Kawasaki Cafe Racer on a Budget part 7

The seventh instalment of my first cafe racer project on a budget.

She Comes Alive! Wiring Loom & Rear-sets Finished, Carbs Overhauled

I've tackled one of my least favourite tasks over the last three weeks. I've rewired the bike and replaced most of the original wiring loom. To simplify the electrics I have done away with the ignition and kill switch on the headlamp cluster and hand control. I mounted the old style Mini ignition key just below the left hand side-panel. I have also bypassed the side-stand cut-out and as I didn't have all the exact colour wires for each connection I have carefully labelled each wire using a hand-held digital Dymo printer. This will be a lot easier to follow than the wiring diagram I was struggling to follow.

Spagetti Hell

I have wrapped the new loom in self-amalgamating tape to keep things tidy and to offer some protection against potential wear and tear against the frame.

The simplified wiring diagram on caferacerwebshop.com proved very helpful

I separated the four carburettors into two sets of two ready for cleaning. I had read about using bicarbonate of soda to blast the outside surfaces of the carbs as this does not leave any residual contamination that will affect their operation.

After the outsides of the carburettors had been cleaned I took them around to a friend who has recently purchased a sonic cleaner. Each pair were submersed in the cleaning solution for 20 minutes at 60 degrees centigrade using the sonic cleaning. The amount of dirt collected in the tank was clear evidence of a successful cleaning operation.

As I will be using after-market cone air filters I have ordered a Dynojet stage-3 kit to make sure the engine doesn't run too lean. With the new carb tops installed with yet more stainless steel screws the overall result looks very pleasing.

The new brake master cylinder arrived priced at £12.90 + postage. It's an Alamor 14mm Rear Brake Master Cylinder Fluid Reservoir For Honda CBR CB NSR. As I have changed the mounting point to suit the rear-sets it wasn't important to get an original unit. The rear-sets are mounted on the frame using two adapted Suzuki Bandit triangular mounting plates. I used aluminium spacers to gain sufficient clearance out from the frame. I fabricated the gear linkage using two banjo joints and a length of threaded bar covered with 6mm stainless steel tube. The original gear lever has been adapted to accept the linkage. I may need to add more spacers to move the foot pegs out a bit further from the frame and get better clearance with the side-stand.

Two weeks ago I tried to dismantle the three brake callipers but I soon discovered all three were badly corroded so they are now soaking in diesel to try and free them up. Provided that the callipers are still in good condition I will be ordering new pistons and a brake seal kit.

Once the carbs had been refitted I was ready to try the engine. It was soon discovered that there was no spark at all so it was back to the wiring diagram and circuit tester! There was no power at the coil and my friend Tony suggested running a wire direct from the positive side of the battery. This resolved the problem as a temporary fix but didn't explain why I had missed this connection in the wiring loom. Finally I discovered the fault was due to my simplified ignition switch. The old ignition had an extra connection to feed the coils and ignition circuit.

On 4th June the engine fired up first time since the 24th February just before I started stripping the bike down. The Delkevic stainless steel exhaust system had only been loosely fitted up until now. I knew one of the header stud threads was broken so I ordered a heli-coil repair kit. I was pleased to get some help from my friend Colin, who has considerably more mechanical know-how than me, and quickly had the help-coil installed ready to accept the stud. My training proved useful as I later discovered a second thread had been stripped and this time I was able to repair it myself.

As the headers were not yet properly located I removed each one to check the copper gaskets and I used exhaust sealer paste to make sure they were properly sealed. I have to say the Delkevic system sounds great and now I can't wait to get the bike out on the roads. Unfortunately I will be away for the next three weeks so the project will be put on hold until July.

She Comes Alive !

I had a parcel to collect from the post office and when I went to pick it up it looked like a pink ball but in fact turned out to be my new green and white helmet. It's almost an exact match for the colour of the bike and I couldn't resist posting yet another Instagram complete with the Kawasaki Cafe-racer sticker.