A Little Tinkerin', A Little Drinkerin'

Aargh, what a week.
I ran out of exhaust wrap about a foot shy of what I needed.
So I had to order another 10 metre roll. Ouch!

Anyways, I took the pipes down to the exhaust shop and asked them to cut the midpipe back a bit, flare it and clean up the end of the muffler where I had belted it off the old pipes.

"Can't flare that", he says "It'll split. I can weld a piece around it to fit the can if you like?"

"Fair enough" I said.
About 25 minutes later he hands me a still smoking set of headers with a nicely mig'd expansion pipe on it and a cleaned up can.
"How much do I owe you?" I cringed.
"Nothing. You'll be right mate"
I was pleased.

So the new roll of tape came in and I set to the shed this afternoon.
Pipes are wrapped all the way now. Lovely.
Zorst is fitted and bolted up. A bit of a bugger of a job but all done now.
Forks are in, wheel is on, calipers are bolted in place.
It's looking quite sharp.

All to easy, I thought. I shouldn't have.

The you-beaut new braided stainless lines. Pah!
They are about 5 inches too long on either side and that's with the forks at full extension.

I've emailed the Goodridge supplier to request a refund as they are useless to me.

Photos to follow. I left the camera in the shed. Oops.

[pete]

You might be surprised . Give them a call .

Cheers , Simon .

Hmmmm...

[simon kuether]

I'd forgotten about Transac... ooops! ('Specially seeing as they're a Brissie company).

I don't think I wanna ask them how much to make me a scrambler style pipe for mine though, that would be way scary... then again it would save me making it myself when I have no idea...

You might be surprised . Give them a call .

Cheers , Simon .

[pete]

I'd forgotten about Transac... ooops! ('Specially seeing as they're a Brissie company).

I don't think I wanna ask them how much to make me a scrambler style pipe for mine though, that would be way scary... then again it would save me making it myself when I have no idea...

Noice..
Now, if I was doing a Wes Cooley or a Kat, then yeah, I'd head for something like that.
Ross, a mate with a pristine Kat 1100, got his done by Megacycle down here in Melbourne.
Great pipes, great note.
$600, I think he said, a couple of years ago.

All things to bear in mind, I guess.
It's still hard to beat the US prices while the Aus dollar is so strong against the greenback.

[simon kuether]

G'day mate . Looks like it's all coming together quite nicely .

If you're looking for a new set of pipes down the track , check out Transac (out of Brissy) . They make chrome steel or stainless . I got a set of 4 into 2's for $800 delivered (a couple of years ago) and can't speak highly enough about them .

Look like this ......................



Cheers , Simon .

Handy to know about the MAC pipes, thanks.

I think these will last a while so that will give me some time before I need to worry about replacements. (fingers crossed)

[pete]

Nice find Leigh! You never know what you can find 'til you go looking...

Hopefully those Z pipes will be good, as I've heard around here that the Mac pipes are rather average when compared to Vance and Hines, Kerker, Motad, etc.

I didn't find quite as much wiring in my headlight bucket as you did either, but there was still a fair chunk in there! Maybe they liked a bit extra for a rainy day?

Hmm..
That's got me thinking.
I wonder if ZZR pipes would fit up?

Later model means cleaner pipes I guess.

Old old Zed, mate.
It had a stubby coffee tin muffler on it.
The bloke said it was Z1000 but he also kept me there for over an hour just waffling rubbish at me.

He had a range of pipes from Z9s and Z1s.
Some didn't look as close as these did.

If I was doing that again I would measure from the ports to the underside of the bike just to be sure it would clear.
But the flange diameter, pipe spacing, exit point all look good on the GS.
Plus I get to keep that funky banana can that was on the bike.



EDIT: Oh, now I read your tagline!

[Nessism]

Hey Leigh,

That headlamp shell looks quite tidy compared to many. No worries there. The headers situation is interesting. The members here are always looking for other pipes that will fit our engines so you done good work figuring out those Z1000 pipes fit. Is that the old skool Z1000 or something newer?

Good luck and keep going...

If that exhaust works out long term, then all well and good.
If not, this is in the not too distant future for it..

Ebay Linky

I took the zorst down to the shop today to see what could be done about the holes.
It was pretty much as I expected. Unsalvageable.




It was off to the wreckers then. I got a reasonably clean set for $100 off a Z1000.
We measured them off against the original set and I came away convinced that they'd fit.
When I got home I dummied them up to the head and every looks good.


Into the vice they went and my super-new nylon wheel went into the drill.

Before..


10 minutes of this..


and after..




A little sand paper to finish off the squeezy bits and I was impressed with the outcome.
The first coat of VHT is soaking in tonight.

I put the new mirrors on for a look-see.
I like them. They are a bit different.




I also discovered where Suzuki hide all the wiring on their naked bikes..

[pete]

I say repair, VHT, then wrap...

One thing with the VHT, if it's anything like the POR 15 temperature paint, then make sure your preparation is perfect... then do it again.

Quick edit here... how rude of me! A week off is just slack! (hope you're feeling better)

Ergh..
A week off crook has seen my desk pile up with ebay goodness.
The new mirrors are in and look great, the stainless lines are sitting here too.

My new dilemma (where would life be without one?) is the headers.

29 years of being in the wind has not done them any favours.
Removing the scale has left a lip of about 30 thou in the pipe at about 1/3 of the diameter.
Plus some pinholes in the collector.

Now, the pinholes I can fix (read: get fixed by a mate with a mig), but the corrosion might be a worry.

I had planned to VHT them to an inch of their lives and then wrap them.

So, Dear Hive-mind of The GS Resources, my dilemma is this.
Do I :
A) continue with Plan A and bake each coat on..
B) source a new set off the interwebz..
C) try for a custom job of a muffler shop.

Each option carries it's own risks of longevity, cost and/or delays.

I'll get some photos tomorrow in the daylight and show the damage.
I'll be off to a shop on Monday morning to check that option out anyway.



Thanks in advance..
Leigh