Engine Just Blew??

Do you have a crankcase vent, and if so, is it open and working?

I have seen two things cause that, the most common is a clogged vent, the other is fuel in the crankcase igniting.
In your case I'd bet on a clogged/restricted vent.

RonKZ650 wrote:

As much as I like stock, I'll have to say you've done a fabulous job there on the MKII. Hope it works out as an easy fix.

High praise indeed, coming from the man that hates anything that's not stock

Almost went into shock when I read that post!!

I just have one thing to say to you:angry:
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THAT BIKE IS FU@%(NG BEAUTIFUL!!!
its a bummer to hear about your problem, but i could barely take my eyes off of it to read your post. Great work.

That really sucks!! Hopefully it's an easy fix.

Since I redid my top end I've re-torqued the head about 5 times. I checked the cylinder head nuts at about 10 miles, 50 miles, 200 miles, 500 miles and 700 miles. It wasn't until the last time they were all good.

Your bike really looks good!!

PLUMMEN wrote:

sand down the chrome on the gasket mating surface of valve cover to roughin it up when replacing gasket,chrome on gasket sealing surfaces sucks!:S

You don't mean sand off the triple plating do you? Just scuff it up, right? I wondered about that with all of my covers but tried it without sanding.

As far as the crankcase vent, I was definitely blowing a lot of oil with the ape low profile. I went back to stock with a longer hose and a filter on the end. No oil leaks now, so I don't think it's plugged. I see some exhaust exiting from the filter once in a while too.

My next question was going to be "what caused this"? I was thinking that my pressure must be high. I have heard that it will get better as the engine breaks in - have you guys heard that? Rings aren't completely sealed so there is more blow-by??

Also, aren't the factory Kawasaki gaskets rubber? I'd pay extra to get a good quality rubber gasket but I can't remember for sure. I do know that my old gasket was twice as thick as the new blue one.

Oh, and thanks for all of the compliments!

just rough it up really good,try some of my favorite spray on copper cote on valve cover side of gasket.i learned this years ago the hard way i always scuff up the mating surface of any plated part requiring a gasket,and ive seen a lot of plated parts over the years!:laugh:

i was going to purchase the lo-pro breather untill i read about oil probs...i use stock with a piece of hose with a k and n that ends just past the pods....works well and in hot weather i see smoke out of filter when i rev it up......i use the same blue gasket and it seems to be holding up o k,
but i had to retorque cam cover bolts after running it post valve adj...i cranked them down initially, but after one run, they were loose as shit....just my .02.....keith.....p s...your bike looks sweet...i can appreciate the stock way of thinking, but i can also appreciate a nice @#$%$# ride!!!!

79MKII wrote:

Oh, almost forgot...

The swingarm is from Klasmo in Germany. I had them make a 6" over version and move the shock mounts back one inch. They now list it on their site. I bought it several years ago though when the dollar was still real money. It would cost about $900 right now, compared to about $650 when I bought it. Shipping has gone way up too. I'll post a link if I can find it.

Found it - here it is:

Swingarm Link

i think american classics sells those....nice pcs

keith1 wrote:

i was going to purchase the lo-pro breather untill i read about oil probs...i use stock with a piece of hose with a k and n that ends just past the pods....works well and in hot weather i see smoke out of filter when i rev it up......i use the same blue gasket and it seems to be holding up o k,
but i had to retorque cam cover bolts after running it post valve adj...i cranked them down initially, but after one run, they were loose as shit....just my .02.....keith.....p s...your bike looks sweet...i can appreciate the stock way of thinking, but i can also appreciate a nice @#$%$# ride!!!!

i just went to garage for shits and giggles and cam cover bolts needed just a tad more....keep an eye on those blue gaskets!!

looks like things are going to work out just fine new bike bugs notwithstanding,i've had problems with chrome valve covers before,what i normally do to cure it is bond the gasket to the valve cover with 3m weatherstrip adhesive don't bond it to the head because it is nightmare to clean it off there if you have to take the cover off to check valves or what ever. one other thing i would check out is the breather system, make sure your lines arn't kinked and that everything is free flowing your bound to have quite a bit more crankcase pressure with that bigger cylinder you got now i always run two breathers on big inch motors,also your motor is new so the rings won't be seated properly yet so you will get more blow by than normal by the way nice job on the bike one of the best looking mk11 i've ever seen, one question tho why did'nt you buy a trac dynamics arm or d-g.

I'm not familiar with the d-g arms. Do you have a link?

I really liked the Trac arms but they were quite a bit more at the time. I think around $900?? I probably would have gone with it anyway, but the jerks answering the emails really ticked me off. Their customer service really seems to be terrible. That's what finally turned me off Trac.

The American Classix arms look to be from the same company, but only come in stock lengths. I'm guessing American Classix gets theirs from Germany too.

I also found quite a few arms for much less but they were the type without pivot bearings = no shocks.

timebomb33 wrote:

...i always run two breathers on big inch motors...

Where to you run your second breather? From the starter hole? I had one there for the 1229 but put the starter back in on this rebuild.