Some photos for your amusement.

[Vard66]

So. Today I finally got the ZXR back on the road. It's been in my garage since last September, laid up, unwashed, untouched, unloved but missed like hell.

On Wednesday, myself and one of my friends did the head gasket on the bike, so I thought I'd take a couple of photos of the 400 without an engine.

Ian with the engine - isn't that sweet, it's so diddy.









Some excellent news - I do have the high compression pistons I believed to be in there, so now it's not just speculation based on performance.



Breakfast time, at half five in the afternoon.





Rode her to work and back today (Yatesbury to Ogbourne St. Andrew), and she feels fine. The chain was too tight after I put the back wheel back on in a rush today, and the idle adjust screw wasn't even acting on the carbs, so it tended to stall, but that's a tweak to adjust, and I redid the chain tension again this evening, hopefully that'll be much better.

Did however have to get a bump start from a tatooed YZF rider in Fyfield station this afternoon, after discovering that there was no idle setting and stalling at the pump. If you're on here, thanks muchly!

[bobf279]

glad your rolling again well done

[R1chie]

Good work Vard-meister

[jonnydangerous]

best way! rip into it, do the work yourself, and feel gooooooooooooood when she flies :-)

well done fella, be nice to see it out....can you male the rideout sunday?????....be good to chat about the "Future Mods" were gonna do.... ;-)

JayDee.

[Geordie Stu]

Holy crap wouldn't know where to begin

Good job [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

[rich1988]

I think it was mostly luck that its working correctly

[Vard66]

lol

Rich may sadly be right - I may not have put the cam cap dowel back in, so I need to whip the cam cover off to have a look - it's rather like wondering if you've left the oven on, only you've got to go home and then take the oven apart to find out if it's still on or not.

I reckon by doing the job myself, I've probably saved somewhere between £400 and £600 in labour costs, and a good 10 or 20% on parts cost, as I get them at less than trade.

So it's definitely worth getting stuck in, tbh.

*Edit* Ah, Rideout, I knew there was something else I meant to cover in this post.

Probably not, Jay. I'm Airsofting during the day out in Purton, and in the evening I'll be taking the cam cover off to double check there's a dowel in there. If there isn't, I'll have to source one and fit it before I'll be comfortable riding it again. I've got until Thursday to get it done, as that's when my car insurance expires and doesn't renew, so it's not a desperate rush.

Sure the oil feed to the head will be still there, but it won't be directed at the cams, like it should be, and that's a risk I'd rather not take.
I don't need an excuse for the ZX4 cams.

8-)