On two wheels again from south africa - Whats the low down?

[Animammel]

Hey guys

Chris from South Africa (yip another one)

So bought an 88 model ZX400 last night. Been looking for a project bike to tinker on throughout the year as I have been desperate to get on two wheels again, the scooter aint giving me many smiles but it is helping the pocket.

Sooo... I am not new to the restorative side of things having restored my last Suzuki RG 125 and a mini which I have all sadly sold but It has been a while from the bike scene.
I get by mechanically and a lot better in the body and paint area.

My previous pocket rocket...



1. Any advice on the ZX400 G that I bought. What could I/should I do to the bike that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg and what things could I look to do if I do run into some cash? please voice your opinions.

2. Is there a manual for the bike mostly looking for a wiring diagram?

Here's the bike as I bought it, not running at the moment but have tinkered a bit with the old man and it seems to be electrics that have been botched. Turns over decent enough though. Will play some more on my break tomorrow.



I will be starting a build thread soon and restore the bike fully from the ground up. Keep well guys.
Chris

[CrazyChris]

Hahaha. Hi Chris. Chris here. Looks like the guys are selling the zx400g's alot these days. bought mine about a week and a half ago. Looks like all my stuff is in working order though. Just bought it stripped. Manual is very scarce although there is a thread on here somewhere in connection with that. Manual is in Japanese unfortunately. Where abouts SA are you from?

Regards
The other Chris

[Animammel]

Hey chris haha

In cape town, yourself?

Wiring is the issue at the moment and a small little factor of the spark plug thread being stripped on one cylinder so taking it to be machined tomorrow. Bike being stripped and EVERYTHING being labeled and put away.

I saw your post so reading it now.

Regards

[CrazyChris]

I'm from Joburg actually. Struggling myself. Quick question. What is the code on your spark plugs? Didn't get any with mine

[Animammel]

NGK CR9EK I just bought four for R95 ea so not too bad. they are dual tipped.

[CrazyChris]

Dual tipped. Interesting. That means better combustion. Still need to get. Hopefully they are the same price this side. The only thing that bothers me after that will be what pegrol to run. My one friend rides a 95 ZX7R and he reckons lrp is a must

[Animammel]

it does indeed, but right now I will take any combustion.

LRP? - I forget its so old, has quite a bit of tech so Im hoping unleaded, so used to asking for unleaded. good question though, ask the forum, I havnt found anything online.

I have taken the head off and getting it machined tomorrow (hopefully) and I will ask them what it takes.

[CrazyChris]

Apparently it can run on both but using unleaded you loose a bit of power. Gonna ask my father in law when he is back. Petro chemical engineer so he should know.

[Animammel]

Sweet let us know

[CrazyChris]

Hey dude. How is the bike coming along? Bit of feedback on the petrol issue. The guys at my local Kawasaki dealership said the highest octane possible. So in our case it would be 95 Unleaded. My bike is close to done so will make sure.

Quick question though. the filler cap for the radiator, how does it mount on ours? I see on the ZXR400 it is a part of the radiator but not ours.

Regards
Chris

[Animammel]

Il check, glad that its unleaded.

Broken crank - struggling to get a replacement part for the right price.

Will get back to you

[CrazyChris]

Thanks bud. Struggling with the wiring on mine. And of course the routing of the radiator pipes

[banner001]

FYI guys, im pretty sure that the zxr400 (and as yours is based on that) is designed to work with 92 RON unleaded petrol, unless you have a high-compression engine you wont see any benefit from using a higher octane number.

likewise with the lead replacement, im pretty sure that the valves are hardened so you dont need lead for wear-reduction, and as petrol already has a high RON you dont need to use lead replacement as an octane-booster.

92 RON minimum, no lrp, bikes will run just fine

[CrazyChris]

Thanks Banner. Its just our fuel is a lot more inferior than you guys get. 95 in south africa is about the same as your 92. Or so I have heard