what a pain!

[John Soliday]

Well obviously the original owner beat the heck out of it, it happens
sometimes.  Back in college I used to buy bikes and fix 'em up for extra
beer money.  I really lost some bucks back in the day on a 73 Yamaha TX750
(I Know, I know, don't tell me, now I know).  I bought it, rode it exactly
1/2 block away and pulled into a gas station because it was almost out of
gas and the rear wheel locked up as I pulled into the station,....a seized
engine.  Never did anything with it.  Father-in-law gave it away to some
poor fool.  It happens sometimes.  In this GPZ case though, it seems that if
one were to look for a ZX11 mill used, you could probably get the bike back
together for a reasonable price.

John

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Northrop [mailto:blackgpz at rochester.rr.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2007 6:41 PM
To: GPZ LIST
Subject: Re: what a pain!

George is exactly right about the gold flakes. You didn't tell us about them

before. Sounds like that GUNK stuff did the bearings in. Anybody know if a 
ZX11 bottom end would bolt in? The GPZ engine shares a lot of the same 
components. Don't know if the cases/countershaft sprocket location is the 
same as ours. I do know the ZX11 does not use the same countershaft 
sprocket. If so, you could just change out the cams and cylinder head and be

back in business. It's a shame you're having so many troubles. The GPZ 
really is a great bike, just not indestructible.

Steve in Western NY
'96 GPZ1100
'02 Daytona 955i
"You Can't Fix Stupid", Ron White

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dave Daniels" <dwaynedaniels at sbcglobal.net>
To: "Jameson, George E." <george.jameson at mirant.com>; "GPZ LIST" 
<gpzlist at micapeak.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2007 8:22 PM
Subject: RE: what a pain!


>I was kind of wondering if this could be the case. If it comes to it, I'll 
>part it out, unless I can find an engine. Thanks.
>
> "Jameson, George E." <george.jameson at mirant.com> wrote:  Gold flakes in 
> oil is bearing backing material, there is no good news here. You have 
> reached a difficult decision making point. Inspect/rebuild yourself, buy a

> salvage motor, or part out. Professional rebuild will be close to what the

> bike is worth. Good luck.
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: Dave Daniels [mailto:dwaynedaniels at sbcglobal.net]
> Sent: Tue 1/9/2007 4:21 PM
> To: GPZ LIST
> Subject: what a pain!
>
>
>
> Well, I've gotten my new clutch in, and it is operating properly now it 
> seems. But, my problems are far from over. I'm going to summarize below 
> what I've gone through to this point. Maybe all you experts could help 
> me/lead me to what I should do next.
>
> My clutch was slipping which was the first problem. Somebody suggested 
> that maybe putting in that synthetic oil, which has anti-friction 
> additives in it, caused those additives to get embedded in the friction 
> plates, which could be causing the slipping. Afterall, the bike only has 
> just over 4000 miles on it. How could the clutch be bad yet? So, I 
> thought, maybe I'll try running some Gunk engine flush through there. 
> Actually a friend recommended it since he's been doing it for 30 years. 
> Maybe that'll clean off those plates and it'll stop slipping. So, I tried 
> it, then refilled with regular Kawasaki oil. Yep, it stopped slipping, but

> soon, the bike started running badly and was acting like the clutch was 
> gonna sieze up. My guess was that, when I drained the oil after the flush,

> I didn't get it all out of the oil cooler and the remaining gunk-filled 
> oil mixed with the new oil and messed up the new oil. So, I drained it 
> again and made sure all of it was out. Refilled again
> with standard oil. Still running badly, and ticking now. So, I do a valve 
> adjustment and it needed it. Still ticking, and now when I get on the 
> throttle, I get a strange rattley, growling noise(hard to describe). Plus,

> the clutch is slipping again. Finally, I get mad and open up the clutch to

> discover one of the fingers(tangs) on the clutch basket has broken off and

> is nowhere to be seen. This is when I drop the pan and find it to be a 
> horrible mess. gold metal flakes all over the bottom and especially around

> the magnetic drain plugs. Oil pump sucker screen almost completely clogged

> up. And, I found the broken tang in the bottom of the pan. I got a new 
> basket and some new plates, cleaned out the pan and replaced the screens 
> and put it back together. Except for the clutch slipping, it seems that 
> these noise problems began after I did the engine flush. Still have the 
> noises and it's getting worse. So, tell me all you experts, what's the 
> prognosis? I'm really really
> discouraged here. Thanks very much for all the help you guys provide. It 
> is priceless!
>
> Dave D.
>
>
>