Sense of Achievement! Concours C14 Windshield Fixed

I dug deep into the C14 Concours today and the windshield is solved! I followed the shop manual diagram, but it actually points at the wrong bolt to remove the windshield motor housing. There is a tricky bolt underneath, but otherwise the rest are on the front and the whole unit comes out.

The three bolts at the top that connect the instrument bezel and two lower bolts hold the whole assembly in.  You need to take the bolts out of the instrument bezel too, but you don't need to completely remove it or take the front body work off either.  With bolts removed and the binnacle loose, you can slide the whole unit partially out, remove the power plug in the back and slide it the rest of the way.

With it out on the bench I cleaned all the connectors and also loosed the motor out of its housing and cleaned it all out as well.  With the assembly out I could check the power coming and and both up and down were at battery voltage, so the relays, switch and back end of the circuit were all good.

Motor's on the left next to the big round thing.  With the contacts cleaned and the motor reseated I gave it a go and off it went...

While it was out I greased all the components - it's very quiet when it runs.  Nice, smooth action too.

***

With the front end solved and the fairing still off I figured I'd do an oil change.  The parts came in from FortNine in only a couple of days.  Mobil1 seems to have ceased to exist in the COVpocalyse, so I went with Motul for the first time.  Before I even put it in the bike I was impressed with the pop-out spouts built into each bottle.  WTH Mobil and Castol?

I didn't realize the 5100 was their mid-range oil but after seeing what came out of the bike I think I'll run this until the end of June as a cleanout and then switch to a fully synthetic oil.  Motul's full synthetic is pretty expensive and with Mobil1 no longer available I'm going to use Castol Power1 4T, which still seems to exist and is working well in the Tiger.

The filter wasn't coming off easily and even the oil opening plug was ceased shut, so I don't know the last time this thing got serviced.  The oil coming out was dirty but didn't have anything worrying like fuel or coolant in it, it was just very, very used.  Those are hard drive magnets on the end of the filter if you're curious.  They're super strong and keep any metallic detritus in the filter as the oil circulates. 

With the bike now back to spec and the basic maintenance taken care of it's time to get this thing on the road!  I'll sort out insurance this week and then figure out what's what with licensing with the 3rd wave running Ontario into the ground.

Sourcing Parts and Kawasaki Master Brake Cylinders

The rear brake light I ordered on Amazon in December decided to show up today.   I'm going to pass it on to Jeff's BMW cafe racer project and I think I'm done with four month delivery times from Amazon.  Time to source my parts elsewhere I think.  I'm curious to see how soon the rear brake light I got instead from eBay takes.  I have a feeling it's going to make the Amazon Marketplace delivery times look sketchy.

Meanwhile, a coolant overflow tank and master brake cylinder kit arrived for the Concours in a timely fashion from Fortnine.  I wish they'd start stocking customization pieces like those all in one LED lighting systems.

The tank looks like it'll fit nicely on the battery case.  It isn't as big as the stock one, but the stock one isn't that big anyway.  I've routed the coolant overflow tube and it fits nicely down the spine of the bike.  Where it's placed means the overflow pipe can stick out the side and not dump in the path of the rear tire.

The master brake cylinder kit took a bit of work to get into.  Getting it off the bike was easy enough, but getting the compression ring out took some fiddling.  I've replaced the rubbers on the cylinder and I'm ready to put it back together again, but the kit came with 2 copper rings that don't seem to be on the original, so I'm going to figure out where they go before I reassemble.

Brake handle and electronic switch removal was straightforward.  The only tricky bit was the snap ring that holds in the master cylinder.  Compressing the cylinder while getting a pair of compression pliers in there
to squeeze the ring into the groove on the cylinder is swear worthy.

The old outer gasket was in pieces before I even started pulling it out.  Rubbers don't typically last 24 years.
Fancy people pay for that kinda patina - mine comes virtue of the bike being 23 years old and Canadian.

The old gaskets and spring on the cylinder

New gaskets and springs ready to install - as soon as I figure out where the copper rings go.

I don't see copper rings on there anywhere.  I'm still not sure why the
All Balls Racing master cylinder kit has them, but have them it does.

Concours Carburetors: Prepping for rebuild

There are three rails holding the four carbs together on a Kawasaki ZG1000 Concours.  Two of them are structural and the other one holds the choke mechanism in place.  Taking them off a twenty two year old carburetor can be trying.  I ended up having to cut a line in one of the retaining bolts and put some heat on it to get it to let go, but all three pieces are out now.

With the four carbs separated I'm now waiting on the rebuild kits.  When they arrive I'll rebuild each carb one at a time (so I don't mix up parts).  All four carbs are cleaned up (a touch of carb cleaner and a toothbrush got 22 years of grime off) and awaiting some new gaskets, float adjusting and rebuilding.  While in there I'll make sure the needles are in good shape and everything has the right geometry.

The first one will be exploratory and slow, by the fourth one I'll be able to rebuild these things in my sleep!

The four carbs separated and cleaned.   Taking a twenty two year old carb apart takes some patience, and some heat.

Cleaned up and ready for a rebuild.

No lost parts this time - everything labelled and organized.

The choke rod (up and down to the right) partially removed - each carb
links to this plate which moves them all when the choke is pulled.

It only takes a bit of carb cleaner and a tooth brush to get the crud off. I blew it dry with the air line afterwards.
Caustic carb cleaner (it melted two pairs of latex gloves - for goodness sake, wear gloves!) isn't recommended on the insides
- I'll use a bit of gas and a clean toothbrush to make sure the innards are perfect when I get in there.

Some Kawasaki Concours ZG1000 carburetor links:

https://snapguide.com/guides/rebuild-kawasaki-concourse-carbs/
https://sites.google.com/site/shoodabenengineering/intake-and-exhaust
http://www.murphskits.com/product_info.php?products_id=130
http://www.randols.net/Connie/#_Toc276312906