A Newbies Adventures in Maintenanceland!

The gasket doesn't have this cutout, it just has a hole for the stud, is this ok, or do I need to cut that little notch out?

It's not necessary to cut away, but you can if you like.

I've done several with it there, without any problems.
I've even done some with just gasket maker, and it works quite well, and reliable.

Cheers.

I have a couple dumb noob questions:

When turning the crank over I noticed that the clutch spins as well, is this normal or did I mess up when I opened it up?

Without removing the points housing (or whatever it's called) what is the best way to turn the crank over? When I get my stuff from Z1 so I can put the head back on I am going to be setting timing and whatnot and the nut thingy on the crank is getting chewed up. I have the points cover off, but have the cylindrical portion of the points cover still on, so I can't properly get a wrench in there, and I can't use a socket because of the bolt. I was thinking of using vise-grips to grab onto the nut...(that sounds painful :blink: )

9am53 wrote:

I have a couple dumb noob questions:

When turning the crank over I noticed that the clutch spins as well, is this normal or did I mess up when I opened it up?

Without removing the points housing (or whatever it's called) what is the best way to turn the crank over? When I get my stuff from Z1 so I can put the head back on I am going to be setting timing and whatnot and the nut thingy on the crank is getting chewed up. I have the points cover off, but have the cylindrical portion of the points cover still on, so I can't properly get a wrench in there, and I can't use a socket because of the bolt. I was thinking of using vise-grips to grab onto the nut...(that sounds painful :blink: )

i might be a bit of a tard, but youre losing me on the part where you have the points cover off, but the cylindrical portion of the cover still on....i m sure its me, but i m confused.....

Yeah, I don't know what it's called...the points cover with the 2 bolts on it is off, so I can turn the crank, but my wrench is on an angle because the "housing" as I call it that has I think 6 bolts is still there.

9am53 wrote:

Yeah, I don't know what it's called...the points cover with the 2 bolts on it is off, so I can turn the crank, but my wrench is on an angle because the "housing" as I call it that has I think 6 bolts is still there.

i m with ya now.....no angled combo wrenches?....sounds like you are using straight wrenches....boxed end should have an angle.....if you dont have a set of angled metric
combos, its a good investment.....

If needed, kawasaki.com shows the spark advance washer part number 92022-244 as still active and last used on 2005 KZ1000-P24 (Police 1000).

Good Luck!

ok, so there is no other way of doing this? I am tempted to turn the bolt, but I won't, I'll just try not to strip the nut too much, and just get another when the time comes to close it all up and start er up

Easier to hand rotate the crank with spark plugs removed, and more accurate cam positioning via the fake 17mm nut, and transmission in neutral.

Also possible to rotate crank by using kick starter (can be fairly accurate by just lightly bumping it).

With transmission in gear, can rotate crank by hand turning the rear wheel.

It's usually easier to watch the T marks and F marks align with the case mark (and to align the cam sprocket mark) by using the 17mm fake nut.

Using the smaller 13mm bolt head is ill-advised because it may shear off flush with end of the crank shaft thus leaving the threaded portion of the bolt tightly inside the crank shaft. Often a real pita to remove.

Good Luck!

9am53 wrote:

ok, so there is no other way of doing this? I am tempted to turn the bolt, but I won't, I'll just try not to strip the nut too much, and just get another when the time comes to close it all up and start er up

got a kicker?

no kicker, I kind of wish I did though, jump starting kind of sucks with that 2nd gear cockblock mechanism...I have the plugs out already.

Should the clutch be spinning when it is in neutral or did I do something wrong? In first gear the clutch and the countersprocket spins, but when I put it in neutral the countersprocket doesn't spin of course, but the clutch still spins, I thought that it would not be hooked up to the crank when in neutral.

The clutch basket is geared directly to the crank. It always spins. When you release the clutch mechanism (handle), the clutch plates are squished together, transfering the basket spin to the clutch core.

When the bike is in neutral, this is a function of the transmission, in which the gears are simply not engaged thru to the drive (output shaft/sprocket).

Unless you pull the handle, the clutch is always fully engaged.

If your trying to get the 13mm bolt off, simply stuff an old rag in between the clutch basket and the crank (right in the gears). It will jam the crank in place. Then just take the nut off with a socket.

If your just trying to turn the crank without messing things up in there, ust the clutch basket since your in there anyways. Remove the spark plugs, like said, to make things move nice and smooth/easy.

Cheers!

Once I have the cams on and am setting the timing etc. I can turn it by the crank nut AND a little help by twisting the clutch basket? that seems logical now that I think about it. THis can't hurt anything?

Tonight I took it easy and dust did a trial run on the painting.




I like the colour, what do you think? I have an effex clearcoat as well that is under one coat of the metalcast, so it is not popping out as much as it does on the top, I like it more subtle, I'll check it out in full daylight. Anyways, I will strip this off and do it properly now that I know I like the look.