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Yamaha FZR400R - Restore'n'Rebuild (IMAGE HEAVY)

Discussion in 'Other Projects - Other Bikes (non 250's)' started by MashtX, Nov 15, 2014.

  1. MashtX

    MashtX Well-Known Member

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    Hey all :D

    Last year in late August I bought a clapped out and mistreated old FZR 400. I am a huge fan of the 400cc bikes and ever since I saw and helped fix an RVF 400 I was totally hooked.

    Enter my new long term project!
    [​IMG]

    It's as far as I can tell a late 1989/Early 1990 3EN2 FZR400R w/ Deltabox Swingarm, also suffering from a ridiculous amount of neglect, so for the first few months I did little bits and pieces, mainly taking the subframe out and removing the rust and repainting it with a light coat of matte black, simply to stop it getting worse - since has chipped a lot but it did the job of keeping it clean.

    I got it started a few times but couldn't keep it running and it sounded like it was only running on 2-3 cylinders at a time.

    Not long after that I had to move house and I shipped the bike to my new place which had a serious shed, so the rebuild began in earnest there.

    [​IMG]

    I also found the reason for it running like crap

    [​IMG]

    So after total dissassembly I layed all the parts out in a sort of exploded diagram so I could assess the amount of damage that had been done.

    [​IMG]

    Turns out that the bike had been coated in muck, mud, grime and every other type of clingy mess. Just about every part needed cleaning or replacing (I have had to remove so many rusted bolts I have gone through 2 extractor sets)

    It wasn't too long after this that I realised as much fun as rebuilding this bike was I missed riding really badly, after my first bike was written off under insurance.

    Enter the new garage queen - my Kawasaki ZXR250

    [​IMG]

    This poor bike needed some serious love to get her on the road, so it took a lot of time and money to sort it out, once again leaving the FZR languishing under a sheet to gather dust. :(

    But, once I had the ZXR registered and ready to ride I decided that the original paint job was so horrific I needed to fix it.
    So I stripped the fairings down and repainted them into the green they are now.

    [​IMG]

    My little D.I.Y. Painting booth, worked a treat for what I needed

    [​IMG]

    All the parts layed out and sprayed with primer - the bright green wheel is the FZR rear with a custom colour I mixed up at work, plan was to go a Green Wheel/Black Body for the final look. This was a test paint to see how it looked and I really like it.

    [​IMG]

    The ZXR all naked, I kept finding parts that needed repainting so I spent a lot of time on that.

    [​IMG]

    But once again, my rebuild took another hit - after finally getting the ZXR up and running, repainted and happy a serious event happened that forced me to move again, so I took to the shed to get the bike to a movable status

    [​IMG]

    Got it rolling, also mounted the engine and subframe to make it easy to move.

    I also took this opportunity to order the bulk of the parts I needed to get this bike finished, like.... R6 Blue Dot Brakes!

    [​IMG]

    Now in its new location, I could really get cracking on the rebuild - All the parts I could think of had been cleaned or replaced, so I started to rebuild it for hopefully the last time in a while.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    In the process of rebuilding it I found that the EXUP Cables and Throttle cables were in very bad condition, these are now the only limiting factor to a total rebuild, the image is a little unclear but basically the ends are totally frayed and barely hanging on... Totally unsafe and unusable.

    [​IMG]

    But there was still a lot that can be done! So on with the rebuild, new 2nd hand NGK coils were mounted and the cooling system reconnected

    [​IMG]

    All of the engine covers put back on and the clutch connected and adjusted

    [​IMG]

    Test fitted the R6 brakes and braided lines, looks pretty good!

    [​IMG]

    Having a look at the wiring harness and trying to wrap my head around where it needs to go.... eurgh

    [​IMG]

    Keen eyes will notice that I have gone back to the FZR Master Cylinder as the R6 one unfortunately doesn't work with the FZR lever, so for now I will leave it like this until I can get a new lever.

    Also spent some time to clean the forks out and put new 10W oil in, should hopefully help.

    [​IMG]

    I also ordered some new handle bar grips as the old ones were tatty and ugly.

    [​IMG]

    Finally got around to getting a photo of the VIN, if anyone can decode that feel free because I've had no luck.

    [​IMG]

    The Litetek kit I had ordered for the FZR arrived and I went to town on the carbies, so satisfying to put such nice new gaskets in everywhere.

    The old ones were totally perished, barring a couple of o-rings but even then - replaced them for piece of mind.

    [​IMG]

    I then decided I wanted it to look more like a bike, so I mounted the front holder for the first time since I bought it, gauges on and Ram Air fitted.

    [​IMG]

    Clocks say an astounding 77k but I am told by the original owner these aren't the original gauges.... but jeez, would explain the neglect and wear.

    [​IMG]

    Test fitted the grips, I think they suit well and look clean - nothing too ridiculous or showy thank you very much.

    [​IMG]

    Test fitted the carbies, the mounting boots seem to still be ok - there was one that looked like it could crack soon so they will get replaced when I get funds to order them.... expensive pieces of rubber that they are.

    [​IMG]

    So that's pretty much where the bike sits now.

    I am working on fixing the damage done to the wiring harness for now, I will have to take a few pictures to illustrate soon, but it's been a very long and tedious process but the end is in sight, once the bike is started and running it will be a tough choice to either sell it or continue with the restoration... but that's for another day.
     
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  2. GreyImport

    GreyImport Administrator Staff Member The Chief Contributing Member

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  3. Grasshopper

    Grasshopper Well-Known Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    Nice work maan... looking good. What type of paint did you use when respraying?
     
  4. MashtX

    MashtX Well-Known Member

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    Just used Duplicolor Acrylic for most of it, the custom green was a No-Mix custom colour I mixed myself

    Also, GreyImport - you are a LEGEND.
    I have been looking for those for a very long time, thank you so much!
     
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    Last edited: Nov 15, 2014
  5. Murdo

    Murdo The Good Doctor Staff Member Contributing Member Ride and Events Crew

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    Nice work. :thumb_ups:
     
  6. Mclaren

    Mclaren Well-Known Member Contributing Member

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    Very nice
     
  7. The Wizard

    The Wizard Well-Known Member

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    I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this. I'm really keen to make a start on my 3TJ1 one of these days
     
  8. tintankaussie

    tintankaussie Well-Known Member

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    I take my hat off to you- 2 bikes under way and having to move house TWICE.Nice job...Ken
     
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  9. Moo

    Moo Plodge Racing!!!

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    good work mate! keep it up.
     
  10. TechHeadFred

    TechHeadFred Well-Known Member

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    Might be having a look at one of these this evening :)
     
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  11. The Wizard

    The Wizard Well-Known Member

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    They are great machines. These bikes really set the standard on frame geometry in sports bikes
     
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  12. The Wizard

    The Wizard Well-Known Member

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  13. MashtX

    MashtX Well-Known Member

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    Yeah it's a good site - I've hovered around most FZR 400 resources for the last year or so, only ones I was missing Grey provided haha
     
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  14. MashtX

    MashtX Well-Known Member

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    So more work happened today!

    Decided to start getting things ready for the first start, so finalised as much of the bikes as I could.

    [​IMG]

    Made myself a handy little brake bleeder and spent a good hour and a half bleeding all the brakes.... turns out there was a LOT of air in them :/ But have very good pedal/lever feel now so yay :D

    [​IMG]

    Had to cut down an ignition coil bracket to fit the wiring harness in, had a 60 degree bend section of the side - buuuut not any more :p

    [​IMG]

    So, after that a lot of time consuming fiddling occured, re-running a wiring harness is a gigantic P.I.T.A. - but its all in and connected..., guarentee its not to OEM spec but hey! If it's in, it's in.

    [​IMG]

    Harness all connected up! In the midst of fighting with the harness/connecters/cooling system to get it all connected I realised that the F*$@#*@*#@* ignition leads had broken. the ignition coil-to-wire connected had pulled free, this resulted in a VERY large amount of swearing and boiling blood.

    But after pulling out one of the old coils in decent condition I managed to put together a good one... or at least I hope its a good one....

    [​IMG]

    Just another shot of everything all hooked up at the front... absolute mess of wires o.O, does my head in.

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    To relax and re-invigorate myself I started some test-fitting, so on went the tank & air filters (can't re-use the airbox at this point as I need new rubbers but can't afford them :( )

    [​IMG]

    THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE!!!
    These are the broken coils off the bike. The one with the NGK end/Yellow plug is the 'new' one and the other is my original part.

    No wonder the poor thing wouldn't run hah!

    [​IMG]

    It's so close now I can taste it.

    All that's really left is to have my cables re-cored and fill her up with coolant/petrol/electricity. :D :D :D

    [​IMG]

    And that's it for now!

    Will hopefully get some more time to get everything together this coming week, at which point its time to look at what I need to get it clothed if I pull off the feat of getting it started haha.
     
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  15. Harry Sack

    Harry Sack Active Member

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    Looks good mate, can't wait to see it finished.
     
  16. TechHeadFred

    TechHeadFred Well-Known Member

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    Looks good!

    If I'd had time tonight I would have tried jump starting mine.
     
  17. MashtX

    MashtX Well-Known Member

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    So I haven't had a lot of time to do any work - but today I got a battery, which is SLIGHTLY too big but f*** it, it will do to test run the bike on.

    So, while that was charging up I played around with the fairings I have a bit more.... Damn I love the way this bike looks.

    [​IMG]
     
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  18. TechHeadFred

    TechHeadFred Well-Known Member

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    Looking good so far :)
    I'll have to get a project thread going for mine!
     
  19. Tim_

    Tim_ resident nutcase Contributing Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    cant wait to hear this bad boy run..kudos
     
  20. MashtX

    MashtX Well-Known Member

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    IT LIIIIIIIIVES!


    So yeah, I got the beast started and it sounds AWESOME.

    Other news is it has a coolant leak under load - nfi where from yet but I think I'll need some new hoses and clamps.... might just have to find something similar.
     
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