MY ZZR1100 HATES ME

some may remeber a long time ago i swapped a zzr11 for my old sohc honda 750, it needed the engine putting back in and a bit of a clean up...or so i thought

gave everything a good clean, new tyres brakes oils etc and relevant paint, go the engine back in and ...it leaked coolant, thought it was a warped head so off with that with attendant damage to a couple of bits, ordered the new bits and there it stood while i split with mrs spotty and had to move out

finally got to the point where i could start reassembly, fixed the fucked bits and it then took a few weeks of assembly/disassembly/assembly to get the head back on and cams back in, it was then that i found out the coolant leak came from a pipe that runs below the carbs and plugs into the head, it was twisted/cracked and not by me for a change. so fixed that and continued with assembly

carbs on next, choke doesnt return so some minor bodging to get that done, throttle cables wont line up in switchblock, more fucking around until for no good reason they went in ( never to come out again the little bastards ) no point putting the airbox on until i know it runs cos its a bastard to get on and off and i've fallen for that little game before

So...will it run, no. it wouldn't turn 9over on the button so short it with a screwdriver and use brake cleaner and woofuckinghoo it will start. so get the auto elec over to sort the starter button, which he does by running a new wire to replace one that had more corrosion than a wino's undies. it turns over. looking good now until i find that the fuel pump has crapped out at some point. order new one from the bay of E's...wait

in the meantime start fitting all my beautifully repaired bodywork ( just don't look at the back side of any of it ) and by heck its starting to look good. in the meantime i decide to see if it will start on the button with brake cleaner...will it fuck, hook a battery up, press the button and theres an ominous clunk from a hidden relay and all the lights go out. i gave up again at that point

its been 4 years now and this fucker has fought me every step of the way. the irony of it is that even when its finished i'll never be able to ride it, the condition of my legs dictates i'll never ride anything that hasn't got forward controls ever again......i was hoping for just one blast on the freeway and then sell it

and just to rub salt into the wound, the fuel pump turned up in the post yesterday....

Christ I've been there a few times with bikes that have done everything to stop me getting them back on the road.

I think to this point I've been beaten by only two, an FZR and an XJ650 from way back.

Good on you for getting as far as you have though, I'd have fucked it off on eBay long befofe I got to where you are.

Are they cheap and plentiful over there? they seem to be here.

they're quite rare here now, its the C3 model so earlier than most and lets face it they all got thrashed to death and the C3's had an oil feed problem to the crank which did for a lot more of them.
mines had a change over crank

Hadn't heard of that issue, here they seem to die from 2nd gear failure. Dunno if that's exclusive to a particular model though.

Sounds like a "find a better loom and throw that one on" or go through it and find the shorts type of deal... :-( which in other words can mean fun for days, if you're unlucky.

Still, wouldn't mind a wide-open blat on a ZZR1100...

Cheers,
Greg