

As for if the petcock fails you won't just get a sniff of gas in the oil, it will fill the case to the top.

 

[Zed7]

Thanks Obo,
I just picked it up. It's in great looking condition for its age and totally unmolested. Never crashed or dropped. He had it already running when I got there so no oil sniffing. And yes, I've had a motor filled with gas. Not fun.
It's going to need a thorough going over, which I suspected but when I'm done it'll be nice.
Fork rebuild, brakes rebuilt, valves adjusted, new tires. The chain looks good but I'll need to further inspect it, and the sprockets.
One big thing..the tank is immaculate inside. 👍
I will look at what I can do to the forks. I'll probably leave the damper rods without a valve emulator, I think. Maybe a re-spring and figure out a fluid viscosity which will work best.

Anyway, I'm excited about the project as winter has just got underway.

 

[Zed7]

Yes, ethanol is hygroscopic. Leave it in a metal tank for too long and it will certainly cause rust.

I have no choice here - all fuel has 10% ethanol, but fortunately my tank is plastic.

Haven't heard of StaBil before - thanks for the tip.

Where are you located?
I'm sure you have something equivalent to StaBil.
It's difficult to find any gas without ethanol in the US. You only need to add it to the gas if the bike is going to sit for a while. If I know mine will sit for a month I'll add some, even in summer.
I've never had a problem with the carbs using it.

 

[Obo]

Thanks Obo,
I just picked it up. It's in great looking condition for its age and totally unmolested. Never crashed or dropped. He had it already running when I got there so no oil sniffing. And yes, I've had a motor filled with gas. Not fun.
It's going to need a thorough going over, which I suspected but when I'm done it'll be nice.
Fork rebuild, brakes rebuilt, valves adjusted, new tires. The chain looks good but I'll need to further inspect it, and the sprockets.
One big thing..the tank is immaculate inside. 👍
I will look at what I can do to the forks. I'll probably leave the damper rods without a valve emulator, I think. Maybe a re-spring and figure out a fluid viscosity which will work best.

Anyway, I'm excited about the project as winter has just got underway.

The forks are not complex as they are, and there are other ways you can increase the feedback on them. New variable springs are one way, there's a preload mod you can do for very little money using a PVC plumbing connector to increase preload, or you can get adjustable preload caps on ebay for relatively little money.

Prices from low to high would be pvc insert, heavier oil, adjustable caps, springs, complete rebuilt internals.

Here were the plastic inserts when I did them with 10wt oil

Here are the caps. OEM non adjsutable on left, ebay model on right (they come different colors: red, silver, blue, gold black etc.)

Also if you can find a damaged Concours 1000 they have adjustable caps that fit too.

The GTR1000 (ZG1000 A9 to A16) - Concours for US models - from '94 onward has just the preload adjustment. Part numbers and costs per fork are as follows:

11012-1885, cap
92055-1050, O-ring

1994 ZG1000-A9 Concours FRONT FORK (ZG1000-A9)
1995 ZG1000-A10 Concours FRONT FORK (ZG1000-A10~A13)
1996 ZG1000-A11 CANADA ONLY FRONT FORK (ZG1000-A10~A13)
1997 ZG1000-A12 Concours FRONT FORK (ZG1000-A10~A13)
1998 ZG1000-A13 Concours FRONT FORK (ZG1000-A10~A13)
1999 ZG1000-A14 Concours FRONT FORK (ZG1000-A14)
2000 ZG1000-A15 Concours FRONT FORK
2001 ZG1000-A16 Concours FRONT FORK
2002 ZG1000-A17 Concours FRONT FORK
2003 ZG1000-A18 Concours FRONT FORK
2004 ZG1000-A19 Concours FRONT FORK
2005 ZG1000-A20 Concours FRONT FORK
2006 ZG1000A6F Concours FRONT FORK

41mm is the size you want either way.

Gold CNC Preload Fork Cap Adjusters Kawasaki ZEPHYR 750 ZR750 1991 2007 | eBay

Find best value and selection for your Gold CNC Preload Fork Cap Adjusters Kawasaki ZEPHYR 750 ZR750 1991 2007 search on eBay. World's leading marketplace.

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[Zed7]

Obo, thanks.
I've ordered a used service manual already and I'll be stripping off the tank and body work to start the rebuilding process.
I don't want to really modify the bike as I like the way it feels. I have a 2017 z900 with fully modified suspension that I can use for back road bombing however I would like to get as much out the 7S suspension as I can. I'll possibly buy emulators but if I can get reasonable performance out of the damper rods I would prefer that.

I'm just learning about them now. I understand they are a compromise. Unfortunately, I never rode the bike when it was new and fresh. Maybe I would find that it's antiquated suspension is acceptable for this bike. I don't know. But since I'll be taking the forks apart I'd rather do it just once.
I'm 185 pounds in my undies. 205 pounds with full gear.
Me thinks I need a 1.0 kg springs. I always prefer strait rate springs but that is with cartridge forks. Oil weight, I don't know?
I'd like a non-harsh suspension for the road fairly well damped, keeping in mind I'm not going knee down on this bike.
As it sits in my shed, 19 years old with 19,000 miles there is pretty much zero rebound left in the forks and compression is no better. Bouncy would be my description.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Ozninjaguy]

Where are you located?
I'm sure you have something equivalent to StaBil.
It's difficult to find any gas without ethanol in the US. You only need to add it to the gas if the bike is going to sit for a while. If I know mine will sit for a month I'll add some, even in summer.
I've never had a problem with the carbs using it.

3rd world country - Philippines,

 

[Ozninjaguy]

Obo, thanks.

Obo is a wealth of information. Follow his advice.

 

[Obo]

Obo is a wealth of information. Follow his advice.

Kind words, thanks, but some of information may be useless or incorrect knowledge too. lol.
A good bit of what I know came from others here and wrenching on my own.

Having a copy of the service manual is also an excellent thing!

 

[Obo]

Obo, thanks.
I've ordered a used service manual already and I'll be stripping off the tank and body work to start the rebuilding process.
I don't want to really modify the bike as I like the way it feels. I have a 2017 z900 with fully modified suspension that I can use for back road bombing however I would like to get as much out the 7S suspension as I can. I'll possibly buy emulators but if I can get reasonable performance out of the damper rods I would prefer that.

I'm just learning about them now. I understand they are a compromise. Unfortunately, I never rode the bike when it was new and fresh. Maybe I would find that it's antiquated suspension is acceptable for this bike. I don't know. But since I'll be taking the forks apart I'd rather do it just once.
I'm 185 pounds in my undies. 205 pounds with full gear.
Me thinks I need a 1.0 kg springs. I always prefer strait rate springs but that is with cartridge forks. Oil weight, I don't know?
I'd like a non-harsh suspension for the road fairly well damped, keeping in mind I'm not going knee down on this bike.
As it sits in my shed, 19 years old with 19,000 miles there is pretty much zero rebound left in the forks and compression is no better. Bouncy would be my description.

Any help would be appreciated.

My 2cents is if the rear suspension is fine (not leaking etc), leave it be. It has some preload & rebound dampening ability on it if you feel the need to play with it.

The front will benefit from some preload which it doesn't have. Putting in a spacer (the pvc mod) is easy and cheap to do when changing the oil. Even just new oil will help. The bike, even when new, suffered from nose dives under braking. I'm not talking dangerous but it will feel more planted and secure.

The front end components are simple and you can do most work to them (fluid, springs, spacers) without removing the internals. Here's the main "guts" you'd normally be touching in a service. There are still a few bits (inner cylinder / seals) that if you wanted to remove would need the special tool (or the carved broom handle DIY tool)

The special tool (or you can make one similar shaped from a wooden broom handle)

You can also make the fluid level tool from DIY parts if you don't want to buy one.

 

[Zed7]

Obo, thanks again. 👍
I've stripped the bike down except for the front fairing. I'll wait on the manual to see what's up front.
And much to my surprise the petcock didn't drip when I removed the furl line. I expected something.
My first job will be the valves, no sense going any further if there's trouble ther.Talking to the second owner, who I bought it from, at 19,000 miles it has never been done. 😥 Hopefully no burnt valves though I doubt it. It ran well once warmed up with no smoke coming out the exhaust or any backfire. If I feel brave enough I'll do a compression test.
I'll search the site for info for removing the air injection system also.

From what you say..if the nose dives excessively under heavy braking, I'll either add preload spacers or stronger springs. I do have a couple of adjustable fork caps from a Honda. I wonder if they'll fit?

 

[Obo]

The front fairing is quite simple consisting of the windscreen, the 2 fairing halves, a tiny filler under the headlight and the dash cover. There's also a lower filler that is separate from the dash.

Here's a photo of mine with the drivers side half removed.

You won't have the relay or the green bits of wire and tape on yours. I wired into my running lights / turn signals as an ignition power source for my driving lights relay and my fork mounted LED conspicuity lights. It was an easy place to hide the relays ( I later added a 2nd relay here for my heated grips.)

After you remove the plastics, mirrors, dash and windscreen what you have left bolted to the frame is this:

It mounts to a tabs welded to the frame. The tabs are only found on the 7S and not the 7. It's what allows the fairing on the S to attach vs the naked look of the plain 7.

 

[Obo]

As for the petcock it shouldn't leak unless it's on PRIME. Both ON & RESERVE need a vacuum to operate. PRIME runs free all the time.

Here's what it looks like inside.

Standard 2 filters with the lower pickup tube being for reserve.

Some have had the petcocks fail which can fill the engine case with fuel, especially if a bowl float fails.
Knock on wood I've never had an issue. For those who have had an issue they just bought a complete rebuild kit vs the individual parts.

 

[Zed7]

Obo, I was surprised because it is well known the petcock on the ZRX's leak on a regular basis. There is a small O ring which is the culprit. #670 in your diagram.
A lot of the owners rebuild the petcock every time they adjust the valves or take the tank off.
I have done it several times on my ZRX1200, plus I added a manual inline shutoff.