Interestingly, Kawasaki Z bikes keep coming in—I’d say I have a bit of a mental block about them.
The Z has this subtle way of throwing trouble your way, and I just can’t shake that image.
With vintage bikes, you never know what’s going to pop up.
I went ahead and swapped out the brake fluid.
Bikes from this era are easy—just the front to worry about.
A heads-up: if you’ve converted from drum to disc brakes, these days the inspectors spot it right away and you won’t pass unless you’ve filed for a structural modification, so be careful.
This handlebar angle with this master cylinder angle is a bit off. Please think about adjusting it when you get a chance—I forgot to mention it earlier.
When someone complains that their brakes squeak, does the disc look all shiny and polished?
There are lots of reasons—the pad isn’t bedding in properly, the pad and disc aren’t compatible, the pad is old, and so on.
Swapping out the pads and disc should make a huge difference.
If you want to mask the noise temporarily, a light pass with a honing brush will stop it dead.
Brake disc honing brush—it sounds sketchy, but it’ll make the sound go back to that fresh-from-the-factory “shoo-shoo-shoo.”
You have to be careful to apply even pressure, so it’s a tricky job.
But once you ride it with those shiny pads again, it’ll start squeaking again pretty quick.
Most of the time, squeaking just comes down to pad-and-disc compatibility and wear. (At least with OEM stuff.)
For the breather hose, I always use a spring-reinforced hose so it won’t crack if it gets pinched.
TOYOX Spring Hose
It won’t collapse or crack, so you can feel confident about it.
After a few years it does get stiff, so that’s when you swap it out.
I’m also finding joy in taking it for a test ride!
