1981 KZ1000 K1 Project

So after checking into what may be the issue, all of my clearances (just about all) are out of range. This is just after I ordered up new ones after measuring and installed them. So I've had enough of this. Can someone else please take a look at these latest readings and help me out? And please watch the notation. My feeler gauges are metric and I measured with a micrometer in inches (i know, pretty dumb)

Cyl #1
.110 inch shim Exhaust - about .11mm clearance (good!)
.1020 inch shim (2.60mm) Intake - less than .04mm clearance (bad)

Cyl #2
.1080 inch shim (2.75mm) Exhaust - .18mm clearance (bad)
.1040 inch shim (2.65mm) Intake - less than .04mm clearance (bad)

Cyl #3
.110 inch shim (2.80mm) Exhaust - about .14mm (good but on the high side)
.1040 inch shim (2.65mm) Intake - less than .04mm clearance (bad)

Cyl #4
.1055 inch shim Exhaust - less than .04mm clearance (bad)
.100 inch shim (2.55mm) Intake - less than .04mm clearance (bad)

Just a few disclaimers, my smallest feeler gauge is a .04mm, so all the ones less than .04mm, they are too tight but I do not know by how much.

I just tried to do these and now have lots of useless shims, so any help would be extremely appreciated.

Thanks!

the buckets thatt are too tight can you spin them by hand or are the to tight to even do that.

I havent tried to spin the buckets yet. thats a good check though. i can check that tomorrow!

I'm suspect of the valve seats themselves now. I'm going to check the buckets to see how tight they are. also, going to remove the shims and see if it still lets air out of the valves.

I tried a leakdown test and had air coming out of the intake and exhaust on cylinder 1 and 2 (at TDC respectively) and air out of the intake on cyl 3. cylinder 4 (the one that had compression) seemed to hold fine and not really allow any leakage.

timebomb33 wrote:

the buckets thatt are too tight can you spin them by hand or are the to tight to even do that.

Okay after some patience and a friend that came over to help me I remeasured clearances and went over everything again. It looks like 3 of my intake valves are too tight. They are too tight to even spin the buckets. Any recommendations for these? One shim is 2.60mm or .102 inches and the other two are 2.65mm or .104 inches. Any idea where to go from here?

Thanks!

Any idea how much I should go for clearance when its that tight? Thank you!

a miniumium of 3 shim sizes smaller than what is in there now would be a good start i always want .004" on the intakes and .006" on the exhaust side if its tight you won't know by how muchdid you do valve job on this motor andif you did how much did you sink thevalves in to the seats or did you mix the buckets up when you put the head back together. one shim size is about .002"

I did not do a full blown valve job on these. I removed the valves and put new valve seals in them, then reassembled. I was very very careful to put all components back in the same spot. Should I just buy the valve kit that z1 offers for $108? That may be the most efficient thing to do because its so tight that it is keeping my valves slightly open at TDC Thank you for the advice!

Boy am I thoroughly embarrassed! I guess I can shoulder the blame, but my friends that helped me assemble the head sure did not help. If its YOUR bike, be sure to check over every component!

In the 3 cylinders I was having a problem with, the intake valves and exhaust valves were reversed. I was absolutely furious when I found this out. Luckily no damage occurred. I switched them back, set my clearances and put everything back together and VROOOOOM she came right to life! It was a hell of a day and ended up being a great day

After all that crap I went through and time it took, it was incredibly worth it to hear it run. and it runs fantastic! :woohoo: :woohoo:

That is great!. Experence is the best teacher. Roy

Thanks for the kind words Roy! I love hands on experience. Throughout the process I've found so many different ways I could have done this and probably should have. Next time something like this comes around I'll have a much better handle on it all.

Great experience! :woohoo:

Now........all the little things.......

Cleaning up wiring, change clutch (was slipping real bad when i first bought it), adjust clutch, paint tank, fix gauge cluster, bleed and adjust brakes, need new handlebar controls.......

I've got to say, getting the rebuilt beast running was a huge hurdle to pass.

glad to hear you got it up and running it usally is something simple. you wont forget this one will you.