1980 E-2

The plan to get my computer to read the memory card from my camera has not worked yet, so unfortunately no pictures of the progress I made today.
I took the engine into work, since I had the day off and since all my tools are there, and split the cases. As I started to reach for my T-handle allen wrench, the mechanic I was working with said, "Michael, I'm a big fan of air tools, use them." Whoops! :silly: The whole point of doing it at work was to use my tools... DUHHHHH!!!!

The good news- whoever owned the bike before me, rebuilt it. It all seems new on the inside. The valves are not even slightly worn. The rings are not even really broken in yet. The bevel on the oil ring, is still quite noticeable. Even all the gaskets seemed newish. They were brittle from sitting for so long, but still in good condition. The gears were in great shape too. Everything on the inside was great!
The reason I leaked all over the place was the bad news- whoever did the rebuild didn't take all the old gasket material off. Anything that didn't come off easy, seemed to be left on. Thank God for Gasket remover and putty knives!

I was only able to work on my bike for a few hours today, while my job was open, so I'll have to skip lunch during the week, or find some time somewhere to do some more work on it, the rally is coming up soon, and I need my bike to ride.
Another wonderful thing I came across today was aircraft grade paint remover. This stuff was awesome!!! Spray on, let it sit while I was doing some stuff to the engine, then pressure wash it off. And badabing, badaboom, nice clean covers! I really need to get some more of this stuff. There was only 1 can that someone left behind in the shop, gotta get more.

So, with all the new goodies to put the bike back together, that's my mission for the next couple of weeks. Ridable is the key word here, so now I just need the time and place to put it all back together.

Spent Saturday cleaning up the gasket surfaces. Getting all the old stuff off, and prepping it for the cases to be resealed. I'm so excited!!! But only being able to work on it for 4 hours a week, stinks! I really need to get the cases together so that I can get the engine out of my shop and do all the frame stuff I need to do.
Still haven't gotten my comp to recognize my memory card, so no pics unfortunately, sorry. But a buddy from work did give me a set of forward controls. Now I need to fab up some mounting points and mod the stock shifter and brake to receive them. Just need to get the positioning right. Working with a fantastic welder is also a bonus. He said he'd weld them on for me. My welding is coming along, but I don't think I'm quite there just yet. Safety first and all...

I'm also wondering if I'll have to chop the rear section off and reweld it back onto the frame? I have some 12" shocks that I want to put on, but having a shaft drive, I don't know if it'll be too much of an angle for the drive-train... I'm thinking to cut it off just where the seat starts,and where the top of the triangle is... to keep the geometry of the bracing.






This is not my frame, but you get the idea. Any thoughts???

So, when I was disassembling the engine of my bike, I had a motorcycle mechanic helping me. While I stepped out to pressure wash the paint stripper off the head, he split the cases. When I left, he was stuck on one part, trying to get a retaining ring off of the clutch, so I thought I had some time. Boy it's amazing how fast someone can do something when they KNOW what they're doing!
Now I'm trying to reassemble the cases and put the engine back together, and I am staring at the cases like I'm looking at a piece of artwork. Jaw dropped, eyes kinda glazed over, with a feeling of wonder on the inside. Which I must say, is a cool feeling, though not what I was hoping for. What I would like to have is an idea of how to put them back together.
I have the FSM in front of me, have read the thing repeatedly, and still have that glassy look in my eyes. But having not seen it, I feel like a like a little kid being told to reconstruct the Eiffel Tower. There's a pile of I-beams over there, get to it. UMMMMMM I have this wonderful ability that if I can see something done once, then I can do it. I'm a mechanic that has been working on cars since I was a kid, but I've never gone this far into the engine without direction. And I always made it a policy to send out tranny work, because that's what my brother always advised me to do. This is where it's coming back to bite me in the butt!

So, I think today I will reassemble the carbs and try to get the mechanic to help me out on Monday. The boss is gracious enough to let me spend a day working on my bike at the job. Hopefully I can knock out the engine reassembly, placement for the forward controls on the frame, welding them in place, and some (if not all) the wiring on Monday.

If anyone reading this is the praying type, I would sure appreciate a few sent up on my behalf. I know I'll be saying a few myself.

In the last post, I said I would be praying. Well, isn't it funny how prayers are hardly ever answered the way we want them to be...

My boss let me bring my bike into work, and do work on it there. The plan was even for him, and the motorcycle mechanic I work with, to both come in and help me on it on Saturday... Neither showed... Needless to say, I didn't get too much done.
Well, my boss also said that I could have today to work on my bike in the shop, for the whole day! :woohoo: I was there before anyone else arrived. I had to wait like 30 minutes for my supervisor to get there to let me in. Not only did I get to work on my bike all day, but I even got paid while I was doing it! I have a REALLY cool boss...

So, I was trying to put the cases back together. Thank God the other mechanic was there today to walk me through some stuff. Turns out Yamabond #5 is not what I was supposed to get, I was supposed to get #4. Problem solved, we had a tube at the shop. Start reassembling...
The cases go together beautifully! Then we realize that it won't shift through all the gears, and that I left one of the races out... whoops! :lol: Disassemble.. clean the surfaces again, put the race in, reassemble... Still won't shift... DOH!!!
Disassemble again... clean the surfaces again... Take out the tranny gears.. Turns out, one of the gears has 3 wee ball bearings, and one of them had some debris on it, and it was not allowing it to go through the full range of motion. Who would've thought of putting 3 ball bearings in tranny gears anyways??? Oh well, everything got cleaned up and the gears got put back together, and the next thing I knew, it was time to go home...
My boss said it was cool if I worked on it another day in the shop, so tomorrow I plan to put the engine together for the LAST time, reassemble the head, bolt it all in the frame, and weld on some tabs for my forward controls to attach to.

I'm still kinda wondering if the shocks I got are going to be too low for the bike to stay in proper alignment? Anyone reading this mind going back a couple of posts and letting me know what you think?

I second the EGR valve thing. Both my 81' KZ1000 and my dads KZ1000 both just have a hose going straight across. I found the EGR assemblies for our bikes were expensive too so screw it As far as the carb slides go (sorry if im missing anything, i kinda skimmed through a little bit of your thread) i would just try them out. My dad's 1976 KZ400 had slides that were damaged in some way so they didnt want to move smoothly. I just stuck them in and installed the carbs. Bike runs like a damn monster. Lovin the build dude

Thanks kitten tooth, I forgot to address that.
You're right, since the EGR wasn't necessary, what's the point? Idea scrapped in favor of a connecting hose. Works for me.
And as for the throttle body slides, I found a set of 4 on Ebay, with the right cut out, needle vales and arms, for $35. So for peace of minds sake, I got them.
I'll do my best to see if I can upload any pics of the work I'm going to do today. Who likes to read all the time without pics??? :laugh:

Those 3 little balls are probably the shift lockout mechanism. Somewhere along the line Kawasaki decided it was not good to be able to upshift through the gears with the engine shut off, so those little balls were installed in the output shaft to prevent it. This is what was done on the KZ650 models; I suspect the same is true for other models. Ed

Ed, that makes SOOO much sense. I was racking my brain trying to figure out what they were for, and the other 2 mechanics I work with were also stumped! And can you imagine how frustrating it is when the manual tells you to run through the gears, but you can't?
There is one good thing though... I'm getting very good at splitting the cases and applying Yamabond!

Would there be any harm in leaving those wee ball bearings out?

And I didn't get to do any work on the bike today, Husqvarna training... Tomorrow too.
I'm so excited though. I'm getting closer to riding again!

I love my life.

I would leave the ball bearings in, just a handy system to have. Its the system that stops you from shifting up into second when at a stop and makes it easier to find neutral from 1st. Don't have any idea if they'd cause trouble if left out but its designed to have them so...

I ran into the same problem when reassembling, couldn't figure out why it wouldn't shift into second. One member said that to make sure everything was working he had to spin the engine over with a drill to get it going fast enough for the ball bearings to shift and allow him to shift into 2nd. I just assumed everything was right and went for it haha

I don't know about leaving them out - it might make it so you could never upshift. Maybe someone really familiar with trannies can chime in. My 1977 doesn't have many newfangled convenience thingies like those, or a vacuum petcock, or a gas guage. etc. Ed

Thanks Tim, thanks Ed. I did put them back in, (with quite a bit of moly to keep them stuck up inside the gear till after I get it reassembled). I thought along the lines of your suggestion, if they were there, put them back. But they sure are annoying! Especially when you don't have any idea they are there, and the manual doesn't tell you about them.
Here ends the PSA announcement of this post.

I'll definitely get to work on my bile on Saturday. Hopefully I'll finish up the customer repairs at work and can get in some time to work on my bike tomorrow too! If not, then on Monday. I'm hoping that a couple solid days will get everything put back together. It may not be the way I want EVERYTHING to be, but it will safe for me to ride. And I will find a way to upload pictures too.

My plan to find a way to upload pics, is still ongoing. The blooming comp just won't recognize the memory card... GRRRRR So sorry, no pics yet.

I did make it down to work on my engine on Saturday. I put the bottom end together, leaving in the wee ball bearings. It was hard to leave them in, as I didn't see any use for them at all, other than to be annoying, but whatever...
The cases are all sealed up, the clutch is done, the new cylinder studs are installed, the advancer plate is on, and I just might get some free time this week to do some more work on it!

I only have 4 hours to work on it on Saturdays, and boy does it go by fast!!!