Details
Parent Category: Articles
Category: Technical tips
My gauges were working well and look fine except for the area under the glass. The area under the glass had considerable gunk and not only looked bad but made it diffiult to read the gauges. To clean the inside of the glass, the chrome trim ring which girds a Nippon Denso gauge must be removed and the glass bezel top half must be separated from the bottom half that contains the gauge mechanism. Between the two halves is a rubber seal that provides water proofing integrity. I found the condition of my seals excellent. They were both soft and pliable on both the tach and speedometer. If the condition of these rubber seals is poor, and they are not pliable, you will be forced to fabricate or locate new ones. I believe they could be cut out of any piece of thin mill rubber using the gauge as a template.

Read more: Gauge Glass Clean Up

Details
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.

Read more: Setting valve clearances

Details
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.

Read more: Six Cylinder Coil Swap

Details
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.

Read more: Making power with air.

Details
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.

Read more: Rusty Tanks.

Page 2 of 3