Winter 'cat project

First topic message reminder :

Figured i'd start a thread here i couldn't see a dedicated "Projects" section and will help me document any/all work done to this thing.
I'm riding my gpz through the winter so this is likely going to sit for a while



As i do with pretty much any vehicle i buy i normally strip it down to make sure there aren't any hidden surprises, which i've started doing on the 'cat.

First things first was replacing the pads that were worn down to the plate. Easy right?



well.. an easy job of cleaning up the pistons and putting new pads in turn into a right 'mare when one of the pistons popped out :( I've rebuilt both calipers now with new seals and bled the brakes through (both stupid jobs due to being a one piece caliper as well as having 4 pistons either side of the wheel)



test ride has been done and brakes didn't fail.. must have done something right    

Next issue, one of the bolts holding the front mudguard on has sheared and looks to have been glued in to hide it. I'l have a go at drilling it out but i recon the monkey that did it cross threaded it which is why is snapped.

Oil change and full fairing removal happening before christmas

little update

its almost MOT time and im not 100% sure this is going to pass due to the front discs having a sizable lip :( its going to hurt buying 2 new discs for the front, thats for sure.

I managed to drill out the 2 stuck/snapped bolts yesterday which actually went fairly easily due to the china fairing bolts being made from cheese. If they were stainless bolts, like the ones i am replacing the lot with it would have been a real hassle.

All i need to do now before the MOT is to remember how to put all the fairing on and get the lines matching up as best as possible.
Hints/Tips on the fair | place the buy cheaper discs welcome

Machine/grind the lip off?

I had considered that but they're just within spec. It would probably cost a bit to get it done properly which is money better spent elsewhere.

Think I'm just going to go for it Replacing the disc bolts at the same time

pro-lite x discs ordered along with new EBC HH pads and 12 new disc bolts. i am poor now -_-

little update

got the front discs and new pads swapped over this weekend not really much fuss at all.

i'd recently put new pads on(and rebled the calipers after rebuilding them) using the old discs and when i removed them this weekend i noticed just how bad the situation was.. the pads i put on were evidently taller than the ones that came off. the pads were contacting the lip on the upper and lower part of the disc.... the main meat of the pads weren't actually making contact with the discs so i had 8mm of disc height making contact with the pads on either side of the wheel!! the upper and lower lip was essentially creating a groove in the pads.

Good thing i'd only done about 5 miles on them.

OLD:


NEW:


Went for the first proper ride on this thing yesterday to bed the brakes in. A mate and i went up to H-Cafe which we'd been wanting to do for a while now.

Got to say im pretty impressed at the acceleration of it. It can be a bit of a faff getting off the line compared to my kawa twin but once you start getting a shift on you're doing 100+ without even realising it!

Next job is to service the carbs and throttle/return cables. Oh and the MOT tomorrow

bloody brakes apparently due to all my focus on the front discs/fairing/exhaust work i missed various cracks in the rear discs and that the pads are almost out of service limit failed on the rear brakes and not having a reflector on the back (which just gets taken off 2 mins down the bloody road anyway). I don't mind it failing but im annoyed at myself for not spotting it earlier

New EBC rear discs, HH pads and new dot 4 on order now which will hopefully arrive before the re-test date. Expensive month for the ol 'cat

Expensive indeed.

Make sure you get your money's worth out of it this year

Cheers
Rosco

Rosco wrote:Expensive indeed.

Make sure you get your money's worth out of it this year

Cheers
Rosco

Too right. Providing it goes through fine on tuesday it will be the main bike

Afternoon ladies n gents.

The ol cat passed its MOT with only 1 advisory which was the loud exhaust no way round that really. I've been using it to commute to work most of the month now and something has started to bug me a bit..

a whiny noise (see attached video). It rides fine, pulls like a train up to well beyond the national limit and generally works well but theres this damn whiny noise like its a straight cut 'box (which its obviously not). Is this box on its way out or is it likely to something like a clutch release bearing?

noise pretty much goes away with the clutch in and is less apparent under load/accelerating but happens at any speed from the sounds of it.

Does anyone elses 'cat sound like this?

https://youtu.be/YJSLobwDj_c

I couldn't hear anything out the ordinary, but then my hearing's not that good. The gear box does normally whine a bit, making more noise during de-acceleration. Yamaha seemed to made the noise worse with their newer models, my Tracer doesn't half make a clatter when the clutch is pulled in and it whines at higher revs .

I might be on the wrong track here, your idling don't sound right. Possibly it's just a pet niggle of mine, my 'cat sounded like that and often worse, had to give some beans on pull off  - I could never get it right, all the mechies I took it to disagreed with me saying it was the carbs. Eventually it wore me down and I traded it in. A few months later I asked the mechy what had he done to the bike, initially he didn't want to tell me but I was standing next to the shop owner and workshop manager - he said he had to rebuild the carbs. I do think mine were a basket case, but maybe something to look at.
Are my eyes deceiving me, that a high mileage you got there?

I posted a similar thread, turns out to be three things rolled into one noisy problem
1/ Cat gearboxes are noisy!!!!
2/ Original front sprockets were rubber coated, pattern ones aren't.
3/ tight chain doesn't help.
In the end I took mine in to the mechy, he said no worries about the noise and slackened the chain off so it is just touching the swing arm with the bike upright & no-one sat on it.
Of course you realise all this won't stand up in a court of law if I'm wrong

idle exhaust note is.. what it is  im pretty sure its the carbs that need a clean and re-balance as you said.  Its something i will tackle soon enough once i can spare a hundred or so for the float/gaskets/jets

i do need a bit more revs to pull away most of the time as its clearly a bit dirty in the idle/lower throttle circuit but pulls fine once moving. Its just ticked over to 36k miles or so which isnt too bad


I'm glad to hear others confirming that these cat boxes are a bit noisey, makes me less paranoid. My chain is probably on the tight side as i had an advisory for it being too slack.

just seen this post, i to have the same paint on my bike and did think it was a one off paint job. was it a limited edition painted cat.

I think you have after market fairings fitted.

SteveCat wrote:I think you have after market fairings fitted.

thanks for your reply Steve, you are 100% correct. when i purchased the bike i was told this and that's why i thought it was a one off paint job.

yes indeed aftermarket (chinabay) fairing kit. I believe they're reps of the yamaha 50th anniversary livery. Yours looks like its missing the tank bit though

oh yes, that looks good not a cat though. best thing i have seen from chinabay must buy a couple of those kits. i can put up with tank bits missing (overload)

today i did crash it

watching it slide down to road is not something i want to repeat. I'l post some pics of what it looks like but as it stand i need a new left crash bung, mirrror, generator cover and fairing. bar end and gear selector.

not a nice feeling at all, hope you are OK

Sorry to here that Dan. However, the bike can be repaired. Hope you are ok and unhurt. Body parts are a bit more difficult to fix and put right.

You'll have her right as reign soon enough.

Sorry to hear that bud, hope you are ok. Bike can be fixed by the sound of things

That's not good at all, I don't think your far from me so if you need parts then I can give you my address and you can have a dig through the spares in the shed.

Aw crap.

Sorry to hear that mate.

Been there done that and don't want to repeat it either.
Good luck with the restoration and hope you mend well too.

What happened?

Cheers
Rosco

thanks Folks. I'm alright, bit of a bash on the head and my left shoulder has been a bit iffy this last weekend but i'l live. Replacement lid is now on the way.

The bike lives too. I actually rode it 150 miles the following day to go fishing off the coast. It rides straight, just looks a bit shit now.

I've ordered R&G bungs to replace these ones, typically i found a listing for the generic ones i have on AFTER i ordered the R&Gs, a replacement shifter mech has been ordered too.
I've already replaced the generator cover as i had a spare one donated by a friend a few weeks ago! A brand new (old stock i think) yamaha oem cover that cost a lot more than it should new and i got it for free, result.

So far i still need a left mirror and a rear indicator. The indicators are aftermarket ones which i can't seem to find again so im thinking of reverting it back to the stock indicator set up

The fairing, given its an ebay aftermarket jobby with non-oem graphics is going to be more difficult to find so i'm just going to leave them as reminder not to be stupid  to add insult, not once but TWICE i forget i had the disc lock on and wheeled the bike back to a resulting crunching sound. So now the front wheel fairing has a split on both sides.. twat

Some pics:









If anyone has a set of rear indicators or a mirror let me know, i has cash waiting

Cheers

I may be able to help. I've got both the bits you need but they aren't in mint condition. One mirror is missing the Base (cause i couldn't get it off my bike lol) but easy enough to swap. They are a bit scratched though?

The rear indicators both work and are in alright condition but one of them has had the connectors cut of so might need a bit of wire adding? Or maybe you could use them to repair current ones?

Either way they're yours for the price of postage if ya interested

Ah that's perfect man, thank you! Does the mirror without the base have glass?

Sent you a msg