86 Z Saga

[nstyle73]

I have been slowly selling my trikes over the last couple of years as life takes its toll in time, motivation and many other aspects. I had an 85 Z, but it just never really did it for me. It was ported, piped and had a 38mm carb, so it ran well, but just wasn't my ticket. SO after I found this bike and bought it in 2012, I sold the 85 as I love the 6 speed and the suspension. But it went to a good home. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PU9d...e_gdata_player

This is one of the handful of bikes I am going to keep. This bike came from the original owner, with the original tires, bars and thumb throttle included and was on the original bore. His parents bought he and his brother matching bikes to keep at their lake house in 1986. His brother trashed his, and the owner of this one never really got into trikes as he preferred bikes. The lack of paint rub on the frame and on the front forks, as well as the original tires led me to believe most of his story. The twist throttle, bars, rear tires and silencer were the only non original items.

I put a new piston in as it was slightly out of tolerance for roundness and have only put about 8 hours on the new bore. The cylinder was untouched, no porting and the carb is stock with stock jetting and this bike runs as well as my 85 did, and also better than the 86R I had previously sold. Anyway, I noticed that the clutch would slip just a little, in top gear mostly, and when the kicker was lazy on the return trip a couple times, I decided I should get that ironed out before spring.

I USED the search engine but my particular question didn't seem to come up in the first 250 or so threads. The kicker will rotate slightly farther than it should from the stored position before feeling like it engages and when it returns, does not return all the way to the top. As far as I can tell, the gears all look operable and the return spring is intact and was seated in the holding hole. The parts installation order checked with the parts fische and the kicker looks identical to another 86 setup I have. I have heard that they can bind up because of the small cover gasket, but it was not clarified if that was on return or on the downstroke. The bike starts easily and the kicker returns about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way and will pull back up by hand with very little effort. It does not fall down to the engagement point, it is not loose and it isn't that feeling where it is engaged, but the piston isn't on compression. Here are some pics. Is the small spring clip (#3) supposed to be on the CW side of the shaft stop, engaged in the hole in the case at approximately 3 o'clock, or on the CCW side as shown in the parts fische. I could not tell where it was located when I removed the shaft and it will turn in the groove.

[nstyle73]

I just realized this is the only pic I have of the entire bike. Barnett Kevlar clutch with EBC CSK springs that are supposed to provide 15% more holding force. Were all of the stock Z clutch springs partially painted blue?

[Mosh]

The timing of how the kicker engaes and returns is encorporated with hiw shaft number one is installed, then the corresponding kicker gear has to be oriented with the splines after number 1 is installed. You will see where the stop on shaft number one hits the boss on the case. I remember going through all that nonsense years back on one, and all I can tell you is you will have to play with the timing of the gears to get it right.

The binding issue will be evident through out the kick stroke if the gasket is missing, so that probably is not the issue. It sounds like that gear number 2 or number 11 in the pic is not timed correctly with shaft number 1.

[nstyle73]

Thanks for the tip. Could it have slipped? As this problem developed, rather than having always existed. Also, after looking again I am pretty sure that clip 3 fits in the relief in the crankcase as it is not an oiling passage but want to make sure before reinstalling it.

[Mosh]

I wouldnt see how it could have slipped, if it worked fine then just started acting up.
I wish I could remember more, and If I had any z stuff left if I looked at the kick start stuff I bet it would come back to me in a second. I just remembered fighting with one for a bit to get it figured out.
Sorry I can't be of more assistance.

[nstyle73]

To wrap this thread up, I installed the clutch and reinstalled the kicker and new gasket on the small cover and did not encounter an issue. To clarify for future reference, the "timing" of the kicker gears is only in relation to the stop and the case. On a Tecate the kicker shaft has a dot that must be oriented to match a corresponding mark, but on the Tri Z, the short kicker shaft does not require a specific orientation. I am led to believe, my small cover may have been binding just a bit to create the return issue.

The clutch, however, did cause an issue. When I removed the pressure plate, I mistakenly removed the center nut, thinking that the linkage was bolted to the pressure plate. This was the first time I had taken the bottom end of a Z apart and did not have an FSM to reference. I reassembled the clutch and pressure plate. First, I did not align the arrows on the pressure plate with the arrows on the basket. I corrected this problem when I checked the clutch engagement before reinstalling the side cover. Aligning the arrows allows the pressure plate to slide into the basket just slightly more. Secondly, I buttoned up the side cover, topped off the fluids and promptly found myself disappointed that I still had a slipping clutch. I recalled reading a thread once about a guy that had installed a Z clutch only to have it slip after reinstalling. No solution was listed but after pulling things apart again and examining my spare bottom end, I found the center nut and pin on the pressure plate is adjustable. I had ensured that the clutch arm was not being held my the cable and followed the Barnett installation instructions so I thought it had to be some type of linkage issue. I am sure there is a factory recommendation to get it correct the first time, but I set it so that clutch cable adjustment was all the way in so that it can be adjusted out for future wear.

Most people probably know all of this, but what I thought was going to be a quick clutch job took several hours of effort due to my lack of familiarity so I thought I would try to help a novice such as myself in the future. The upside is, with a new clutch, springs and cable, 3rd gear wheelies are pretty regular and a hop is pretty easy in 4th. It is by far the best running Z I have ever ridden, and it is completely stock.