How much is this worth?

I saved copies of the pictures - that will help for sure. I show the latest bid at $631 at 5:05pm eastern. Not sure what happened to the $820 bid, maybe it was an error. @Tripod I will check my muffler when I get home. I'm in Naples, FL today, hence the stormy weather up the coast from here to Canada. Sorry Bob! @red69

airblazer said:

I saved copies of the pictures - that will help for sure. I show the latest bid at $631 at 5:05pm eastern. Not sure what happened to the $820 bid, maybe it was an error. @Tripod I will check my muffler when I get home. I'm in Naples, FL today, hence the stormy weather up the coast from here to Canada. Sorry Bob! @red69

Click to expand...

He added the shipping cost that was part of the listing, to the current bid figure.

airblazer said:

I'm in Naples, FL today, hence the stormy weather up the coast from here to Canada. Sorry Bob! @red69

Click to expand...

You only got us for the first half of the day, Ryan. Sun's out now. I think I'll take out one of the bikes!

red69 said:

You only got us for the first half of the day, Ryan. Sun's out now. I think I'll take out one of the bikes!

Click to expand...

It's a 4 hour drive from Naples to your house. Maybe the boss will let me use the jet to cruise on over!

@Tripod here’s a pic of the muffler on my Z50. What does the writing mean to you?

It just means its a k1. It looked like you had a longtail flywheel cover as well. As the early k1's got built, they used up the k0 stuff.

Tripod said:

It looked like you had a longtail flywheel cover as well.

Click to expand...

It is a long tail, but it’s toast. I’m going to replace it with a late K1/K2 cover, since the intended riders won’t know the difference. But I will keep my eye out in case a decent longtail pops up

@Tripod It is a long tail, but it’s toast. I’m going to replace it with a late K1/K2 cover, since the intended riders won’t know the difference. But I will keep my eye out in case a decent longtail pops up

Does anyone here happen to know off the top of their head how many links a new chain for a Z50 K1 should have? Thanks

Parts list says 76 links.Must be accurate but I'm not 100% sure,you can always shorten it if you get one too long

Keep the master link from the old chain. Sometimes the snap clip, when removed, will reach escape velocity into another dimension never to be seen again. Also, having a spare master link comes in handy.

I’m tearing apart the front end of this Z50 as it is in need of major repairs. The bearings on the top and bottom of the stem seem to have gone missing long ago. The bottom of the stem looks like this:

I haven’t bent able to get the fork removed to get a closer look at the inside of the stem because this nut won’t budge:

I tapped on my spanner wrench with a rubber mallet (aka “the ask nicely”) until I wasn’t really asking nicely anymore. Tried a heat gun and PB oil and no improvement yet. According to the mircrofiche I’m dealing with two pieces, #5 and #11:

The fork itself is also twisted - the top of the left side is about an inch closer to the tank, and the opposite is true where the lowers come out. A big vice and some arm wrestling seem in the near future for that. The lowers look like they suffer from Peyronies and one of the fork nuts came apart in two pieces once I removed the electrical tape it was wrapped in...

In an attempt to gain a victory, I tried to remove the broken brake handles And cables from the handlebars. The rusty screw snapped on the left, and I’m trying to figure out how to loosen the cable so I can get it out of the slot. Does the fitting outside the ear untwist?

That rusty screw has to come out, that let's the brake lever break out. lol. Once the lever is out, that cable lifts out from its channel groove. The other end should be loose to make it easier.

That's too bad about your Steering Stem For the brake cable, you can loosen the Brake Adjustment Nuts at the Brake Panels to loosen up the tension. That should be enough to allow you to pull the Cable straight out, then over thru the groove, even with the Lever still attached.

Got the front end apart tonight. Here’s a gallery of stem pictures:

All the bearings were missing as I previously mentioned. The lower assembly was also missing the top race, so the frame stem was just pounding on the lower race . What do you guys think? It looks to me that I could install an upper race and it would stay in place, especially once everything is tightened up.

Here’s some fork pictures, mostly for shock value:

You can clearly see the bend in the lowers and the twist in the fork. I’ll buy new shock assemblies and straighten the fork in a vice.

And finally, the butchered electrical system:

I don’t see a black wire coming out of the back of the key switch, but 2 inches later there’s a cut black wire. The other end of that black wire runs to a kill button and the system is grounded on the coil. I don’t have a key. How do I fix this? I figure I need to buy a new wiring harness, but I was hoping not to have to replace the key switch, just the key. Maybe it makes more sense to replace it too? These wires are all stiff and crusty, and the brake light and headlight wires are all cut or thrashed too.

I haven't touched my Z50 since my last post, I've been too busy with work, family and home to make time for it. But I see a potential break in my work schedule that should allow me some decent wrench time. What is the preferred lube for ball bearings in the steering stem assembly?

airblazer said:

I haven't touched my Z50 since my last post, I've been too busy with work, family and home to make time for it. But I see a potential break in my work schedule that should allow me some decent wrench time. What is the preferred lube for ball bearings in the steering stem assembly?

Click to expand...

Nothing special, just garden variety automotive bearing grease. I've been using Kendall, the blue stuff, for ages.

I’m headed to New Orleans & Biloxi this week - just a precautionary weather advisory for any LH members that live there
As usual I’ve been sidetracked with lots of other projects, most of which are designed to keep the savages (aka kids) at bay, such as building the patio & pool here:

Pools, trampolines, and camping gear have become the new toilet paper here - hard to come by, and I got lucky.
I‘ve made a little progress on my Z50 - refreshed and cleaned the front brake hub, new cable installed, straightened and removed rust from the front fender, cleaned up the top clamp @kirrbby sent me. The front end overhaul/repair and removing the wheels from the old tires are up to bat.

What grease is used on the inside of the frame fork tubes to lube the springs?

airblazer said:

I’m headed to New Orleans & Biloxi this week - just as a precautionary weather advisory for any LH members that live there
As usual I’ve been sidetracked with lots of other projects, most of which are designed to keep the savages (aka kids) at bay, such as building the patio & pool here:
View attachment 68078
Pools, trampolines, and camping gear have become the new toilet paper here - hard to come by, and I got lucky.
I‘ve made a little progress on my Z50 - refreshed and cleaned the front brake hub, new cable installed, straightened and removed rust from the front fender, cleaned up the top clamp @kirrbby sent me. The front end overhaul/repair and removing the wheels from the old tires are up to bat.

What grease is used on the inside of the frame fork tubes to lube the springs?

Click to expand...

I've used just plain wheel bearing grease with no issue's.