KZ1100 Performance Upgrade

Started to get into the carbs and install the jet kit. Figured as long as I'm there I might as well strip and repaint! Used VHT engine the first time and I didn't like how easy it chipped. Used 2k clear coat on a set I rebuilt for my CX500 build and they turned out really well so I'm gonna go that direction. Right now they're just stripped and sand blasted and going through a final bath in the ultrasonic. Next up paint, rebuild and hopefully she'll be running like a brand new machine on these bad boys with that jet kit installed!

Finished the carbs up! At least for now. Had a couple hiccups. First I was doing reassembly and noticed I was missing one of the aluminum plugs thats in the float bowl area so I had to go turn one down on the lathe real quick. Almost done and I notice that I can't find my throttle bracket (the part that holds the cable sleeve in place). :pinch: SOB.
I'd prefer the original style piece so I'm hoping I can find one in the next week or so, if not Ill just fork over the 35 bucks and get one from partzilla that goes to the later police models cause they're not discontinued like the one I want. Not a huge deal though.

Painted Carbs:


That big old hole is where the plug I lost goes:


Old and new!:


AAaaaand here's the bracket I seem to have lost somehow:


And finally the (mostly) finished carbs! Jet kit installed. Just need my head from Larry, a vacuum sync and some seat dyno tuning!

Well guys, here's the update:
Still waiting on getting my head back from Larry, so I went ahead and did up the other one I had laying around so I won't miss out on riding season. Figured I might as well set my rings and work out any issues before that ported head arrives.
First I assembled and lapped the valves (had to assemble twice cause I didn't know the springs are directional until I was skimming through my manual)


Then I bought some ebay stock cams. Looks like they came out of an '82 1000 K or M model based on the lift. Seller tried to tell me it was a B model, which would make them GPZ cams but theres no way thats right. anyway, I digress:

Got the head put on next and checked all my clearances. Torqued down with some APE HD cylinder studs and nuts. Sorry I should have taken more pictures, but I was trying to finish before bed time :silly:

Then got her all timed in and got the cams set:

After cranking by had a few times to check for smooth operation I buttoned her up and stuck everything back on and I was ready for start up and the first heat cycle!


I know there's several schools of thought on the break in process so I've kind of been doing a mash up of the two because I can see valid points on both sides.
Hopefully I'm not just muffing things up. :side:
For my first heat cycle and break in period I filled her up with Rotella T4 15w-40. I only had a bit of permatex engine assembly lube wiped on the cylinders (stuff is like snot) the MTC instructions say to run it dry to set the rings but idk about all that seems aweful rough so I met in the middle with a bit of lube. Anyways, started her up and it only took a couple cranks! she screamed to life and I used the idle speed screw to set her at about 2500 rpm and let her heat up for about 15-20 min or so then let her cool down for a couple hours before a retourque and check on eveything, including valve lash. Then I took her out for a quick 20 min ride keeping her around 3k or so rpm engine breaking a lot and all that, no steady throttle. Once I got back I did a quick carb sync and turned in.

Next day I got in 75 mi for my first break in period and changed oil back to good ol Kawi 10w40. Shortly after that I took her out and gave it a little more throttle took it up to about 6k on the highway and I heard a horrible chatter that sounds like its coming from the valve train. Greaaaaat.:S
So I go back home and do some research. At first I'm thinking I didn't set the manual tensioner tight enough so I go through that a few more times, but if it was chain noise it'd be there all the time right? So I set it and then double checked my ig timing with a light (read on here it can cause valve chatter at higher rpm).
Go back out and still the same.
It only happens when I open the throttle to about half way, in higher rpms and cuts out when I let off. Not present anywhere else. I pushed it a little and it seems to go away a bit if I keep on the throttle but it's till there. Doesn't feel like any huge power loss or anything when it happens. There's no excessive carbon build up on the pistons and I'm running 93 gas so I don't think it's detonation, but I'm just a rookie and from what I've read on here my higher compression could cause such things.
Anyone got any ideas as to what it might be?
Tonight I'm going home to take the valve cover off and look for any tell tale signs of chatter or wear and maybe I can figure it out. Also going to check under my stator cover and make sure nothing is loose in there, I've heard of them coming loose.
By the way, anyone want to tell me about how much play their cam chain has after they tightened it with a manual tensioner? I've followed the directions to a T, but I'm a visual guy and I'd love to be able to compare what I've got going on to what someone has going on with theirs that they know is set properly.

Well I did some investigating last night and it looks like a couple of my threads got pulled out on my cam cap bolts. My guess is that's where the noise is coming from. Seems strange though, when I checked my valve lash everything seemed in order and all were torqued down to 100 in lbs. FSM that I have gave 12 ft lbs which seems excessive (I know this has been discussed at length on here) some people say 70 in lbs some people just barely tighten by hand. Anyways, tonight Ill be helicoiling a couple threads for that and hopefully that cures my chatter issues!

I also went through my manual tensioner again and came out with the same tension so I'm pretty sure I got it right. Has roughly half inch of play with all the slack pulled up between the two cams. Too loose? too tight?

Never use a torque wrench on 6mm bolts they will strip out. Most people don't know how to use a torque wrench which makes the problem worse. They also tend to buy a cheap torque wrench which isnt even close to being calibrated correctly. Tighten them by hand using a short 1/4" ratchet, you'll feel it when it's tight.
What type of allen head screws are those in the cam caps?
I just finished an overhaul of a KZ900 engine for a customer. Every cam cap bolt hole was stripped, the last "mechanic" who worked on it driiled holes all the way thru the head where he could and then installed long bolts with nuts. For the holes he couldn't drill thru he simply installed the bolts back in with large amounts of epoxy. Surprisingly it was running when I got it.
These engines are air cooled I read you let your fresh engine idle for 15 to 20 minutes at 2500 rpm? Please tell me you didn't do that.

Admittedly my in lb torque wrench is cheap, though I figured calibration wouldn't need to be spot on since I was so far from the FSM spec. They torqued down fine just apparently didn't have good enough threads to hold once they got some actual stress on them. Lesson learned I suppose.
They are 18-8 ss allen head bolts.
Hah that sounds like a jury-rigged engine right there.
I did, though in all honesty it probably wasn't that long. I didn't time it, but it hit 210 at the valve cover when I shut it off. If it's overheating you're worried about I had a big ol industrial fan pushing air over her and watched the temp with an ir thermometer. Just a full heat cycle to torque the head nuts down the rest of the way.

Overheating and thats hard on a new set of rings. New rings don't like heat and sitting there at 2500 rpm is a good way to glaze the cylinder up so the rings never bed in correctly. Bedding in new rings and pistons requires high cylinder pressure and most of the breakin on a rebuilt engine occurs in the first 10 to 20 minutes of engine start so sitting there at 2500 rpms at low cylinder pressures the rings simply glaze the cylinder walls.

Well I needed to heat cycle it and torque the head nuts before I took it out. At least that's the way half the people out there do it. No more heat than running it on the street. I am aware of the glazing issue; from what I've found researching (and I'm by no means an expert, just going off the information I could find and what made sense to me) that's the reason for 2500 rpm over just sitting at regular idle speed so you have more cylinder pressure when you do that heat cycle. I know some people say go out and bang it immediately and some say baby it and there's a million different angles on break in procedure. The way I've done it seems to have worked fine, I've got good compression across all four.
But hey, maybe I can do it better next time! :side:
What would be your recommendation, for future reference? And I mean this with upmost respect, but what sort of experience do you have with break in procedures?

When I'm ready to break in a fresh engine I make sure everything is ready for a ride, engine oil no oil leaks, air in tires, ect. I get my riding gear on roll the bike out get on the bike then start it and immediately ride it. I pre choose a route with no stopping and usually has a hill. I accelerate in first gear hard but not at full throttle or to redline. I'll roll off the throttle and let the engine braking slow me down to about 10 mph. I'll do this three times then shift into second gear and repeat then third, repeat, ect. By then I'm at the hill I chose I'll ride up the hilin third gear and accel hard. When I get to the top ill turn and start down the hill when I shift into third gear and around 70 mph I'll let the engine braking slow me down to about 10 mph shifting down as needed.
I then ride home home like normal park the bike overnight. In the morning re torque head bolts change the oil, do any tuning if needed then I'm done with break in.
My Dad taught me this when I was 12 and it worked on the thousand plus engines he overhauled and it's worked on the hundreds of big Kawasaki engines I've done. I've never had one come back and they all run strong and burn no oil.

Thanks Baldy110!

Similar for top-end ring job only?

I understand. I guess Ill have to keep that in mind for next time. I guess there's no real reason to keep it off the road for that first heat cycle; at least none that I know of. I was concerned about seeping oil without that second torque down of the head nuts. I'll have to get my compression numbers again when I'm back from vacation and next time I set some rings I'll probably do it your way and we'll see if we can't prove a difference.
I mean, who wouldn't want to get on their bike quicker anyways?
Good news is so far I don't see any signs of burning oil, but then again I'm only roughly 120 miles into the fresh top end.