Bought this black and polished ally 1996 ZX7R off a friend for not a lot of money and it’s been great. It looks good, sounds good and goes good..

Just recently it’s been a pig to start, so checked the forums and the fuel pump is a weak spot. Seemed to fit the bill, so took it out today, and tested it. It pulsed once and stopped. Took it apart, cleaned it up, tweaked it a bit, added a spark suppressing capacitor, reassembled, replaced, and tested ok. Started ok (once the carbs had been filled), so that’s a ride tomorrow! 😉

Oh, following a car/bike close encounter that ripped the right front indicator off I checked that out and found that the power wires had been ripped off the LED PCB, so a bit of creative soldering had that working again. Reassembled that tonight as well, so I can now go and tell oncoming traffic where I’m going as well! It’s only getting better!!

Fuel pump contacts

Test ride Nr1. went very well today, I must say. Pity that there are so many awful drivers around though. Got so annoyed I even pipped my horn at one silly woman who thought that, even though the roundabout was empty it would be a good idea to stop for a while to double and triple check just in case even though everyone in front of her had just gone round without stopping. Nearly drove into her boot. 🙁

And then…. a carb flooded. Bought a carb repair kit (4 off), dismantled, replaced needle valves, checked float heights, cleaned with carb spray cleaner, reassembled. And no more flooding. Hooray!

And then…. I adjusted the cam chain because it was making a pulsing sound. Awkward, but seemed to go ok.

And then…. it wouldn’t start. And it wouldn’t start. Cough splitter, but no start. Checked all wiring. Checked fuel flow. Overhauled carbs again. Still not working. Refreshed the fuel. No change. Forum advice – check airscrew turns. Adjusted. No change. Blocked off a tube linking inner and outer sync holes in inlets. No change. Carbs off again. Checked again. All seemed ok. Forum advice – check pilot jets. YES – they were blocked! Cleaned out with bristle. Reassembled. Fired up and ran ok!! Phew, what a palaver. Seems modern fuels very keen on leaving deposits if allowed to evaporate.

All else checked and topped up, tyres pumped up and an MoT test passed. Great, now for a little riding before autumn hits home.