'82 KZ750 valve adjustment

Does any body have a write up or how to on adjusting valves on a '82 KZ750?
Thanks,
Craig

twin or 4?

four cylinder really all i need to know is how to check valve clearance.but the adjustment info would be hand as well.

Sorry, I've got a twin, totally different procedure.

Grinch77,

Should be the same as a kz650. Search for "shim under bucket" on this site and try google it. You use a feeler gauge to measure the clearence between the cam and the bucket for each cylinder, if they are out of spec you need a chart to determine the correct shim. Remove the cam shafts, buckets and old shims, replace with the new ones, then remeasure. There shoud be a copy of some manual pages somewhere on the net.

Tyler

thanks tyler do you know if the specs are the same for the kz650 as the kz750?i have a kz650 manual for some reason i didn't even think to check it.

They would be the same. Generally you are looking for .10mm-.15mm clearance. There are two ways at least to check clearances. I don't have a KZ750 manual either, but the first thing to do is lock your automatic tensioner so it stays adjusted throughout the procedure.
The first procedure that is the generally accepted method you'll need the manual. You align a timing mark a certain way and check 2 valves. You need every available feeler gauge size from .01 to .25mm. Insert each feeler until you measure the exact clearance. Move the engine to the next specified mark and repeat on 2 valves, and so on until all 8 are measured, then take your readings and add or subtract shim sizes that are available in .05mm increments to get the correct clearances. This involves removing the cams, and you'll need the 750 manual because it uses a hyvo chain where the KZ650 uses a roller chain. An entirely different setup.
The other method that I was taught 30 yrs ago from a factory Kawasaki mechanic is you basically only need 4 feelers, a .05mm, .10mm, .15mm, .20mm. Lock your tensioner as in the other procedure before beginning work, then pick a valve to check. Turn the engine over slowly by the 17mm nut on the right end of the crank while you contantly try to stuff a .10mm feeler between the bucket and cam. If it goes, try a .15mm, if not try a .05mm. Find the largest in these feeler sizes that will insert during any spot in the rotation of the cam and call that your clearance. Repeat on each valve. Now you have all your clearances checked and all numbers make sense in shim sizes available, so calculating is no problem. So if you measured for an example .10, .10, .05, .15, 0, .10, .10, .10 you would see that chances are swapping a 1 size smaller shim in #3 would bring it to spec and increasing one size on #4 would do it there. #5 is the question mark and probably going down 2 sizes on it would do the trick.
The same engine checked by method #1 may read for example .12, .11. .08, .16, .02, .14, .13, .10 This just is checking too close as since the shims are only available in .05mm increments, the same exact swaps would be needed, just a different way to accomplish the same thing.
Like I said, either method will work, either means removing the cams to do any shim swaps. Lock the tensioner first, use a KZ750 manual for timing cams on a 750 engine.

I'm in the middle of this as well I do have the manual but I can't find the actual proper specs for it in my manual. I'm going to try to get a hold of the closest dealer to me cuz I need shims anyways. If you ended up getting this done and you remember what your specs were please let me know I'd like to set all of mine the same! Is it 0.10 or 0.010?

The original post was 9 years ago and with the exception of Ron I suspect many posters may have moved on.

If your bike is a KZ750/4 then all valve clearances should be in the range 0.08 - 0.18mm. The method given in the factory manual is best .

For a factory manual click on Articles in the bar above, select Manuals from the drop down menu and pick the 3rd one down which is for the GPz750 . The method is described starting page 12.

If you need shims then zip tie cam chain to one sprocket, remove cam caps and roll back sprocket and chain, check and replace shims, put everything back and do the other side.

Be very careful with torque of cam cap bolts. Better to under torque than over torque as it is very easy to strip threads.

Lots of posts here on shim under bucket checking and replacing

That is actually really helpful I know the original post is old and thank you for replying so efficiently quick! My bike is the KZ 750n Spectre 1982 lol .

It's a rebuild project for the summer to ride and learn on and next winter will be built into a cafe racer.

I've done tons of quad Motors but no 4-cylinder bike motors

Hey! This is ron! You talking about me buddy? See i knew it. I am about to get my 82 650csr back and will want to know how to do this.whats the wisecrack everyone but ron moved on? Geez.