Quick comment on valve adjustments

In my (apparently)never ending quest to figure out why my KZ400 runs so crappy after it warms up, I decided to adjust the valve clearances last night (for those that remember my last posting in electrical...the coil tested fine. Rats, that would have been an easy fix.)

Read the manual and it didn't appear to be too hard. Brought the bike into the garage 'cause Colorado's turned cold again (surprised?). Pulled all the covers off and rotated the crankshaft per the manual. Went to the right rear valve and there was no clearance, but was a piece of cake to adjust. Just reached in with the gauge, loosened the nut, adjusted, tightened, and done! Then I went to the front right. Crap! That valve is so far in the head that it took me 30 minutes to figure out if it needed adjustment. Now I know why some gauges have that bent tip! Took me 45 minutes just on the one valve and another hour to determine that the left side was fine.

I'm not optimistic that this will fix the problem, but it looks like I'll have to wait a while to test it out due to weather. Fortunately I scheduled an appointment (4 weeks ago) with the local motorcycle mechanic for the 23rd so hopefully he can figure out whats going on.

Anyways....wasn't as quick as I thought...do the bigger bore bikes have the same access issues to make valve clearance adjustments? That was a pain.

You're lucky, on my 650's with under bucket shims, you have to take the camshafts out, remove the tappets and change out shim sizes.
You have it easy!

Sorry to say, but you have the easiest valve-adjustments of all the KZ's. You don't have to scrape valve-cover gaskets and don't have to buy parts (some of which don't exist anymore (750 twin owners are nodding right now )).

loudhvx wrote:

...You don't have to scrape valve-cover gaskets and don't have to buy parts (some of which don't exist anymore (750 twin owners are nodding right now )).

Yep:pinch:

Darn. I was hoping to move up to a KZ750 in a year or two, but I've been following the threads on the shims and it might be scaring me off. Do the 750 four cylinders have the same problem?

Hey, link14! Didn't notice when you introduced yourself back in December. Welcome. I see you're in Ft Collins. I grew up there, learned how to crash motorcycles riding up the Poudre Canyon like a bat out of hell! Now that I'm stuck in kansas (I can't even bring myself to capitalize it) I realize how incredible it would be to ride up there again! However, a word about your 400. Learn all you can on an easy bike like that, 'cause you're going to want something more once you discover the ride from Ted's Place to Rustic, and then you get to wind it out across Beaver Meadows, and on up to Cameron Pass. Then you come out into North Park, and you KNOW you've found the high country! Looking forward to hearing you tell us you've stepped up to at least a 550. But if you're concerned about easy shims, move up to the big ones. 900/1000/1100.

Post edited by: pstrbrc, at: 2007/04/11 17:13

Is the bike running better now or is it still running like crap? I might have to come up there and help you out.

750-fours use the same shims as the 550's and are plentiful.

Thanks for the info loudhvx. Yeah wolf, she runs great for about 10 miles, then has no power. Just working my way through the manual's trouble-shooting guide until I can get the bike to Ray's on the 23rd.

Pstrbrc, I'm dying to make some mountain runs. Fort Collins to Walden to Woods Landing to Larimie would be an awsome ride, but you'd better have a reliable bike. I've wanted to invite kzwolfsr for a mountain run, but the 400 just hasn't been behaving.

Due to spousal concerns I probably won't be able to get a bigger bike for a year or two and even then I'm not sure how big to go. My neighbor down the street has a 2001 KZP 1000 and when I sit on it, I can't reach the ground! That's why I was eying either a 650 or 750, but would like to stay with an Ltd, 'cause they're my favorites.

Wolf, hope you have things buttoned down there in Denver, looks like a hell-of-a-storm coming in. I was supposed to go boarding in Breck tomorrow, but bagged it due to the reported blizzard.