Kawasaki initial assessment
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So I bought a 71 Kawasaki F7 this last weekend and yesterday evening I gave it a quick wrenching assessment.
Note this was posted earlier but I bunged up the scheduled post so I deleted it and am reposting it now
The basic goal was to give a quick assessment of the ignition and fuel systems to see what they needed.
First steps were to take off this stupid pod filter that someone replaced the awesome factory airbox with.
These bikes should have an airbox under the seat (like most), one thing that is special about these bikes though is that the carb is down low in the crankcase and piped up to the seat. The way it's designed means the bike is essentially waterproof up to a couple inches under the seat. A stupid pod filter negates all of that and means I'll have to hit ebay to restore it back to like it should be.
With this rant now over I then dug out the starting fluid and sprayed a shot down the intake, turned the key, pulled in the clutch, cracked the throttle and kicked it a couple times and...
It sung that beautiful 2-stroke song! The bike's alive!!!
With that I decided to ignore the electrical system and started fiddling with the petcock. The look of what's there definitely told me there was a problem, I needed to figure out what specifically needed replacing though.
The lever's busted off the petcock, there's a manual valve shoved in there and a very clogged filter.
These bikes have a vacuum operated petcock which if set to run will allow no gas to pas unless the bike is running and the carb is creating vacuum.
I opened the carb cavity and popped off the fuel line, then removed the filter and opened the valve. A drop every couple seconds came out, so the system is not working.
Replacement parts for these petcocks are basically impossible to find but the tank uses a standard 22mm threaded bung so I ordered a $15 basic replacement and some new 1/4" fuel line.
The carb is actually really damn clean looking and moved freely, so I didn't order a rebuild kit. I may regret this later but I'mma risk it for now.
The right controls are busted up and appear to be specific to only 1971 bikes as it doesn't have a kill switch but this are definitely factory parts. I can only find replacements on ebay with a kill switch though so bugger.
The screws are chewed up something fierce and good-n-stuck in there too.
Everything on the right control works well enough for now but I'll need to figure out something at some point to do with it.
The cable setup is odd on this bike with a pull throttle cable but no push with a choke cable being the second cable and it's actuated by a thumb lever.
Next to do on the bike:
- trip to DMV to make legal
- clean old fluid and flush tank - there's some rust in it but not a ton
- replace petcock
- lube/adjust cables and see if I need to source replacements
- replace right brake lever
- adjust manual drum brakes
After this all I'll have a better idea of what else the bike needs to be fully sorted mechanically.
Former hoarder of motorcycles, recent CA transplant, nerd.
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@jminer Nice! I had no idea they could ford semi-deep water stock, neat bit of trivia there.
The odds are good the goods are odd
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@bbg2d they were really cool bikes for their time. Power wise they also punched at the same level of 250cc bikes in the same era.
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@frinesi2 said in Kawasaki initial assessment:
@jminer said in Kawasaki initial assessment:
busted off the petcock
Heh
It always makes me chuckle
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@jminer said in Kawasaki initial assessment:
I spy with my little eye one of those nifty silicone tool trays!
1995 Mustang GT
1998 Wrangler Sport -
@Urambo-Tauro They're definitely useful for working on stuff!
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@jminer oldbikebarn.com has a lot of parts for these, in case you've never heard of them.
I've seen things that you could not comprehend..without a couple of drinks
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@jminer Not too shabby!
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@Mr-Ontop said in Kawasaki initial assessment:
@jminer oldbikebarn.com has a lot of parts for these, in case you've never heard of them.
I've used them for parts for my 71 CB500 before, I'll see what they have for the old kawasaki though.
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@Shop-Teacher said in Kawasaki initial assessment:
@jminer Not too shabby!
I was so damn happy when it fired and sung with out too much effort. Means the internals and electronics should be in decent shape!
Former hoarder of motorcycles, recent CA transplant, nerd.
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@jminer For sure! That was a good buy!
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@jminer what a bit of a relief to get a bit of life out of it. The future seems a bit less of an up hill battle to get it going.
I was thinking about you today watching my buddy’s barn find
54min $100 I think, with a sized motor, it’s now his daily rider. He was an OG LALD member and dabbled a bit on kinja oppo.He also bought up a bunch of NOS motorcycle parts so I’ll see if he has anything for your bike.
This space for rent
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@jminer I'm sure you know the magic of JIS screw drivers, but for stubborn screws I've had a lot of luck using a #2 or #3 phillips bit in my little impact driver. Some pressure on the screw and a couple whacks gets them right out usually.
Pull cable only its a really common thing for single slide carb engines in my experience, push/pull seems to be more common on multiple carb bikes, and more so a Honda thing (for older bikes at least) all of the older Yamaha's I've had have been pull cable only.
14 F150, 06 XV1700, 85 XL600, 83 RX50, 48/49 F3/F2, 79 Starcraft 16'
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@XJDano I'm going to watch that later - I love old Honda sohc4 bikes! I also have a 71 cb500 four.
If he's got any nos parts for that he'd be willing to part with I'm interested too.
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@pickup_man I do know the majoc of JIS screwdrivers but also old craftsman drivers are a near perfect fit too.
I tried an impact and couldn't get the to budge. But that's probably because where they are on the bike makes getting the necessary force is difficult. 8 can't remove the part from the handlebars and it's a pain to remove the handlebars with all the cables still attached.
Good point on the cable though almost every bike I e owned the last 15 years was a multy-cylinder Honda.
Former hoarder of motorcycles, recent CA transplant, nerd.
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@jminer I couldn’t get any of the screws to budge when I tore apart the engine on my CL450 with my middle school STEM class. On the plus side, there’s a gaggle of high schoolers out there trained in the ancient art of screw extractors and vice grips. And I managed not to teach them any new vocabulary words.
Love the orange tank on that bike! I ditched the vacuum petcock on my Harley. They have a habit of (not) sucking at the most inopportune moments.
