New eliminator owner

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front forks air pressure range?.....

I have a question.
Do you know what the front fork air pressure range is for the ZL1000?


cheers.
 
This is a great site the previous owner told me about it. What he didn't tell me is the problems with the bike.
On the plus side the bike is almost show room condition on the outside. It is an 85 red zl900.
Here is what I need some advice on. The temp light seems to come on alot Last night was the first time I rode it for any amount of time 70 miles.
The light came on 6 or 7 times. Fan seems to run alot.( went over 7000 rpm a couple of times).
Second, The bike ran awsome for the first 50 or so miles then it slowly seemed like it became starved for gas. I had to ride it home with the choke on last 5 miles. I started it this afternoon. Seemed to be fine, But I don't want to ride it until it is fixed.
The guy That I bought it from said cam chain noise is normal? How much noise is normal? The bike has 11250 miles.
I bought this bike so my Dad, Brother & I can take a 4 day 1500 mile trip.
My dad is 65 and going across country on his bike I was going to ride with him for the first leg. I have always wanted this bike but now I am a bit concerned taking it on a long trip.. any ideas? todd
 
WELCOME STONER ! :) cam noise is definately normal ! i have owned 3 zl 900's & they all were noisey . the carbs may need to be cleaned, that would explain using the choke while riding. i'm not sure about the temp. lite, but i can tell you that if you plan on riding long distances, be prepared to stop frequently for gas ! the only flaw i found with the zl900, & i'm sure other zl900 owners in our group will tell ya, is the tank is too small, so frequent fuel stops are neccessary. i wish i could help you more, but i am unsure ! i'm sure one of our zl bro's will be able to help you ! CHRIS
 
Welcome!

Try running some seafoam through the tank. make sure the gas cap and tank vent are clear, you'll see a nipple and a corresponding hole in the tank where they meet. Both of these need to be clear. I clean them with carb clean and compressed air. Not sure about the temp light, there is another topic here discussing a new radiator cap solving alot of over-heating issues. I'm sure someone will chime in here in no time.

Thanks for the compliments. We glad you're here.
 
Thanks for the response

It sounds like the sea foam might be the answer. Along with the zl900 I bought a 82 kz 1100. I have been running sea foam through that and it really seems to be working. I am hoping to avoid a carb cleaning on either bike.
I thought about the small gas tank before buying the zl900. I read that it could be tricky on long distances. But that is what makes it a zl900, plus we will have 2 bikes that have large gas tanks on the trip I will be sure to bring a clean container. Thanks Todd
 
Welcome stoner!
Thats a great pair of bikes you picked up! :D I had a '82KZ1100 years ago, I still miss that bike! Did you try running the bike on reserve or prime when you were having the problem? If the problem goes away, you may just need to pull your petcock and clean the screen. Do you have a inline gas filter? If you do that may be dirty. Fuel starvation is a very common problem with these Kaw petcocks so it doesn't take much fuel restriction to make them run like you described.
 
Welcome Stoner, I use to carry a one gallon can in my saddle bag when I had my '86 so I could go the extra 35 miles or so. I would check the venting of the gas tank to see if that cures the problem with it running. My '85 had the same thing in that the gas tank wasn't getting any air to replace the fuel being used and started starving for fuel. A easy check is when this happens, pull over, turn the bike off, open the gas tank, then start it up and see if it cures the problem for awhile. If not, then check the lines and petcock. I'm sure we can tell you simple test for those as well. Hopefully you figure out the gremlin before taking it on that trip. But as you see reading the other post, each one of our bikes has one gremlin or another. If its not leaking fork seals, its a drain battery or tach that's not working.
 
Hi stoner,

Not wanting to ask the dumb question...but... With the petcock, did you have it set to "ON" for the most part of your ride and change to "RES" when you felt it start to splutter?.. I know..I know... too easy.
I'd deffo look at the petcock first, check for a crack in the petcock vacuum tube, maybe take the petcock apart and check the diaphragm for splits or wear. You can buy a refurb kit for the petcock.

Pulling a vacuum in your tank if the vent tube is blocked sounds like a good explanation too, a shot of compressed air will clear that for you.

With the temp light coming on, you could have a couple of different problems... Low coolant level, dodgy water pump, faulty temp sensor. Does the temp light come on while riding or sitting in traffic? Do you hear the fan coming on whilst driving or in traffic? theres a couple of sensors that could be the culprit, more info would help to narrow it down.

1500 mile road trip... you're making me really jealous, sounds nice. You guys havent watched and been influenced by "wild Hogs" recently by any chance did ye??? lol, throw away the watches and mobile phones and hit the road....???

Hopefully the route you have chosen isn't with fuel stations few and far between... I'd always recommend bringing a 5ft length of 1/4 inch clear tube (I have one under my saddle all the time.) Primarily for siphoning fuel from a friends tank if the need arises... lol
blag
 
Thanks for your responses let me try to narrow things down a bit & add another question.
I pulled the tank and drained the gas into a clean white container (gas looked good. I pulled the petcock took it apart all looked good. I checked the radiator looked full and passable( going to flush before the ride.)
New problem and question. When I went into the garage ther was a mixture of oil & water under the bike. I traced it to the tube with the plug in it coming from the airbox. I pulled the plug and a solution of what seemed to be oil& water came out. I know in a 2 stroke water cooled dirt bike that is not a good sign. I haven't changed the oil yet, i am afraid of what I might see. Any good news about this?
Blagadan, our trip has nothin to do with wild hogs, I haven't even seen it yet. my family was in the motorcycle business From the 60's to the 80's
My dad has been planning a trip across country for years. He had a heart attack last year he figured i was time to get it done. My brother & I decided to buy a couple of bikes to tag along with him for a few days. Thanks for everyones help TOdd
 
Thanks for your responses let me try to narrow things down a bit & add another question.
I pulled the tank and drained the gas into a clean white container (gas looked good. I pulled the petcock took it apart all looked good. I checked the radiator looked full and passable( going to flush before the ride.)
New problem and question. When I went into the garage ther was a mixture of oil & water under the bike. I traced it to the tube with the plug in it coming from the airbox. I pulled the plug and a solution of what seemed to be oil& water came out. I know in a 2 stroke water cooled dirt bike that is not a good sign. I haven't changed the oil yet, i am afraid of what I might see. Any good news about this?
Blagadan, our trip has nothin to do with wild hogs, I haven't even seen it yet. my family was in the motorcycle business From the 60's to the 80's
My dad has been planning a trip across country for years. He had a heart attack last year he figured i was time to get it done. My brother & I decided to buy a couple of bikes to tag along with him for a few days. Thanks for everyones help TOdd
 
Drain the oil and if it looks like the bad stuff then you might have a problem with the water pump. Doesn't sound like a blown headgasket as you say the water is clean. Let us know what the oil looks like.
 
Well the oil could be from an over fill and blown into the airbox through the crankcase vent. I think a little oil is normal anyways in the airbox. I have had moisture too. Moistuire in the crankcase will build up in all the high spots. The oil filler cap is a good place to look for moisture. The key here is clean it out and then test again. Did you test the rad cap yet?

Whats the old man riding cross country?
 
Welcome aboard Stoner, your going to love this place.

I can tell you I chased performance problems for a while with only one gallon of fuel in the tank in the on position, only to find out it was starving for fuel until I switched to pri or res. I don't know how far you are supposed to be able to go until you need to switch to res or how much fuel is left in the tank when it starts getting sluggish. Maybe some one will chime in and let us know.
 
the gas issue is making sense. The zl9 goes about 60 miles in the on position then needs to be switched to res to get to the next gas station.

Blagaden nailed the gas issue thanks. This is going to be an adventure.

someone asked what my dad is ridding on his cross country trip. I have to give a little back round. My dad was a kawasaki -suzuki dealer in montana for years. In his garage sits a harley road king, yamaha vmax & a new honda gold wing. He is riding the gold wing on his adventure.
My brother inlaw and I are the kawasaki fans.
Thanks for the help.
 
Welcome Stoner!

Your trip sounds like a blast! The furthest distance I've ridden mine in the ten months I've had it is 30 miles. I bought it with 18,000 miles and don't have the greatest faith in the mechanical soundness of it yet, don't want to get stranded. But I'm planning a 100 mile or so trip this summer.

I find that a full tank to reserve is right around 60 miles for me too. I also have cam chain noise, but the most annoying thing I've found is the gas cap - the keyhole cover buzzes like a rattlesnake at around 3,000 rpm. It's incredibly irritating. My last eli did the same thing. I suppose it's a good thing that it's quiet at 9,000 rpm, eh? :dancingfool:
 
Welcome Stoner.

The furthest I've managed from full tank to empty tank and engine cutting out was 93.4 miles. But I have also managed to somehow do 46 miles to the gallon on it once, so that would push it just over 100 miles before cutting out. The furthest non-stop ride I have done on my ZL900 is about 150 miles. only stopping for petrol, but I have also done a weekend riding about 400/500 miles. As long as you've got the petrol it will ride. I can't be sure of how many miles I did that weekend as it was all done with a snapped speedo cable, so I was going off of the other bike that was there. :)

I occasionally get moisture in my oil filler cap, but I think that it's due to the fact that my main daily journey on the bike is only 2.7 miles each way, so it doesn't really warm up properly. As soon as I do a longer ride on it then the moisture disappears.

acp
 
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