Advertised Drop In Cams NOT Dropping In

testarossa wrote:

PLUMMEN wrote:

ive always believed in clearancing the cam bucket area anytime a head is apart anyway for possible future buildups,saves headaches later when you have a motor broke in and want to wake it up a little

Hey Plummen,
Could you post some photos or info for those of us who might be interested in clearancing for the future. I'm certainly capable of figuring out the clearance when I do get my cams, but admittedly, I'm a newb to these motors, so for the sake of us newbs, where and how much clearance. It just so happens that I could do this right now since I have my motor apart. I will probably assemble it in the next week, so I need to decide soon, if I want to modify.

Jay, that's good to hear that the tolerance modification was made with some justification. Anyone with a manufacturing background will acknowledge that this is normal. You make incremental revision changes toward a final, polished, finished product that works. However, normally, this will happen "behind the curtain" and the end consumer shouldn't be subjected to prototype trials. Sadly, as said by bountyhunter, and I can back his statement up. In today's world, as a consumer, you are often the guinea pig. If you have ever purchased a first year model car, then you know what we are talking about.

I think that the main thing to take from this thread is the very important point that Larry raises. If you put a part into your bike that doesn't have an OEM Kawasaki label on the package, then you had better check it out to make sure that it functions properly. Porchev914 highlights a possible tragic situation. KZR member buys aftermarket cams for his bike that are sold as "drop-ins", so he drops them in without ever checking anything. Then he starts the bike for the first time, and hears a horrific grinding noise, and kills it. Upon pulling the oil pan, he discovers loads of metal shavings and decides to rip apart the whole motor to see what's wrong. Just that simple decision to split a case could be enough to cost an average guy a whole year of riding, and possibly be the reason that his bike ends up for sale on CL with "carb problems".

Exactly right!

ive got a z1 motor im tearing into hopefully sometime next week,ill take some pictures ofme doing my part to the head before it gets sent off to Larry for him to do his part

couple of weeks ago,a friend and I put a set of "J" spec cams in my CSR.Being Kaw,they should have been "drop in" all the way.Even then,we miced the cams, installed with wrench in one hand ,manual in the other and followed all the specs to the letter.we even went further and rotated the engine thru several cycles checking clearances,timing,etc.we also rechecked the tension on the APE chain tensioner at least 3 times to be sure we had properly installed. Added about 30-40 minutes to the job,but when buttoned up,the bike fired on the first push of the button and ran flawlessly with no need for a valve adjustment.I guess the message is check before,during and after installing any component to insure good results and dont get in a hurry.bj

Just like Dad always said. "Measure twice, cut once."

testarossa wrote:

Just like Dad always said. "Measure twice, cut once."

my dad always said."grab me another beer while youre in there boy" :laugh:

larrycavan wrote:

testarossa wrote:

PLUMMEN wrote:

ive always believed in clearancing the cam bucket area anytime a head is apart anyway for possible future buildups,saves headaches later when you have a motor broke in and want to wake it up a little

Hey Plummen,
Could you post some photos or info for those of us who might be interested in clearancing for the future. I'm certainly capable of figuring out the clearance when I do get my cams, but admittedly, I'm a newb to these motors, so for the sake of us newbs, where and how much clearance. It just so happens that I could do this right now since I have my motor apart. I will probably assemble it in the next week, so I need to decide soon, if I want to modify.

Jay, that's good to hear that the tolerance modification was made with some justification. Anyone with a manufacturing background will acknowledge that this is normal. You make incremental revision changes toward a final, polished, finished product that works. However, normally, this will happen "behind the curtain" and the end consumer shouldn't be subjected to prototype trials. Sadly, as said by bountyhunter, and I can back his statement up. In today's world, as a consumer, you are often the guinea pig. If you have ever purchased a first year model car, then you know what we are talking about.

I think that the main thing to take from this thread is the very important point that Larry raises. If you put a part into your bike that doesn't have an OEM Kawasaki label on the package, then you had better check it out to make sure that it functions properly. Porchev914 highlights a possible tragic situation. KZR member buys aftermarket cams for his bike that are sold as "drop-ins", so he drops them in without ever checking anything. Then he starts the bike for the first time, and hears a horrific grinding noise, and kills it. Upon pulling the oil pan, he discovers loads of metal shavings and decides to rip apart the whole motor to see what's wrong. Just that simple decision to split a case could be enough to cost an average guy a whole year of riding, and possibly be the reason that his bike ends up for sale on CL with "carb problems".

Exactly right!

Anyone with a car manufacturing background will know that for the past 20 years or so,Detroit has done QC via sending a couple mil units out there,letting the poor schmucks that are their customers buy them,and when the complaints start coming in, then and only then do they do QC.Thats why Japanese cars became so popular,at least until Mr.Toyoda forgot about QC as well.bj