Setting valve clearances

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Written by: wiredgeorge Motorcycle Carburetors
Parent Category: Articles
Category: Technical tips
Properly adjusted valve clearances are necessary so that the valves will open and close as they should. Cylinder head valve seats wear from the contact with valves that move on every turn of the crankshaft.  The clearance between the cam shaft lobes and valve shims lessen over time. If there is insufficient clearance, the valves can remain open during combustion and power will be lost. Engine damage can result if valve clearances are not adjusted as needed. There is a maintenance schedule in your factory shop manual or Clymers. Generally, clearances do not change rapidly so while checking is needed at periodic intervals, actually changing shims, which is the heart of setting valve clearances is done fairly infrequently. If valve clearances are too wide, the valves can be very noisy and as clearances close, the valves tend to get progressively quieter. If you don’t hear your valves at all, this is a sure sign that you have insufficient valve clearance.

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Six Cylinder Coil Swap

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Written by: Bill R
Parent Category: Articles
Category: Technical tips
After market coil replacement for 1981 KZ1300. This article is based on a series of posts I made on KZRider between June 18th 2005 and July 2nd 2005.

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Making power with air.

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Written by: philcsand
Parent Category: Articles
Category: Technical tips
Many of you have contemplated cutting out your old airbox, and sliding "pod" filters on. Others of you have heard horror stories about pod issues, and want to stay as far away from them as possible. I have an option that combines the added airflow of pods, while maintaining the stable airflow of the factory airbox.

Following is a frank discussion.

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Rusty Tanks.

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Written by: Bill R
Parent Category: Articles
Category: Technical tips

One of the most common tasks associated with bringing an older bike back from the dead is figuring out how to deal with the varnish and rust, in the tank, left over from years of neglect. After cleaning many gas tanks, I've finally settled on this method as working best for me. I'm sure there will be refinements and improvements, of which I'll write more about as they evolve. Thanks for the interest.

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Fuse Box modification

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Written by: Mark Gregory
Parent Category: Articles
Category: Technical tips
This is a fuse installation modification I made to the electrical system on my KZ650.

When I purchased the bike, two of the fuses and clips wouldn't stay put in the fuse box, and were wrapped in electrical tape to keep them from shorting to anything.  The plastic in the fuse box had been melted by a previous electrical fault, so the fuses would not stay put, and the cover for the box wouldn't close.

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