Do KZs from the late 70s have asbestos gaskets?

Hey guys, I am restoring a 1978 KZ400 B and I just finished cleaning and lapping valves, new rings...the usual. This bike hasn't been ridden and maintained much, therefore everything is original. As I was liting the cylinders to uncover the pistons the gasket broke in a few spots revealing white fibers inside of it. Do you know if Kawasaki in those days was still using asbestos? Or could it be some kind of aramid fiber like Kevlar? I am nervous about scraping the rest of the gasket off. Thanks!

I would doubt it contained asbestos, and these temperatures were not that high, even paper would stand it, but could still be possible before 1980.

What is harmful about asbestos is breathing its dust, not touching it, and it would probably be oily as to not produce dust whatever it is, and these are really tiny areas compared to demolishing old houses, and ships in dry conditions,,,, but if in doubt, simply oil it and use a dust mask to play it safe during scraping.

The 81-83 KZ650 manual has an asbestos warning in the beginning of the manual, but i do not recall if there were any specifics. The warning isn't in the 81 or 81-82 650 manuals. I did not see the warning in the 80-85 750-4 manual, but I didn't look thoroughly. I'm pretty sure the brake pads & brake shoes have asbestos. Whenever doing the brakes, I either wipe down the parts with denatured alcohol to remove the dust or wash the parts with copious amounts of water. or both. Never reuse brake dust rag.

When I refurbished the rear wheel, I wiped down everything with denatured alcohol before disassembly, then washed the parts. Others had reported brake squeal, so before installing new brake shoes, I sanded the glazing off the rear drum very slowly, carefully & evenly. working outside on a calm day. I did a section closest to the ground, then wiped with clean cloths & denatured alcohol, then rotated the wheel so the next section would be close to the ground. etc etc etc. I also sanded the leading edges of the brake shoes. no squeal.

OK, I will put a respirator on, soak the area with oil or gasket remover, scrape it off then trash every cloth used in the process. I just wish it didn't break this stuff makes me nervous!

martin I believe there is definitely asbestos in brakes from that time, thanks for sharing your experience.

There's more asbestos in your day to day life then the dust in the brake's or base gasket your worried about.

No disrespect guys but it takes long term exposure to high quantities of asbestos to cause health effects.

Nessism wrote: No disrespect guys but it takes long term exposure to high quantities of asbestos to cause health effects.

+1 on this. Don't let scraping the gasket worry you - you a at a much higher risk of hurting yourself taking your bike for a ride on public roads compared with scraping an asbestos gasket. Now if you were working in the factory producing asbestos gaskets for 35 years, that might be another story.

Don't sweat it.

FrankenKZ650 wrote:

Nessism wrote: No disrespect guys but it takes long term exposure to high quantities of asbestos to cause health effects.

+1 on this. Don't let scraping the gasket worry you - you a at a much higher risk of hurting yourself taking your bike for a ride on public roads compared with scraping an asbestos gasket. Now if you were working in the factory producing asbestos gaskets for 35 years, that might be another story.

Don't sweat it.

You guys are correct, as for most substances repeated, long-term exposure is more dangerous BUT for asbestos even single exposure can carry severe consequences if you are really unlucky. Therefore I will take any reasonable precaution (just got a 3M respirator, but I won't bother wearing a full hazmat for a gasket ). I am exposed to a few occupational hazards like class IV lasers, high-pressure combustion systems, and nasty chemicals so I like to be strict on safety
I would love to know for sure what's in those gaskets..

Wow, a respirator to scrape gaskets! There is greater risk with being struck by lighting but do what you must!

I'm one of those guys that gets grease, carb spray, sealer, and god knows what else on my hands on a regular basis. No doubt I'll die a horrible death.

This outfit works great for scrapping gaskets, or cleaning up after a small nuclear incident like Chernobyl!!!!

Nessism wrote: Wow, a respirator to scrape gaskets! There is greater risk with being struck by lighting but do what you must!

I'm one of those guys that gets grease, carb spray, sealer, and god knows what else on my hands on a regular basis. No doubt I'll die a horrible death.

Well, it's an old dry gasket broken in multiple points with exposed broken fibers (which I am still not sure but might be Kevlar), if it was still whole I woudn't wear anything.
As I said I am already exposed to quite dangerous stuff every day so I think that mitigating useless risk is always a good idea.
If anybody knows for sure I am still very interested in knowing when did the motorcycle industry stop using asbestos in gaskets

Dr. G thats funny chit right there.

Lets see today I got carb cleaner, gas, rtv sealer, oil, grease, hydro fluild, spray paint and a booger (had to pick my nose)
on my hands so just a normal day