GOT IT!

Looking for your old Kettle post registration info here good luck!
kettle738
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Location: Romney Marsh, Kent.

Re: GOT IT!

Post by kettle738 »

Hi Mike; Hmmm......the tank. When I bought it it had a nice large dent top and centre; my brother ran a small motorcycle shop in Beckenham at the time so I got things done trade price.........the tank went to Dream Machine, and that is their third attempt at replicating the original red. If I'm honest it's too cherry coloured, should be more strawberry for want of a better description, but it's not too bad and I couldn't face sending it back again.

It probably is (should be) the same as an early GS colour as per the very rare blue tanks and the much more common black, both of which were identical to GSs.

That said, if a NOS tank came up I'd probably go for it as I just make constant small improvements; it had a change of exhaust system for a slightly better one last week.......when my brother had the shop it was great as I could 'graze' on the bikes that came in; anything that was going to auction was fair game and some had insurance repairs.........nice parts on an old rotter, and then almost overnight the supply of GT750s just dried up, they just didn't get offered many any more.

Mick...........kettle738
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BAZ
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Re: GOT IT!

Post by BAZ »

I managed to get a nos tank 3 years ago I have done about 10,000 miles with is so it has a few stone chips. It would seem to be almost Impossible to match the original colour because even if you get the colour right the finish is different to modern paints Worse!) Does your Kettle have a standard rear light bracket with holes for the reflectors! Frame number is 80420 you can read it because the frame is sprayed not powder coated. Cheers BAZ
kettle738
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Joined: Wed May 26, 2010 10:24 am
Location: Romney Marsh, Kent.

Re: GOT IT!

Post by kettle738 »

Hi Baz, sorry for the delay replying.......holiday. Yes the rear light bracket is standard complete with grey plastic rimmed reflectors as opposed to chrome on all previous models. I have another UK B model that has the large square rear lamp and the oversize GS style indicators and for me it's a no brainer, the 'continental' spec is far better looking, much neater all round.

Mick............kettle738
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BAZ
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Re: GOT IT!

Post by BAZ »

I def agree well I would wouldn’t I! Anyway pictures and story coming soon on how the project went. BAZ
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BAZ
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FINISHED!

Post by BAZ »

The Wanderer Returns.

I purchased my Kettle brand new in May 1978 from Willenhall Motorcycles for £1175, I don’t think the salesman could quite understand why I didn’t want a GS.
A few things came to light after I had collected it, the side stand flicked up on its own, the speedo was in kilometres and the headlight dipped to the wrong side. It appears that this was an import from Italy, and all were sorted at the first service, 500miles.

At 2000 miles it had new plugs and caps fitted. 4000 miles saw a tyre change, fitting an Avon Roadrunner and rear brake shoes. Around 8000 miles it started to jump out of 3rd gear, the rear bulb shattered the front forks started leaking and the chain was half way back. I now think that the gear problem was me trying to keep up with the Z900s, they are a lot faster than the Kettle.

I sold the bike in 1982 for £800, the money being spent on a carpet and a washing machine. I can’t remember being particularly bothered to see it go.

One Sunday morning in March 2010 a mate rang and asked me if I would have a look at a bike on Ebay that he was thinking of buying. The pictures of it showed a small section of number plate and I began to think this was my old one. A conversation confirmed it was. The Chap agreed to take £2300 for it and by that Sunday evening I was pushing it into the garage.

The bike didn’t look its best, but rode well. I immediately took it a 60mile ride to assess what was required. (If the bike is safe I think a quick spin finds any problems)
The bike was then completely stripped with the view to make it similar to original spec but with a better finish and more power. (there’s more of me to carry now) The stripping revealed a “J” centre piston, not a great idea. I replaced them all with 2mm oversize pistons, taking it about 800cc. No change was made to the porting but the engine was gas flowed. Chris Applebee balanced the crank to the pistons and the engine is incredibly smooth at 4000rpm, and not bad up to the red line.

I then took the bike for a Dyno session to get the fuelling spot on. The first run produced 50BHP, the best figure I had ever had from a standard bore Kettle previously was 46BHP. We found the bike was running weak so I fitted 115 main jets, this was still slightly weak but the Kettle delivers more power with a slightly lean mixture. I have taken a few Kettles for Dyno sessions now and all seem to run weak at factory settings. Anyway, the power then rose to 53BHP. Altering the timing to 2.5. before TDC instead of 3.45 saw a rise to 55BHP. The Dyno guy commented that the bike had a very smooth fuelling and power curve much like a modern bike. Well worth £50 for your completed project.

The fork ears, headlamp bowl, pipe hangers and rear indicator mounts are finished in black chrome. I also managed to get two nos upper pipes, all adding to a lovely looking bike.

August 2010, the bike has now covered around 1200 trouble free miles (better than first time round)

Hope to see some of you on my travels. Cheers, Baz.

Chroming was done by ACF Howell 01922 649992

Black chrome Merridale polishing 0121 556 3636

Dyno run by projex cradley 01384 633759

Paint by TJ wheels Cradley 01384 566056

BLASTING M J WELDING SERVICES MARK 07790294348

Clocks done by Garry mellows 07591 400599

Parts came from Crooks Suzuki
And ebay +44 (0)1229 822120







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yeadon_m
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Re: GOT IT!

Post by yeadon_m »

Baz,

Fantastic story! if I ever find my Yam YDS7 JCG22L I'd buy and restore it. I think its dead though (I gave that mercy killing act a good couple of goes myself and am still wearing the plates in my wrist 33 years later).

Love the way your Kettle looks. It has aged well, hasn't it :-))))

Would you recommend a slight advance in timing on Kettles, ie was stock quite conservative? or did you just experiment and alight on that figure from arse dyno and then confirmed a power boost later?

One thing I do differently from you is number plates. Personally, I cannot stand modern acrylics on vintage bikes, so shell out the extra £25 to have an ally pressed up plate in yellow/black letters from such as Chestnut Registrations. They are quick and to my eyes, then 'looks right'. Each to their own, though! Love the black chrome, the way it always should have been IMO.

Cheers!
Mike
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BAZ
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Re: GOT IT!

Post by BAZ »

We did the mixture on the dyno and used 3 different jet sizes and found 115 the best. After that the guy operating the Dyno said I wonder what would happen if we altered the timing. We got the best output by moving the points plate by 5mm up BY 3BHP. I have set it at half that finally to be on the safe side. The kettle is in a very mild state of tune standard so you can change things a bit. But this is my bike and I would not generally recommend changing standard settings. I may fit that type of number plate as the one fitted has already cracked. Cheers BAZ
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mabru

Re: GOT IT!

Post by mabru »

The bike looks great Baz and a better finish than new.
A question though, why in the early photographs are the brake calipers to the rear of the forks?
Mark
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BAZ
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Re: GOT IT!

Post by BAZ »

We believed that moving to the rear of the fork would improve the handling.
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BAZ
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Re: GOT IT!

Post by BAZ »

I found some cine film with sound filmed in about 1978!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZOuuB6qUzg
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