KZ1000 bunch of teardown questions

Hi folks, 
bunch of questions as I remove the engine covers for polishing:
To do so, I had to drain the oil, which somehow I did not do right upon bringing the bike home (it was so crusty I dove right into cleaning and stripping stuff off).

Question A: the oil looked dark brown more than black and smells lightly of fuel. How concerned should I be ?
Question B: there was nasty sludge at the bottom of the clutch. See photo below. How concerned should I be ?
Question C: the alternator stator has black-ish stuff on most but not all of the windings. See photo below. How concerned should I be ?
Question the ignition stuff behind the first cover looked new. But behind it, there are traces of reddish powder, redder than rust. See photo below. How concerned should I be ?

I don't know much about the entrails of such an engine, and this whole process is also intended as a pretext for hands-on learning about mechanics and electrics.
But it's late and I don't want to read the whole workshop manual now, so I thought I'd just throw these questions in case folks need a reason to chime in with pithy comments.
Looking forward !


 

A: Fuel smell is a sign that the petcock and at least one carb’s float valve have failed. Common problem. Not a big deal.
B: That color sludge suggests water in the oil. Much more worrisome than fuel. Look closely at bearings and transmission parts for rust.
C: Looks like dried oil sludge. A few miles with fresh oil may reduce that a bit. I would put that low on the worry list.
Interesting. Have no idea.

Looks like emulsified oil in there due to condensation or water ingress, can also be caused by repeated start ups for short periods and not getting the engine warm enough to vaporise the condensation. Likewise fuel vapours will bypass rings and contaminate oil as a matter of course which is driven out once the engine gets hot. Although I would agree with the previous poster, fuel ingress from fuel bypassing the petcock even if off is a known issue compounded by the bike being parked for long period on its side stand and weeping float needle valves. Sludge under clutch basket is common on machines not used much / abused / infrequent oil changes etc. If it were me I would certainly pull the sump pan and clean it all out, you may be shocked at the amount of sludge you will find, it will also give you a good opportunity to have a good look round inside. You will no doubt see  quite a bit of flash or surface rusting on the gear clusters and crank webs, this is not a concern, get it as clean as you can, run fresh oil and filter, change oil after 400 hundred miles and refill with fresh, leave filter in till next change at a thousand miles and it should stay way cleaner. If the bike has been laid up for a while there will be a number of other things to check and service to make it dafe and reliable!

wrote:

Looks like emulsified oil in there due to condensation or water ingress, can also be caused by repeated start ups for short periods and not getting the engine warm enough to vaporise the condensation. Likewise fuel vapours will bypass rings and contaminate oil as a matter of course which is driven out once the engine gets hot. Although I would agree with the previous poster, fuel ingress from fuel bypassing the petcock even if off is a known issue compounded by the bike being parked for long period on its side stand and weeping float needle valves. Sludge under clutch basket is common on machines not used much / abused / infrequent oil changes etc. If it were me I would certainly pull the sump pan and clean it all out, you may be shocked at the amount of sludge you will find, it will also give you a good opportunity to have a good look round inside. You will no doubt see  quite a bit of flash or surface rusting on the gear clusters and crank webs, this is not a concern, get it as clean as you can, run fresh oil and filter, change oil after 400 hundred miles and refill with fresh, leave filter in till next change at a thousand miles and it should stay way cleaner. If the bike has been laid up for a while there will be a number of other things to check and service to make it dafe and reliable!

Thanks ! all good advice.
I will remove the pan and have a look-see and do as you suggest, makes sense.
More soon !

The red dust in the R.H engine cover is very likely fine rust particles thrown out from within the advancer mechanism by centrifugal force.  It may never have been serviced.

The advancer lives on the end of the crankshaft, indexed by a small pin pressed into the end of the crank re: TDC of cyls. 1-4 and 2-3..  A small amount of grease was applied at the factory to the inside of the rotating sleeve of the advancer, along with the advancer shaft around which the sleeve rotates.  The advancer sleeve rotates around the advancer shaft when the counterweights (the small arms held in place by springs)  are forced outward by centrifugal force to advance spark timing as engine RPM rises from idle.  The factory grease deteriorates with heat & age, leading to sluggish advancer operation or, sometimes, seizing completely.

We'd suggest disassembling, cleaning & re-lubing the advancer mechanism.  Work on a comfortable, flat surface, in good light.  A towel works well for us, as it will keep the tiny C-clips from escaping easily; be careful removing them, as they like to fly away & are difficult to find.  Be very gentle with the springs, taking great care not to overstretch them during disassembly; they're calibrated for tension.  Note the positions of the tiny washers on the counterweight pins.  Before disassembly, mark the end of rotating sleeve and the shaft around which it rotates wioth a scribe so you don't reassemble it 180° out of sync.  Use only enough high-temperature grease to coat the inside of the rotating sleeve, and mostly fill the groove on the advancer shaft..  There should be instructions in the KZ1000 manual for dis/re-assembly of the advancer mechanism.

Good Ridin';
slmjim & Z1BEBE

wrote:

The red dust in the R.H engine cover is very likely fine rust particles thrown out from within the advancer mechanism by centrifugal force.  It may never have been serviced.

The advancer lives on the end of the crankshaft, indexed by a small pin pressed into the end of the crank re: TDC of cyls. 1-4 and 2-3..  A small amount of grease was applied at the factory to the inside of the rotating sleeve of the advancer, along with the advancer shaft around which the sleeve rotates.  The advancer sleeve rotates around the advancer shaft when the counterweights (the small arms held in place by springs)  are forced outward by centrifugal force to advance spark timing as engine RPM rises from idle.  The factory grease deteriorates with heat & age, leading to sluggish advancer operation or, sometimes, seizing completely.

We'd suggest disassembling, cleaning & re-lubing the advancer mechanism.  Work on a comfortable, flat surface, in good light.  A towel works well for us, as it will keep the tiny C-clips from escaping easily; be careful removing them, as they like to fly away & are difficult to find.  Be very gentle with the springs, taking great care not to overstretch them during disassembly; they're calibrated for tension.  Note the positions of the tiny washers on the counterweight pins.  Before disassembly, mark the end of rotating sleeve and the shaft around which it rotates wioth a scribe so you don't reassemble it 180° out of sync.  Use only enough high-temperature grease to coat the inside of the rotating sleeve, and mostly fill the groove on the advancer shaft..  There should be instructions in the KZ1000 manual for dis/re-assembly of the advancer mechanism.

Good Ridin';
slmjim & Z1BEBE

Right on !
I'll dive into it, the hardest might be to figure out if my grease is high-temp enough...