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My '96 Rebuild

15144 Views 223 Replies 11 Participants Last post by  Brandon35
'96 Rebuild

Hey guys, been a while. So, after a long time coming, I was finally able to start my rebuild. She’s come a long way since the start but I figured while I wait for more parts (and money) I’d post about it.

Quick history - bought the bike 6 years ago, found out it had a LOT of issues, started to fix a few things here and there, turns out I was really good with zip ties. Bike was in at least one bad front end accident (no steering stop, small crack in frame). She had the scars to prove it. So much so that I’ve never considered taking her to a shop to get looked at because I would have been pretty embarrassed. Anyways, this last couple of weeks I had some free time (yay Thanksgiving) and set about a teardown. I’ve had second gear issues for a while now.

So, I start to break down the bike. Crappy fairings off, took the airbox and carb off (everything was filthy and the throttle springs were covered in filth). Then I freed up all the electricals and took the whole harness out. Had to make some cuts and I’ll connect those back up for the tail/blinkers later. Then came the engine. I had no lift, so I paid $1 at Lowes to take 3 pieces of old wood from a trash can and made an engine holder out of it. It’s actually held up quite nicely. Once I had the engine out, I stripped the frame all the way down and cleaned EVERYTHING. She had 22 years of road grime in all her nooks and crannies. I used Nylon brushes and my favorite degreaser (La’s Awesome Degreaser is really awesome) to do it right. I’ll list off the fixes/upgrades I’ve done so far and leave pictures for those of you who can’t read ?

-Re-wrapped seats

-Cleaned Engine


-Rewrapped wire harness
-New fork oil, caps and seals (pretty sure it had original oil and boy, it was solid)
-New (to me) left fork
-Had the frame crack welded and I grinded it
-Had the steering stop re-welded on
-Polished yoke

-Painted the entire frame satin black


-Painted my rims white


-Cleaned out all my brake calipers
-New brake pads (new rear seal kit coming)


-Stainless steel lines front and rear (used off a working race bike - haters gonna hate)


-All new engine cover Cometic gaskets
-New (to me) drive shaft/gears and clutch shaft forks (I split the case)

-Driven racing engine block-off plates





What’s to come -
-2006 zx6r throttle tube assembly/cables
-Slim kill/start switch
-Steel extension plates for my zzr600 fairing stay (bird cage delete) so handle bars don’t hit
-New tires (I’m thinking Dunlop Q3+ ?)
-Safety wiring
-Race fairings down the road (belly pan w/oil catch) ~ when money allows :nerd
-Airbox/tubing upgrade ~ when money allows
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Your frame is all steel, right? That's so much more forgiving....

I too have a drawer full of stickers for stuff that went on the bike over the years. None o fthem have ever been put on the bike. If I crash, I want to be able to blame the bike, not the trick parts I may or may not have purchased.
The frame is aluminum, hence the A/C Tig Welder and the large amount of practice I'll be doing. Luckily the frame will suck the heat away since it's pretty large compared to the smaller coupons I've been practicing on that get hot as hell.
This tab did not exist a week ago. Not the best in terms of uniformity but my welding is getting better. Next will be fixing the frame crack.

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Update.

1) Frame crack welded
2) Frame painted
3) New fork oil/seals
4) New chain/sprockets
5) New 04' throttle cables
6) Mocking up fairings for install (lots of adjustments left to do)
7) Welded and painted my OEM headlight stay adding the ZZR mirror mounting brackets (hacked up and tacked in place), clears the handle bars and the gauge cluster
8) Need to flip my brake line fittings around to clear the cluster on left turns

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I like that. Nice work!
Threads like this is why I love forums. 👍👍👍 I just read start to finish. 😎
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^^^ Brandon graduated from West Point, and flies CH 47 …. He joined the forum before the he left home to the Academy.
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^^^ Brandon graduated from West Point, and flies CH 47 …. He joined the forum before the he left home to the Academy.
That is freaking awesome. Thank you for your service mr brandon 👍
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Thanks fellas 👍🏼
Thank you, Brandon. It’s been a pleasure getting to know you over the years.
Thank you, Brandon. It’s been a pleasure getting to know you over the years.
The pleasure is all mine. I wouldn't be nearly as okay at this stuff without you, Rivers and many others to bounce my thoughts off of.
Paying it forward….. I’m clearing my mountain of debt in that regard. And I still find it interesting as heck.
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Drilled all the lower belly pan holes and then installed heat shielding to both side fairings. I reeaally want to be confident that its enough to keep my plastics from melting - the set the bike came with had extreme heat damage but im thinking that was due to the horrid fitment.

Installed side and front fairings completely; took a WHILE to get it all fitted correctly (had to make my own spacers for the fairing brackets in some instances) but it came out alright. I'll create better/more permanent solutions down the road.

All that's left is to:
  • Refit the tail (straighten the tail light)
  • Align the front end and tighten
  • Install front fender
  • Wash and polish the tank (wax the bodywork)
  • Apply tank pads
  • Apply Kawasaki/zx6r stickers

More to come.

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Congratulations for your work, I did the same with my 07 Zx6r, I completely disassembled it and there was no part, screw or washer that has not passed through my hands, fortunately the previous state of my bike was better than yours. The end result is well worth the effort and hours of work invested in it.
I met this forum once the reconstruction was finished but in this thread I showed part of my work:
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Two more pics while I wait for the weekend so I can cut and apply my tank pads. Then its just a fresh tank of gas away from her maiden voyage as a fully put together, half-way decent looking motorcycle.

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Is there a front fender in your future?
Two more pics while I wait for the weekend so I can cut and apply my tank pads. Then its just a fresh tank of gas away from her maiden voyage as a fully put together, half-way decent looking motorcycle.
Beautiful Bike, congratulations for the work, I like the sticker in Spanish "Correos".
Beautiful Bike, congratulations for the work, I like the sticker in Spanish "Correos".
Yeah... well thats under the clear coat and i asked them to remove it and they didnt but i guess you can only ask china so much.

I told my wife it was a brand of engine parts 🤣

Post Office.. neat.
Is there a front fender in your future?
It was there, just hard to see.

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Yeah... well thats under the clear coat and i asked them to remove it and they didnt but i guess you can only ask china so much.

I told my wife it was a brand of engine parts 🤣

Post Office.. neat.
I'm Argentine, I speak Spanish, that's why I like the detail of the sticker in Spanish. Now that you tell me that they stuck it in China, it seems even more strange to me, what would the Chinese man in charge of designing it think? I probably don't even know what "correo" means.
I'm Argentine, I speak Spanish, that's why I like the detail of the sticker in Spanish. Now that you tell me that they stuck it in China, it seems even more strange to me, what would the Chinese man in charge of designing it think? I probably don't even know what "correo" means.
🤷🏻‍♀️ Doesn't bother me at all, its an odd thing to have on it but whatev, it looks alright
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