I chose the Mikuni (thanks to Weldangrind) for a few reasons. One, when I bought my first one, it's a nicely done carb. Machining was superior to the PZ I took off. Mostly though because of the availability of jetting. I'll be measuring the carbs to compare and post my findings.

Rust...then starts wearing grooves on the bolts..

Thank you very much for this info. I had visions that there were bearings going dry in there (like crunchy...mann). That sounds easy.

I still am waiting for rear wheel assy so I will be sure to address that while it's disassembled.

I hope you vets don't get tired of re-hashing this info year after year to us noobs! :hi:

More pics
 

Just a couple more pics that finally showed up from the stars overnight.

This was the basic condition of the bar paint overall, not just under the switch gear. Not sure about anyone else's. Fixed now.

Also, I found out why the stock plastic license plate frame was rattling like hell before it broke in half, leaving it on the road. Apparently, the factory plate holder doesn't accommodate US license plates and they drilled them at CSC to mount the dealer plates. Not the greatest job. Had to bust out the Dremel to fix when my plate arrived in the mail. No way it was going to mount.

So cool! I haven't seen a teardown like this in some time.


A sideways H-shaped license plate holder might last longer and protect the plate better; an unsupported plate can crack. I can't remember - do you have a welder?


The vacuum port on your intake tube would be very useful for tuning. A vacuum gauge can tell you a lot about jetting, valves, etc.

Thanks Weld! So far, it's been a ton of fun. These CG's are like wrenching on a one cylinder Panhead and the Hondoid itself, not much has changed but wow...things do fit and bolt together much better than on the CB's a decade ago! No need to keep a drill handy anymore! LOL!

yeah butt, on loose grav,wet grass, or 1/4 " mud or better, that front is washout city!
immediately swapped mine for a tr8, diff between 'chit and chocolate:)
first thing you notice, stock tire is wayyyyy lighter, thinner walled, definitely 80/20 90/10 road biased tire. if that's what you ride, you'll b happy. if you want to follow your buddies/ kids "OUT THERE", swap it out and save yourself some headaches, (and various other contusion caused pains). Also, as my mechanic said when he saw the stock tube, "looks like a mountain bike's!"

The TR8 in front transformed my bike. now feels VERY solid and planted on road. It may make the bike a hair slower, but the feel of security and added confidence is worth it for me. no increased vibration, or noise to me.
Rear seems ok for now while I'm breaking in, but the difference in profile, aspect and traction between the stock rear and the Hawk's knobby is DRAMATIC.

2LZ, now that your naked, so to speak, you can grease connectors and tape them up for waterproofing. (Not speaking to you , you taught the course).

I greased my swing arm bolt and rechecked the valves also today (2nd time easier now that I didn't have to us a Sawzall and a weld and grind routine like the first time). Set them both at .008mm

Also noticed a broken angle iron mount for the mid pipe to the muffler. Will have to weld err up. Found a few wires trying to comment suicide on the hot engine too. Can't take anything for granted with these scoots.

Thanks again

2LZ... would you consider a light coat of clear satin or gloss now that the frame is so exposed for additional rust proofing. Oops, I forgot you are in california, no rust!

wondering if I could install a zerk grease fitting on the swing arm to make greasing easy

I'm sure it can be done but the grease sits mainly under the cups on the bushings. The main pivot axle just passes thru the swingarm. I was going to put a light coating of grease on it just to ensure its removal next time around, not for any actual pivoting purposes. The cups and bushings take car of that.

Like I said in a prior post, I had an old Yamaha swingarm pivot bolt rust in place, thanks to the creek I grew up on. It took a big hammer and an Ohio Speed Wrench to bash it out. It didn't make it.....but at least I could then replace it.

Smog
 

Last night wasn't too productive but I got some done. Work nights with our schedule make for short wrenching, especially Mondays.

After gutting the purge canister, air pump and all the other schmise, it was time to plug the head hole. I took some of that angle iron I made the Rhino hitch out of and cut a small piece for a plate. Luck would have it that it was just slightly thicker than the pre-existing piece so it all worked out. Some bench grinder and wire wheel work, a little high temp paint and viola! Plate.

When I removed the original hose inlet, just a skin of the gasket came away with it so I put a light coating of high temp copper (header) silicone on the new plate and sealed her shut. No more smog!...and no worries about possibly baking the packing in my new muffler.

Check out this on the Watt-Man website, people are doing similar things to their KLR 650s... I'm sure grease fittings can get put on our China Bikes also ;)

http://www.watt-man.com/uploads/ZerkInstallation.pdf

Forks Fluid
 

I have to give it up to Zongshen for quality control on this one. Only on Q, have I ever had a CB that had the exact same amount of fluid in each fork. After draining each fork down to the "one drop per second" count, I was amazed at the results. 320 cc's from each fork. Of course, there's always about 10cc or so left behind so I just added 320cc's of my favorite Bel Ray 10W to each fork and called it done. FYI- the stock fluid seemed fair but had a funny smell. I'm glad it's changed.

Then, this morning I woke up thinking it would be a great disservice to our humble community here if I didn't attempt to repair the "leaky adjuster screw" some of us have. My right one has been weeping. I'll be looking at that tonight to see what I can see.

Valves
 

As feared, like all other CG motors I've had, the valves from the factory were tight. The intake came in at about .02mm at the most, and the exhaust came in at about .04mm, max. It was a TIGHT .04.

As usual, I did .05mm on the intake and .08mm on the exhaust. No more worries.