Still standing!
It’s almost time to get the dry build of the mighty 1325cc Kawasaki Zed special powder-coated by Nick at Griff’s Reality Motorworks – but first, I have to sort the sidestand.
Sidestands and their mounts often suffer on big Zeds and this one was worse than most. The component is in an area where it gets covered in road crap and, despite lubrication of the sidestand pivot being a part of the service schedule, it is more often than not neglected.
A bike used back in the day would not get the sort of love and care we old farts show our classics these days. If the sidestand was tight it would be lucky to get a dribble of WD-40 and only the most cherished bikes had the pivot bolt regularly removed, cleaned and reassembled with fresh grease. Once the grease has been washed away with water, salt and road grit, the stand components would rust and wear badly and let me tell you the sidestand mount on this machine was worn in so many directions.
This meant I had to either try and get
