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Garbone, In reference to your' float valve "clicking". Look at the adjustment tang on your' float. high mileage bikes sometimes wear a pit at needle valve contact.this area needs be smooth to allow smooth/consistant sealing. if this is your' case, the float can sometimes be salvaged via flattening via drift/arbor, and filing smooth. of course, a new float, and valve set would be best. as to cam end plug leak, I strongly rec. helicoil or better time-sert repair. with any luck you'll see numerous valve adjusts/inspections, My 2 cents luck G

Took a second look at the float and such and it looks fine.. Hopefully adjustment was all it needed.

Replaced my cam cover gasket today.. Went rather easy and no more leaks.. I got a longer bolt for the one stripped hole on the end and put a nut on the bottom.. I will put a cert or heli coil in next time I have to get at the valves, as it is I am tight on money for the budget.

Removed all the emissions hoses and capped the holes and such. Looks pretty nice.

The bomber was running low on gas (I spilled some from the tanks silly me...) So after I had everything back together I took her down to the gas station. Ran out of gas 100ft from the station and had to push.

Fueled up and on the way back she started to miss and stall if I raised the revs.. Pulled over and checked fuel and that looked good but when I went to use the ES it was very sluggish and would not start.

I turned it off for a minute and fiddled with the petcock, I am waiting for my new used petcock to arrive in the mail and this old one leaves me wondering.. After a bit I figured the battery had build up a surface charge and using the kicker she started right up. Still I would get hesitation over 3k rpm so I nursed her the 3 blocks home.

I have the battery (it is a new battery) on the charger now but am wondering if I have a bad regulator or alternator. I will have to look into it Sunday if I get time..

Well a busy weekend was had last week so not much progress.

Looked into what I thought was a charging issue and have come to a conclusion that it is a crap petcock fuel supply issue (still waiting for the new petcock to come in the mail).. Ran the bike and it appears the machine will charge well at over 1500 RPM so I should be OK once I start riding it more.

Got a new decelerator cable today in the mail.. Its fittings are black, not the chrome of my throttle cable.. Oh well, at least I can tell em apart..

Went to Walmart today a got some 20-50 fossil oil, a can of spray primer and 2 cans of Black Satin Rustoleum paint.

Yes folks, that right, I have decided to go the cheap route and rattle can the bike black. Started by sanding, priming and painting the new rear fender and side panels today.

I also pulled off the right side crash bar and starting to take measurements for building a sub frame.. Looks pretty straight forward but I am still trying to run down a welder since the ones I have found so far a $70 an hour...


When I check the mail today got an invitation to my Aunt and Uncles 50th wedding Anniversary in Maine this July.
Talked to the wife and we are in agreement that if I can get the rig right it will be time for a road trip... This should be epic.... What could go wrong?

List of things left to do...

Petcock......
Finish the paint job
Brake Rebuild (all of em)
Muffler
Test rides and tuning up
Attach and wire the tub
Test with tub and possibly gear the bike down to tow thing...

Well,, more sanding and painting today, have to finish the gas tank and front fender and then I am done with my shoddy job.

Pulled apart the gauges today, I need to replace all 4 bulbs. I am thinking of putting in LEDs so I will not have to worry about about going into them in the future. It seems the 2 lower bulbs are chromed/tinted. Is this intentional or just some former owners doings?

Started to pull apart the front brakes also, I will try the rebuild on the right hand one and hope that works. Still waiting for my hoses to arrive.

I got a bunch of stuff finished since my last post.

Forks:

When changing fork oil Warning Contents under pressure...

Removed the drain plug from my left front fork today. Vile smelly oil shot 6 ft across the room and all over my leg and foot.. WTF.... Quite a bit of oil also..

The right fork behaved better, not shooting a mad stream.

Too refill the tubes I used my head to ensure domestic tranquility.. Took the wifes measuring cup and measured out 5.6oz of water in an empty Coke bottle, marking the level with a Sharpie and used that to measure my refill levels.

Brakes

Pulled apart the right front brake caliper. Looked as if water had got to is and there was a bit of corrosion on the ring that holds the boot on. This corrosion had contaminated the piston and the seal so I think the good cleaning I did will restore things back to normal. Coated the boot ring with some marine grease and I hope that prevent any further incidents.

Replaced my front brake lines and started the bleeding process as well.

It appears the spare master cylinder I got with the bike is defective as the top leaks, so I will keep on with the round top one.. It has 5/8 cast on the bottom so I think I am OK. Still need a new brake lever though.

Paint

Finished my rattle can paint job.. Looks decent but not spectacular by any means. Reinstalled the front fender after doing my brakes, the end of the major work for this project is in sight. Will put the tank back on and try to get some pictures Monday. Maybe even make a test run.

I am waiting on my new Petcock setup from Z1 to arrive, can't wait to get this thing on the road and down to the muffler shop.

Heyo,,, took some pictures today..

I still have some tweaking to do to the gauges, installation of my new Petcock and bleeding of the brakes. Hopefully it will run like a champ.

If not I will have to probably pull the carbs and adjust them as well as do a compression test.

Also did some goofing around with the camera made my first ever video... Enjoy the poor production quality...

This is an awsome build, i like it alot. The royal enfield sounds awsome also.

Thanks for stopping in, I enjoy this type of thing and find that sharing helps the proccess along. Sometimes it helps to write about my issues and I solve em before I finish typing.

OK on to today's progress. Replaced the much hated junk Petcock with a unit from Z1 today and I am very happy to report that the majority of my problems look like the stem from that old petcock.

Cleaned out the tank, I thought I could hear rust rattling around in there.. It turned out to be white chunks of the material lining my tank, probably a previous owner doing some work to preserve the tank.

I have to do some work on the chain as it is very loose (touching the center stand) and needs lube. I will probably replace it and the sprockets before our road trip. I have to count my teeth so I know what I want.

One thing I noticed on my ride it that the bike likes to be revved over 3.5k to get smooth low speed power with a lot of clutch to get going. It does not have the low end torque I am used to with my 500cc thumper. This could also be because of the tuning and gear ratios on the drive chain.

Any input on how this machine is should perform would be appreciated.

I Think the lack of low end tourqe is due to the bad chain and sprocket. I have a 77 kz 650b and it has good low end tourqe. After you replace the chain and sprockets i think you will be pleasently suprised. How loose is the chain? Can it be adjusted anymore? Ore is it at the end of the adjusters on the swingarm?

Next to your single cylinder bike the 650 will seem weak at low revs. These motors are meant to turn, try shifting at 4,500 or 5,000. Now if the bike seems to hesitate when you roll on the throttle, or sputters, or dogs at high speeds that could be a tuning issue. If your bike dosen't run smoothly and idle reliably then I would be concerned. The spark plugs are also a good indicator of the fuel mixture. Not a bad idea to have a look at your point gaps as well.


If you discover the bike is running lean your exhaust mod may fix that problem somewhat. Bottom line, the 650 should run circles around the Enfield.

I think part of the problem is me in that I am used to running the lower revs of the RE as opposed to what the KZ probably likes. That coupled with I have not had brakes so I really am hesitant to wind it out at all.

Took the bike down to the Muffler shop this morning and the front brakes have finally firmed up to the point they actually work well. I guess it just takes patience to bleed them, as they burp and get a little better every day.

I have about 1/4 of the adjustment remaining on my chain and will adjust and lube it as well as perform oil & filter change after work today. Then I plan on taking the beast out for a nice high speed shakedown as I have not had it over 35mph yet or run it for over 15 minutes.


4 hours and 45 minutes till I am off work... Not that I am counting.......

Well, my machine has a nice new tractor muffler installed. Its pretty quiet compared to the no muffler setup before.

Took it out on the road after an oil change and chain adjust and lube. The oil was a nice dark tan leather color and the old filter was filthy, probably due to sitting for a year or so without running. Glad I changed it.

My chain actually was not that loose, upon closer examination it is rubbing on the center stand but the slack is within limits after a slight adjustment. I think the stand might be missing a grommet or something.

I am getting used to starting off with the higher revs and the way the clutch works.

Its nice and quiet and I do not have trouble until I wind it up past 4k rpm in 4th or 5th gear.. It seems to get winded and not want to go much faster. Can't seem to get it past 65 to 70 mph. I imagine its a jetting issue and I will have to pull my carbs.. Any suggestions on what to do? At the moment I don't even know what jets I am running.

I was at first thinking it might be the new muffler restricting the exhaust but I can rev it up to 7k in lower gears so that leads me to think its a lack of fuel/power and not exhaust restriction.

I know I have to check points gap and condition and plug gap and condition before pulling the carbs as well.

Of note is the fact that the muffler might just be in the way of my hack subframe and need to be moved.. I will be working on the subframe next week. Gotta run down materials (tubing and clamps to attach it to the bike). I think I can get my muffle guy to weld it up for me, so things are moving along nicely.

I will get some pictures Thursday as its raining out now and not the best photo weather.. Might even get a video of the KZ running to demo the muffler.