KZ650 cafe-racer

Just for the record: this is one of the most impressive threads i've ever seen!

Thank you!So, everything was ready for Kawasaki KZ650 engine assembling . There are two workbenches in my garage, and one of them I designed according to my idea of comfort engine assembling.  Here is how my engine assembling space looks like: 

 

The main feature of this table is shelving I made and installed at back side of table. Since most engines I am working on are inline fours, I made sections of shelving large enough to accommodate average cylinder head, cylinder block or crankshaft.


 

Before starting the next stage of assembling I load all necessary parts  on the shelving, thus I always have at hand whatever I need.

 

 

 

I started engine assembling traditionally for me: from installing valves. This action tunes me up for more complicated assembling  works.  For cylinder head assembling I use a valve spring compressor tool of my own design. There is a layer of rubber under the tape wrapping (bicycle tube actually). It’s a highly recommended mode for those who don’t like banging freshly painted cylinder heads with bare metal rod.

 

New genuine valve seals finish setup of NOS cylinder head and new (and again genuine) valves.

 

I use a mix of engine oil and LM48 molybdenum grease for initial valve stems lubrication.

 

Cylinder head assembling  is a simple process and with only eight valves per head it was finished in no time.  It seemed that you only started: installed all lower washers and seals, took the first valve…

 

 

 

Then whoosh! And you are already halfway:

 

And then again: wait a minute,  it’s the last valve! Time passed so fast.

 

Special thanks to Oksana for photo-shooting me in the process!

A really nice work shop you have Nazar and you do brilliant labor as allways, but...

Installing the valve seals without to protect the seal lip can cause a minor damage on the sealing lip.
I for me put in the valve first and than use the "condom" tube to cover the sharp edge of key groove to protect the seal lip during the install.


 
 
 

 

A really nice work shop you have Nazar and you do brilliant labor as allways, but...

Installing the valve seals without to protect the seal lip can cause a minor damage on the sealing lip.
I for me put in the valve first and than use the "condom" tube to cover the sharp edge of key groove to protect the seal lip during the install.

Well, so far I managed to damage no valve seals. My own Zephyr 750 has 75K km with seals replaced in the same way. No issues with oil consumption so far.

It's my conscious decision to install valves and seals in this way. And here are some arguments and tips:

For one thing, none of the books (factory or Hynes or Clymer ) I've read recommended special tools for valve installation. For another thing, I always check the surface of valve stems not only by sight but also by touch. If I find a flaw on the stem of the valve I remove it or (more likely) I lay that valve aside. I check all twice if the valve went through a specialized workshop for resurfacing and afterward trimming (to keep valve clearance in specs without using too thin shims).  And  I found no flaws that could damage seals on new genuine  valves. I oil seal and stem generously and push the stem slowly.  Adding screwing-in movement  to linear movement on the initial stage of valve-into-seal installation also helps.

Next step in Kawasaki KZ650 engine assembling was connecting rod installation. As usual, I applied  mix of engine oil and Liqui Moly LM48 molybdenum grease to connecting rod bearing inserts.

 

I tightened connecting rods’ nuts with the crankshaft installed in the upper half of cases. Then I returned the assembled crankshaft with conrods on the shelf for a short time.

 

So I could Install all necessary parts into the upper half of the crankcase. Like new knock (dowel) pins:

 
 

Or new rubber plug for oil channel:

 

 

Or starter motor idle gear:

 

After this I prepared new crankshaft oil seals.

 

And put  primary and timing chains on the crankshaft.

 

After this  I greased crankshaft  bearing inserts with a mix of molybdenum grease and engine oil and installed the crankshaft into its place. In this way the upper half of the crankcase was mostly ready for assembling.

 


Meanwhile I proceeded to lower half of the engine case. First I had to install a kickstarter mechanism. There are three retaining rings (circlips) to be installed on the kickstarter shaft. They all may look identical,  but in fact only two of them are identical. Third  retaining ring size is slightly different, so mind not to mix those rings up.

 

With the kickstarter mechanism correctly assembled and in its place my next step was assembling the gear shift mechanism. I did it by the book using a new lock washer  for shift drum guide bolt and cotter  pin for 3rd gear shift fork.

 

 

I used the return spring bolt of the new design. It came with factory applied thread locking agent and some kind of coating on the part which is in contact with spring.