Heeeeere we go (again)
So I picked up this 85 RZ last thursday-
Story was this....
Seller bought it from the original owner after the original owner (a road racer) blew the engine. The bike had been sitting for years after the engine blew so Seller bought it from him and rebuilt the top end.
He claimed to be an engine builder, tossing out drag racer names etc etc. "I got a shop, Hayabusa, ZX14, etc, blah, blah, blah"
So he explained to me that he bored it out- really?
How much?
He couldn't tell me/remember, he just started rambling off bullshit numbers.
Bike fired up easily and ran fine, but it was dirty. Smoked liked a two stroke should- a little noisy....
Then I asked him about how much you have to disassemble the rear cowl just to fill the oil tank- He looked at me as if I had asked him how many quarters do you need to make a stack of quarters three feet high. OH FUG ME I thought to myself.
So I started to do some serious thinking about other RZ's for sale elsewhere.
We haggled a bit- came to an agreement, made the exchange and I got the hell out of there without the "new bike" feeling.
When I got to Chattanooga Squidwerd was waiting for me and we went to work immediately. I was amazed at what I found inside.
It was pretty damn dirty considering how clean the external parts were...
Spiderwebs (with spiders) all up under it,
gravy came out of the case seriously GRAVY- that explained why the engine was a tad louder than it should have been.
Turns out the oil pump was being bypassed. Which explained why the tank was bone dry. (Note the leaking exhaust gasket)
Of course Seller didn't know what the hell I was talking about when I asked about the oil, so he sure as hell didn't know what pre-mix ratios would mean.
So with that in mind Squidwerd and I drained the gas tank- cause who knows what is in it.
We thought ahead just enough to drain a sample from the petcock into a clear Aquafina bottle and let it settle. Saw a nice layer of very clear possibly water at the bottom of the bottle and then a layer of what I suspect was non pre-mix gasoline.
So we left the tank open for evaporation overnight-
We cleaned the K&N stacks, flushed the lower case with transmission fluid- then put some short term oil in it, flushed the coolant system and topped it off again. Cleaned the spark plugs, lubed the chain, and gave the spiders a serious acid bath.
So it seems that the seller bought this RZ two years ago shined it up got it running made it great- then let it sit for two years basically untouched.
The next day after adding some fresh pre-mix, Squid and I rode out for some lunch just a few miles from the garage (with a truck on standby).
The bike did great to lunch, and on the way back I decided to open it up and see what the engine could do.
The tires are old crap and the suspension is garbage, but in a straight line at 30mph just under the powerband at 5000 RPM in first gear I whacked the throttle -- the rear tire spun up the back end went sideways and just as the rear grabbed traction the front end came off the ground. So yeah - two strokes do indeed kick ass.
So - We loaded it back in the truck and I took the bike all the way back to Nashville-
Got some in depth work started and began to feel much better about the purchase-
Even took some glamour shots -
Fortunately- I seem to have a solid powerplant in a clean platform, but lots of work to do with tires, brakes and suspension at least that's what I thought.....
Then I began to notice that every time I put that bike on the sidestand it seemed to be at a different angle (steeper).
So I put it up on the centerstand and start to tug on it to ensure it isn't loose
and thats when it happened.............
I could only stand there in astonishment..........
So other than replace the entire frame... what the hell am I to do about this???
