Thoughts for the New Year

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ARCHIVE_knightkadosh

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just saying hello

Hi all,

A new member just saying hello, lots of great and much needed tips here, as my recent purchase is leaking around the front forks and has the infamous “tapping”. But what would cause a spark plug wire to blow off under high RPM’s? At just under 10,000 miles the engine still seems quite strong, tomorrow I bring her home, then off to the shop Monday for a state inspection and front fork repair, and a good going over, smile! How much would you guess the shock repair might cost at an authorized dealer? Oh, by the way, here in Lancaster the horses leave their slippery tell tale signatures on the road, this can spill a rider quite unexpectedly.

Brian
 
Welcome to the club Brian! I'm sure you will find many helpful tips coming your way. As far as a spark plug wire blowing off, I've never heard of that happening. Unless you have a really great seal on the plug cap to the head and somehow gasses from the cylinder made it in there causing to pop off. That is a baffling question.

As far as cost for repairing the front forks, I'm not real sure, going to depend on labor costs more than anything, the parts aren't real expensive. You may want to consider while the forks are apart getting a set of progressive fork springs to have installed at the same time.

Ethan
 
Tender-Loving-Care

Hi Ethan,

Thanks for the warm welcome, and I agree wholeheartedly, as the previous owner replaced the front fork seals fairly recently, and they did not hold. He believes new progressive front fork springs will cure the problem, along with a set of new seals. As you might imagine, I am counting down the minutes this morning, the bank opens in about 30 minutes, then off I go to pick up my new sweetie, and impart to her the “respect” and “Tender-Loving-Care” that she most certainly deserves, :wink:

Brian
 
Brian,
Welcome! More importantly Congats! When you have your fork seals replaced tell them not to put any air in them. These forks work fine without any air. The seals usually blow from someone putting too much air in them. If, after you ride it a while you want a stiffer fork you can put air in with a hand pump, again be careful, they don't hold much air and it is super easy to overinflate.
 
Hey Brian, You said the Previous Owner Put Seals in and they Did'nt Hold??? That could Mean 2 Things, He put air in the Forks when he changed them, Or the Forks are Pitted,[Jarney had the same Problem :( ] You would be Better Off trying to Find an Indipendant Mechanic to do any work on the Bike. Only Thing I can Think about a Boot Flying off is there was some Water in the Plughole, It wasnt the Number 1 Boot by Chance :?: . Hope you Find out its Just the Seals, Welcome to the Club, Later Rocky O' :twisted:
 
Problems with the ole' blow hole.

Ah Brian;
Twenty years ago a friend of mine bought a brand new Eli ZL9.
He reported to the dealer that it was skipping. Sure nuff, the outside right spark plug boot had poped off. The tech said that this was recognized problem from the factory.
I have had the same thing happen to me several times. I asked about it again recently and the reply I got was the same now as then. It's a bit difficult to believe but, if you know a little physics, it sounds possible.
Are you ready? Here goes.
This sysmptom usually happens only to the outside cylinders but mostly the right. If you notice, the plugs are located in a valley between the cams. According to "my" tech, air rushing over the cam covers creates a vacuum in the valley where the plug is located, causing the boot to pop off, just enough to cause poor contact at speed. At an idle, or through town, the boot stays tight enough to give you enough contact to light the plug. Again, this is mostly on the outside plugs where there is the most turbulance.
Here's the catch. When this happens, your telling on yourself, cause you've got to be going fast enough to create the vacuum condition. Usually over 80mph and almost guaranteed over 100mph. If this is happening to you, your propbably misbehaving.

I bet I'll hear from the rest of the gang about this one.
Urban Legend? I don't think so.
:roll:

Til next time.
 
Physics yeah but not a vacuum. Never heard of that happening or even being mentioned (had mine to 120mph and others here have had more). The physics is just as Rocky said, when you wash it or leave it stood in the rain the left hand (No. 1) spark plug recess fills with water and then when the engine gets hot enough the water boils and turns to steam creating pressure under the rubber boot and blows it off.
Have to mention it even though others have DO NOT put any air in the forks. If you really think its something you just gotta try DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT use a garage airline.
Your forks will be in outta space. Only use a bicycle air pump and then, half a pump at a time

KK
 
breathless!

All I can say is, Oh my God!

First things first, after twenty years of “not” riding, and when I did ride back then it was a Honda Super Sport 550F, the ZL 900 Eliminator left me breathless!

Way back when, lets just say a mishap, not of my own negligence, turned me towards a safer means of transportation for a period of time. However, in my own defense, for the first time in twenty years, I was out riding all day, it still provides the same exhilarating effect as it did way back then, and all I can say, or think, is, it feels like home, who could ask for more?

Now about my impression of this new mistress, the Eliminator is an absolutely awesome machine; and pardon my grammar, but all I can say is that she runs like a raped ape! Can you imagine my surprise! Clearly a machine that literally screams, turnn meee looseeee! I am really having a hard time believing this engine has this much power, period, considering she is almost twenty years old. In all honesty, I barely broke 7K for fear of her backend breaking loose. My thinking is, I want that new State inspection, before playing any parlor tricks with her, besides, out of wisdom and respect, I need more time to get to know her. I wouldn’t want this wild steed throwing me! In less then two hours, due to some tenderness in my hands, I found myself buying leather gloves; I’m just a tender foot I guess

Very interesting KK, as a matter of fact it is only the left spark plug boot that gets popped off, and yes, the previous owner claimed it happened from time to time at high speeds. Now as for the right-front fork seal, as you might imagine the front end bottoms out hard and I suspect the center of gravity is way off because of the lowered front end, this may have caused me some minor handling problems throughout the day. Couple of quick things I noticed right away, the drive shaft puts the torque at the rear wheel instantly, and this most definitely caught me by surprise, as I certainly noticed this while shifting at higher R’s. Two things for sure; the brakes and forks need attention; the previous owner obviously kept up with the engine, and has seen fit to keep good rubber on the road. If the right front fork is pitted, what kind of money are we talking about here, and how can I determine if this is so, before letting the dealer, should we dare say, rape me! Perhaps this kind of work can be done at home? Is the average auto mechanic capable of safely handling, or overseeing this type of work?

Brian
 
Forks

Hello Brian,
You will probably get tired of all of us telling you the same thing over and over again - we may sound like your mom from time to time - hahaha. But as far as the forks go - no air is the safest way to go to keep the seals in place. I really don't see how that tiny amount of air can make that much of a difference anyway - instead, either switch to progressive springs, or just fine tune the forks using a heavier grade of fork oil.
As for the upper tubes being pitted, I just had mine replaced a couple of months ago by a local motorcycle mechanic - not a dealer. This guy does way better service and is much, much cheaper than dealers. My total cost for the upper tubes, installation, new seals and fork oil was $250. He said he checked with the factory (meaning getting Kawasaki OEM parts) and if I remember right, one upper fork tube by itself was $264. That doesn't include, labor, seals, oil, installation, etc. I would definitely go somewhere other than a dealer for the tubes. You might check with your dealer just to compare prices anyway. You can get seals just about anywhere for $12-$25/pair - they are cheap. I doubt that fork oil is very expensive either. If you are fairly mechanical, this may be a job you could do yourself, I don't know if anyone else out there has done their own forks or not.
As for the spark plug boot problem, I think a lot of Eli owners experience that at least once, one fix includes putting a little grease or silicone around the upper part of the spark plug boot to help hold it on and seal out the moisture. Or just from now on, be extra careful of moisture getting around the plug boots - this is obviously hard to do if you ride in the rain or wash the bike often. Hope some of that helps. Later.
 
Hey knightkadosh, glad your impressed with it. Welcome to the proper bikers world :lol:
KK
 
Camera shy...?

I am still beside myself, and this may even seem somewhat odd, but until I turned the corner this past Thursday, and laid eyes on the bike of my dreams, I wasn’t even thinking motorcycle, at all, and hadn’t in years. In less then 36 hours she was all mine. I am now a firm believer in “Love at first sight”. Perhaps it was fate tipping her hand to me, and I readily obliged, without a moments hesitation.

I laid down $2000 dollars and rode off wondering what just happened to me. At 46, maybe I am reclaiming a dream of my youth that was taken from me years ago. I do notice this bike does draw some attention from time to time. I suppose I should post a couple of photos as to her current condition, as purchased. If the photos of joealso’s bike are factory original, then I am in need of a few missing parts, such as rear reflectors and a set of rear turn signals, as the right turn signal is taped up with black electrical tape, and the other one is in bad cosmetic shape. Let me see if I can get some photos up-loaded, as she is does not seem camera shy :oops:
 
Okay, so I'm not much of a touchy feely type, but here goes.

I would just like to take a moment to say that with this year coming to an end and another on the horizon, one of the high points for me has been the time I spend on this site. It's been a pleasure to help those in need with tech issues, and just chew the fat with some new found friends. I hope it's been as much fun for all of you as it has been for me.
And Hats Off to Mark, our fearless leader, for making it possible for us all to have someplace to go for advice or just for laughs. I, for one, think the site looks and functions great, due in no small part to Mark's hard work and perseverance.
And last, but definetly not least, thanks to all the members of the site, without whom there wouldn't be one. Thank you all for your posts, be it question or answer, that has helped it amassing the wealth of information found here.
So happy non denominational winter holiday to all, and Happy New Year!
Later,
SS
 
Yeah.....Not touchy-feely at all....Thanks alot for the great post, SS, and Happy New Year, and Merry Christmas...HAHAHAHA....I bet someoune got offended...teehee...
moab...
 
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