o ring madness

okay so far ive racked up a total of eighty something dollars on mrcycles.com for just o rings. i havent had the order processed yet because im not even sure thats all of what i need. whats really driving me bonkers is the fact that theres two o rings on the microfiche for buykawasaki for the top crankcase and fit at the base ( i can only assume) of two of the engine cylinder studs. why only two? is this really where they go? does everyone agree with one of my friends adamant suggestion to replace all o rings and seals in the entire engine? its alot of money but nothing compared to the almost 2 grand i already have in it. its basically going to be mechanically brand new inside out if i carry through with this order. i couldnt get new crank rod bearing inserts for it due to the fact they discontinued them so i decided to leave those alone, unless anyone can convince me into buying new falicon rods too? jeez might as well, considering all. but i really want to be on the road right now, no, more like two months ago. let me hear what you have to say.

Post edited by: cottoncandyninja, at: 2007/05/17 18:01

Are you sure those two o-rings go over studs? There are two oil passages, one on each end of the block that have o-rings, but as far as I know, none of the studs have o-rings.

steell wrote:

Are you sure those two o-rings go over studs? There are two oil passages, one on each end of the block that have o-rings, but as far as I know, none of the studs have o-rings.

You could save some money by selling the six speed back to me

Now if only I could remember who all I sold cams to, maybe I could persuade someone to sell a set back to me

They do show orings on 2 of the studs. Strange. The way I work is to not replace anything unless it's leaking first. The orings that go bad are the ones that see the most heat. Between the head/cylinder, between the cylinder/base, tach drive are the 3 most common. Others go bad with high mileage and heat such as secondary shaft oring, pan orings ect. I think excessively disassembling things will lead to more harm than good unless it's leaking all over the place. My everyday rider KZ650 is close to 60,000 miles now and has had one cam end plug replaced and that's it. Might be a little unusual. I'm sure not going to complain or start replacing anything if it's not broken

I'll go look again at the one I just pulled the cylinder block off of.

Meanwhile, here is the parts diagram that shows those two o-rings.



Ok, the 1980 KZ750E does not have o-rings on any studs at the crankcase, I just checked every stud to make sure. The parts diagram for the 1980 KZ750E1 shows the same two o-rings, but they are not on the one I have.

No idea why the parts diagram shows them.

Post edited by: steell, at: 2007/05/17 19:48

good point 650, i just want to be on the super super safe side of things, as in, i want to go a good ten years before having to see the inside of this bike again. and as for selling the six speed back to steell, sorry buddy, we're all excited to see what its going to be like having six speeds in it along with the mods ive got set in it. now if i could just get this whole o ring mess sorted out. im still playing around on google and ebay trying to find a solution to the fact i cant get new connecting rod bearings for my 750. who knows, maybe theyre totally okay, but maybe theyre not... maybe ape has a solution? keep throwing me bones!

it shows two o rings, and then in the parts no. and description it shows just 2 for the quantity, so theres not an Oring at the bottom of each stud. whats the deal?! what are they for?

Just trying to be helful and save you some money :evil: :evil:

As far as the main and rod bearing go, just take a look at them when you have the motor apart, if they are not bad then use them.

They will probably be in good shape anyway.

Post edited by: steell, at: 2007/05/17 19:55

im figuring power outputs are going to be a little less than that of mid 90s 600s, with a bit more weight but still have six speeds, so it should be fun. throw on a renthal bar to help control things. its hard to say cus the 550 got all its power through the tranny whereas the 750 could muscle through its five speed, it didnt need any gearing tricks. i hope it wont be a total goof up. i read that one post to the end and never got a conclusion about it. its the same mod im doing. id love some closure on it. as for the con rod bearings, yeah, pretty much everything else was nice in the engine, and come to think of it, those crank bearing inserts wernt exactly total pieces of junk, so maybe everythingll balance out. lets hope i put it under a car before we see a kz actually wear out. just joking kids!

read that one post to the end and never got a conclusion about it

What post was that?

Kooladekid has a problem with the one I put in for him, it now has four speeds instead of six. I'm going to Indy on Sunday to help him split the cases (that yamabond is strong stuff!!) and see what the problem is.

the post i was talking about is that exact same you refer to with kooleaidkid. has four gears? oh no! i hope its related to something just being crapped up and not actually the whole six speed working within the fix speed space. this swap does work right?? right? oh no... what have i done. no one figure out what those two seals are for on the studs yet?

someone just suggested something very thought provoking. lorcan. lorcan parnell. hes got an older gpz 750 turbo. and while it may be turbo, its a 750, and i can only assume i can use some of the things he uses. anyone know of any way of getting in contact with him or if he has a site that lists what he uses himself on his bike. a drag bike like that probably has all new everything since itd be best to be running at tip top condition all the time. or maybe hes using old o rings too. who knows. anyone got the hook ups?