TOPIC:

ok thise seems stupid but I don't have the shop manual yet and I dont know where the oil filter is. Can some one fill me in?
Its a 1981(ish thats when the owners manual is copywritten) kz550 chain drive.
thanks
(ps if some one knows where i can find a clymers or haynes for free(i would pay but i have 80 cents) let me know)

Welcome to KZR. The oil filter and drain plug are both on the bottom of the engine. At the rear, center of the pan you'll find a nut in the center of a 3 inch diameter circular plate. This is the cover of your oil filter. Reinstall in the same sequence you remove it. Check the attached pic.

You get to the filter from the bottom of the engine. There is a circular plate with a bolt going thru the middle. There may also be a small bolt somewhere on the circular plate... this is a drain plug to help drain the filter (it's not the main drain plug. That's a 17mm hex in the bottom of the engine).
Drain the oil. Remove the circular plate by loosening the bolt in the middle. It will drop, along with about 1/2 cup of oil that didn't drain (use a catch pan). The filter will come out with the plate and bolt. It is about the size of two doughnuts, stacked on top of each other (cake, not raised). Slide off the old filter. Pay attention to the spring, make sure it's in position when you slide on the new filter. Put some old oil on the filter's seal (in the doughnut hole) to help it slide on the bolt. Install is the reverse of removal.
Hope I got all that right.

It's on the bottom of the motor. Look for a round thinggy that is about six inches across with a bolt going through it. That is the filter cover. The other bolt is the drain.

Lets try the pic again.

Six inches, Don?
I think you were using the ruler you keep in your tackle box.

Use this link: Kawasaki parts diagrams to find all the parts dia. Click on motorcycle - continue, then select your year, engine size, and ALL + ALL. Then your model when the list of models come up. Then on parts diagrams. Now you can look up any part and the location and assembly sequence.

Awesome guys as soon as the sun comes out over fair (and mildly flooded) new hampshire I will get this done.
a little back ground on the bike. its been siting for 7 years. I got it for a song.I replaced the battery, cleaned the clutch senor and the start switch and it fired right up.
The front brake was locked up and the one of the screws in the master cyl won't come out(badly striped, and rusted). I am thinking of taking a dremel to it to try to cut a slot to use a flat head as I dont have a extractor tool. I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes. Thanks again.

You can make your own extractor if you have a bench grinder and a good quality(tool steel) drill bit to sacrifice.

Grind a parallogram shape on the end with about 30-40 degree small angle.

_____
/____/

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V

arrow indicates direction it will push after driving into a hole you drill in the end of the screw.

you'll want this hole sized to allow about 1/3 of the points to cut into the sides. you'll want it deep enough to drive the tool in to about 1/2 the diameter of the screw. about 3mm for a M6 screw. this will give a good bite. One good hammer whack should seat the tool.

Make sure the hole is centered.
Use a pin prick followed by center punch followed by pilot hole followed by final hole.

Practice on some junk until you get a feel for sizing, angles, and how hard to whack. I hold in vise grips, whack, and then use visegrips to turn the screw out. Use Uhe 'real' vise grips, not the knock-offs.

This tool hasn't failed me yet.
Broken studs, broken carb screws broken screw on perch, buggered loctited in BS carb slow circuit mixture screws(after heating thread lock compound), ...
all removed with home made tool

-Duck

Duck, I am interested in your broken bolt remover technique. A few things I would like to find out.

Lets assume it is a M6 bolt we wish to remove.
We prick then centre-pop the broken bolt end, then carefully drill with a good (new) 4mm drill, to a depth of about 3mm. You have an old (say 6mm) drill and you grind it to this parallogram shape, What thickness and approx what dimension? to punch into the 4mm hole.

Great Idea! How come I've never heard of it before? I usually use a pilot and just keep getting bigger and perhaps, have to "helicoil".

RegardZ