Need a Mechanic

[rayserra]

New member here, new owner of an '84 ZN1300.
For years I've been looking for one and finally found it in Dayton, OH on ebay a couple of weeks ago. I won!!!!
For what I paid and the story behind it ($2200, traded in at a new bike dealer and sold at auction to a small shop who shined it up and resold to me) I wasn't expecting much. What I found was a bike that looks as if it has been pretty well maintained, pleasant surprise, but probably not ridden much lately.
Anyway, I enjoy working on my bikes but in the last few years having difficulty finding the time for maintenance, let alone sorting out a 30 year old bike that's been sitting in someone's garage for who know how many years.
Does anyone know a competent mechanic experienced with '80s touring bikes in NE Ohio?

[trikebldr]

Hi, Ray!

I'm relatively new on this forum, too. You will find that we are the orphans here, as well as on most forums. The ZN1300 just isn't a very popular bike, for several good reasons. I just bought my current '85 ZN1300 last August. I had an '83 (bought new) for about 12 years. Except for routine maintenance the '83 was absolutely no trouble. The '85 had a slipping clutch when I got it but really runs super otherwise. I'm looking forward to warmer weather so I can get out there to really go through it.

If you have any experience working on bikes, don't hesitate to tackle the work on the ZN. Get the two-manual set for it and it isn't all that hard. Also, there are some parts you might want to start collecting for it now, as they are getting hard to find and important, like the water pump system and seals and fuel injectors and system. EBay has several salvage dealers who are currently parting out about a dozen ZN's and almost all of the parts can be found there. I forget just now the name, but there is a supplier over in Europe who also supplies the very important seals and plastic drive gear for the water pump.

You have a very good mechanic in the Dayton area! His username here is Lucasind. He has collected more bikes than some dealers have ever sold! he just got a ZN1300 recently that he posted pics of here. It's stripped down of all of the rear bags and touring stuff, but nicely done as a street fighter. Can't recall the title of his thread about it, but I'm sure he will jump in here soon to give you a lead.

He and I are also working together on a conversion to a higher-ratio rear drive for the ZN1300. You can read all about it in his "R.P.M.'s" thread in the general section for the 1300's. My latest report on the project is in the "Hondasaki Drive" thread in the tech tips section for 1300's.

It's really good to have another ZN1300 owner here! For even more technical stuff about the 1300 six, you might go to http://www.kz1300.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and check them out. They are more focused on the KZ1300's but a lot of stuff there applies to our ZN's. They are also more focused on technical issues rather than riding. Their member base is truly world-wide, too!

Welcome to this forum, and let's get that "new" Voyager of your's running it's best.

[Lucasind]

...Welcome rayserra....as trike said,not alot of folks riding the ol' 1300/6 cylinder Voyagers these days, but partially due to not much in the way of new parts available, and the salvage yards are buying them very cheap these days and "parting em out" which is a "sore spot" topic of conversation to trkbldr 'Not really sure where you live ,but I saw the city of Dayton mentioned ? I'm 150 miles from dayton, and do not do bike work for the general public, I really don't have the time ....cause as soon as I get one project done,and wipe down the surface of the airlift... the next project goes up !
but ....as trike said.... getting the 2 manuals and reading up on the task, will save you big$$$. and remember if you get stuck ...you can always ask questions here ...or shoot ANY one of us a P.M. for further help, I'm just happy yours did'nt get "parted out"when it still has alot of fun miles to give ,for giving it some TLC,................tony

[HMB Don]

I was just asked about why the VV doesn't have anything about the 1300. Seems like I just hit the jackpot.

I'll take any pictures and articles about you and your Voyager 1300. I have one member that's sent me his picture about his 1300 would like more.

If you're not an AVA member don't worry if you send me an article with pictures about your Voyager 1300 I email you a free copy of the AVA Voyagers Voice. Then I'll be hoping you'll join our fine club.

Send to Don Medina bluemedina@sbcglobal.net

[rayserra]

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I certainly have been the benefactor of on-line forums like this for other projects and appreciate what a great asset it can be.

I'm not new to motorcycles maintenance and repair. Been riding since I was 8, replaced my first piston and ring set at 10. Of course rebuilding a 2 cycle dirt bike is a long way from one of these behemoths. On the other hand, that was a long time ago.

Anyway, I have several motorcycles and have always done all my own work. Been getting harder and harder to find the time, so I was looking for some help sorting out a few things.

Needs.....
Change out hydraulic fluids.
Chase down why the radio doesn't work.
Fork seals.
Check cam chain tensioner.
Valve clearances?
Sync fuel injectors?

They look a lot like carburetors with fuel injectors stuck on them. Like I said, my first experience with a ZN.

Appreciate the advice on the parts, I'll keep my eyes (and wallet) open.

Anyway, I'm in NE Ohio if there is someone in the area willing to take on a what looks like a pretty simple project.

[trikebldr]

OK, let's get started. First, you MUST get the two manuals for this bike. The main manual is for the KZ1300 street bike, and then there is a supplement manual for the Z series, including, mainly, the ZN1300. These are MUST HAVE pair! Lots of them on eBay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kawasaki-KZ1300 ... 35&vxp=mtr" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Next thing is, there is no such thing as syncing the fuel injectors. They are all driven by the DFI unit, and all six fire at the same time. The supplement manual will show this in the wiring diagram. All six injectors are wired in parallel.

The rule of thumb on the 1300 six is that if you don't hear any clatter from the valves, and all six compression readings are close, leave the valves alone. MOST of these engines tend to settle down on valve adjustments in the first 5000 miles of their life. I did them twice in the first 5000 miles on my '83, but never again in the rest of it's 203,000 mile life until it was t-boned.

You're on your own with changing all the fluids! Just refer to the books for recommended materials. Do some searching on this forum for recommended engine oil. Using the wrong stuff will slip the clutch. In my '83 I always used Valvoline Racing 10-40, changing it about every 7000 miles, or if the analysis said sooner.

Fork seals? Why? Are they leaking oil? Won't the compressor keep them up to pressure?

Again, do some searching on this forum for info on the radio. There is a guy on here who specializes in them on the Voyager XII's. I forget just now who he is, but others can tell you. I'll bet he also knows all about the radios on the 1300's. (Whew! I almost said "REAL VOYAGERS"!)

As for the cam chain tensioner adjustment, get the manuals and they will tell you all about them. it's a five minute adjustment.

Just a word of warning about the injector body grouping. DO NOT take them apart separately for cleaning! The six injector bodies are aligned to precisely fit inside the rubber couplers to the intake manifolds. If that alignment is disturbed you will get air leaks, and as old as these bikes are now, those couplers are not as pliable as in the past, so they will not take up any slack in alignment anymore. The bodies are all bolted to two small "L"-shaped rails that keep them aligned to the intakes if they are removed from the engine. DON"T remove them from these two rails! Everything else can come off, if you dare to, for cleaning, but the whole works can be cleaned nicely without any disassembly at all. The only syncing to be done is with the throttle butterflies if you do take all of the bodies apart.

These things take more oil than a 454 Chevy engine! IIRC it's 6-1/2 qts with a filter change!

OK, so get started! We're here for more questions!

[rayserra]

Thanks Bruce (Robert).

I found a KZ1300 manual free pdf download, noticed right off no mention of fuel injectors. I suppose the supplement for ZN1300s covers this and other systems peculiar to the touring model. I'll order the supplement.

Interesting that the injectors fire simultaneously. Is there a point in the cylinder firing order where all six are on the intake stroke at the same time? Now I'm anxious to get into the shop manual to read up on the firing sequence.

Good to hear that the valves don't require a lot of attention. Just the same, I'll sleep better knowing first hand that they are within specifications. The bike has 37,000 and the top end is quiet. I hear some noises coming from the bottom, nothing alarming, figured it was normal "sewing machine" stuff.

Fork seal on the left is leaking. When I compressed the forks while strapping it down to bring it home I lost a lot of fluid on the left side. The compressor will keep the pressure up, but it leaks down overnight.

Thanks again.

Ray...

[debron]

The original 1300/six had carbs and was later upgraded to electronic fuel injection. I'm not sure, but the first Voyager 1300s might have had carburetors.

[trikebldr]

The original 1300/six had carbs and was later upgraded to electronic fuel injection. I'm not sure, but the first Voyager 1300s might have had carburetors.

The first Voyager 1300 was the '83 and it already had injection. Had one. Also, the engine for the Voyager incorporated a smaller clutch diameter with two more plates than the KZ1300, as well as a few other small changes from the KZ's engine. The KZ's had an alternator at one end of the crank and a vibration damper at the other end, but the Voyager got an even larger second alternator at the other end to replace the damper and the two alternators total 45 amps output, which is a lot for a bike. About 1/3 of the engine parts between the KZ and the ZN will not swap.

Ray, the injectors could be called constant flow, but they are all feeding a measured amount of fuel to ALL CYLINDERS ALL THE TIME according to the air temp, engine temp, throttle position and rpm. The fuel flow is controlled by pulsing the injectors on and off with varying lengths of on to off times with a "basically" constant fuel pressure behind them. Constant running fuel pressure is 32psi, but the regulator will allow it to jump to 34psi very briefly when there is a throttle increase and the vacuum drops. When the vacuum comes back up the pressure drops back to 32psi. This is all to eliminate any engine lag on acceleration. Chapter 3 of the supplemental manual describes all of this. Spend a lot of time reading that manual, then ask any questions you still have. To answer your question directly, no, none of the cylinders are intake at the same time.

Both of the manuals are available in pdf over on the KZ1300.com site. I prefer using paper manuals myself. You will use the supplemental manual all the time, but the KZ manual won't give you much info since the street version bike is so much different from the cruiser ZN. A lot of guys over on KZ1300.com have several of both bikes, so they really have a treasure-trove of all of the technical info. They are all about the bikes, whereas this forum is all about the voyage. but, it's good to share with both so EVERYBODY gets the info. I wish they would both link to each other!