L2 Track Bitsa

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kawizard

L2 Track Bitsa

Post by kawizard »

Good morning all,

Just thought I’d post something on here, it’s been a long time!
I finished my H2 restoration a fair while back and it’s now safely tucked away in the man-cave.
H2 finished.JPG
With the lockdown in force, my NC30 restoration has halted just before I can finish it...
IMG_1668.PNG
so I’ve started assembling an L2 track bike from spare parts I acquired over the years.
I had a spare engine and I acquired a cheap frame some years ago - it had no V5 or reg with it and a dent in the side. I managed to get the dent out, then got on to Yodi who did a HPI check from the frame number. This meant the project was worth pursuing with this frame...
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Last edited by kawizard on Tue Apr 21, 2020 11:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
kawizard

Re: L2 Track Bitsa

Post by kawizard »

So this is the collection of parts ready for me to start the project...
IMG_1173 2.JPG
In the absence of powder coating I’ve decided to rattle an the frame and swingarm with some silver wheel paint. This horrified me a bit but it’s come out nicely but it’s not very durable as you can imagine... it’s the best I can do at the moment! I fitted new swingarm bearings and a spare shock for my GSXR1000 K2 which fitted just about.
IMG_1302.JPG
Since this point I’ve got the front end and the exhaust on. The rear wheel is in along with the subframe. I’ll turn my attention to the electrics and the engine now and I get more bits off eBay.
IMG_1577.JPG
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kawizard

Re: L2 Track Bitsa

Post by kawizard »

I managed to acquire some manky Beet rearsets...
IMG_1595.jpg
IMG_1596.jpg
but after an afternoon in the garden these have cleaned up nicely!
IMG_1598.JPG
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kawizard

Re: L2 Track Bitsa

Post by kawizard »

The engine is cleaned up now, just some degreaser and a paint brush with a bit of copper wire brushing for the bad areas...
IMG_1398.JPG
The sump plug had been crossthreaded by the last owner of the engine.. so I just replaced it with a spare sump and new gasket and I’ll sort out the old one later. This at least allowed me to inspect the internals a little and everything looked okay up there. I need to make some blanking plates for the oil cooler ports...
IMG_1568.JPG
I have two sets of carbs, one set it in bits so I’ll get them cleaned and rebuilt over this week, I’d like to keep the other set assembled as spares.
My overall plan is to get this thing running and built then just develop the bike over time, making it as light as possible with the power increased.
And by the way, a bitsa is a great way to addd another bike to the garage under the Mrs’ radar.
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banner001
Track day God
Track day God
Posts: 2584
Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2011 3:27 pm
My Bike: ZXR400 L4
Location: Nuneaton

Re: L2 Track Bitsa

Post by banner001 »

:excited
UK ZXR400 L3 (1993) - Fully restored and on the roads, my green beast!
JPN ZXR250 A2 (1990) - Revs to 19,200rpm... 'nuff said :smt003
kawizard

Re: L2 Track Bitsa

Post by kawizard »

So last night I started cleaning the carbs up, the jets were in a right state so I’m not surprised someone flogged them!
IMG_1695.jpg
I stripped these years ago with the intention of rebuilding them and never got round to it. But after reassembly of all the clean bits I was happy that the carbs were good to go... however... when I put the choke slider back on I discovered that all the choke plungers were jammed.
With a soaking of WD40 I managed to free them all up this morning but damaged one of the plungers in the process - found a second hand one in good nick on eBay for £9 so happy days.
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MRLZXR400
Posts: 75
Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2018 7:31 am
My Bike: ZXR400

Re: L2 Track Bitsa

Post by MRLZXR400 »

H2 looks fantastic and I’ve always had a soft spot for the NC30.
Great work.
Mark
1999 Kawasaki ZXR400 UK L9, 1960 Triumph Tiger Cub, 1996 Ducati 748, 1999 Aprilia RS125 2T.
kawizard

Re: L2 Track Bitsa

Post by kawizard »

Thanks Mark!
See you have a L9 and a 748 I see, what a garage. The 748 though... that’s my dream bike right there. What colour is it? I will own one some day!
Jack
MRLZXR400
Posts: 75
Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2018 7:31 am
My Bike: ZXR400

Re: L2 Track Bitsa

Post by MRLZXR400 »

Hi Jack,
Yes it’s an early 1996 748 in red with only 7,000 miles on her, stunning condition, spent most of its life in someone’s front room.
It’s quite a special bike because at that time Ducati was owned by Cagiva and when they first started production of the 916 and 748 there was a fire in the Ducati factory in Bologna.
They were determined to launch the new bike they moved production temporarily to the Cagiva factory in Varese and built the bikes by hand until they’d sorted out the problems in Bologna.
Those bikes have the Cagiva elephant logo on the tank filler and embossed in to the Brembo wheels.
Mine is one of those, it’s no better a bike than the others but it makes for an interesting bit of history,

Are you yellow or red?

Mark
1999 Kawasaki ZXR400 UK L9, 1960 Triumph Tiger Cub, 1996 Ducati 748, 1999 Aprilia RS125 2T.
kawizard

Re: L2 Track Bitsa

Post by kawizard »

Oh wow proper interesting one then! My old mans mate has the 748R, if it was mine it would be wrapped in cotton wool but he commutes on it! Costs him a fortune! I have to say I always think Ducati’s should be red but 748 in yellow for me!
MRLZXR400
Posts: 75
Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2018 7:31 am
My Bike: ZXR400

Re: L2 Track Bitsa

Post by MRLZXR400 »

OMG, there are soooooo many reasons why I couldn’t commute on my 748.
To be absolutely honest, I love the Ducati to bits but if I had to keep one bike it would be the ZXR400 every time.
1999 Kawasaki ZXR400 UK L9, 1960 Triumph Tiger Cub, 1996 Ducati 748, 1999 Aprilia RS125 2T.
MRLZXR400
Posts: 75
Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2018 7:31 am
My Bike: ZXR400

Re: L2 Track Bitsa

Post by MRLZXR400 »

.....no, it would be the Street Triple.
But then again....
1999 Kawasaki ZXR400 UK L9, 1960 Triumph Tiger Cub, 1996 Ducati 748, 1999 Aprilia RS125 2T.
kawizard

Re: L2 Track Bitsa

Post by kawizard »

My family kindly posted me the back brake for my Honda, with this I managed to change the clutch and I finally got it finished so that’s out the way at least! Now I’m back onto the Kawasaki and a whole bunch of parts have arrived after my post-wages EBay spree. I’ve finally got a radiator, hoses and wiring loom and they looked in great condition at first glance. I’ll be cleaning up the parts today - but I had a peak inside the rad cap this morning and it’s loaded with funky orange gunge... so that’s the next challenge
kawizard

Re: L2 Track Bitsa

Post by kawizard »

Thought I’d stick an update on here.
Got the rad cleaned and had to change my thermostat (jammed)... it’s a pain that you have to buy the whole unit and the oring isn’t replaceable.
I’ve rebuilt the old knackered set of carbs I had, this was tough... the choke plungers were all seized and these carbs had been dropped, cracking the cyl1 throttle body and diaphragm cap. I swapped out the body for a good used One and changed the cap for the rebuild.
I had some Delkevic headers lying around so I’ve bolted them on for now with the standard end can. I’ve got standard hoses for the coolant and I’ve made some oil cooler blanking plates from 8mm ally plate (I also made two gaskets from gasket paper with a scalpel and a hole punch).
My dad donated a spare battery which was lucky and after repairing the fuel tap she fires up like a beaut. Carbs need balancing though!
I’ve sourced a cheap set of race fairings and also some KTech fork springs off eBay.
I got a box of bits for a steal at £20 which included a new Taubaki RPRO chain And sprocket cover. I’ve also gone for a pipercross air filter - they look really trick and nicely packaged.
So pending tasks are carb balance, rebuild of the brakes, Fork rebuild, bodywork repairs/paint and I’m going to swap out my Gixxer shocker for a serviced standard unit with an updated spring (or I might just plunge for a Nitron).
kawizard

Re: L2 Track Bitsa

Post by kawizard »

Also... I’m looking at the new Tyga race exhaust system now online... anyone got one of these?
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