KZ305 Rebuild...attempt

I expect many a struggle ahead.   Gonna take it reeeeeeeeeaaaal slow.

Well golly wolly...sure wish I'd seen this before now but it didn't show up until I tried to level the rods. Problem, or no? And furthermore, WTF?  This is on the "bad" piston side so maybe not completely unexpected, but this looks like more than a mere skirt shaving impact (to my inexperienced eye).

Thats the original forged surface, the machining just didn't remove it completely. Nothing to worry about.

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Thats the original forged surface, the machining just didn't remove it completely. Nothing to worry about.
 

Good. Because there's no turning back now.

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 I'm also pleased to note that you don't need a piston ring compressor to install the cylinders - the bottoms are flared, they just slide on. Phew. 
 
 

Hope so...that's up next. Did you use some sort of piston support to get them started in the bore like the manual suggests, because I can't see how. When the pistons are level with each other you can't slide anything underneath them...

Nope, I just kept the pistons level and gently slid the cylinders down. It took a little force/light tapping, being sure to keep the pistons straight while they slid in, but there's nothing to it. Remember to oil the cylinders before you begin!

Oh yeah...I'll be oiling em...

I remember having a helluva time with the confusing instructions when I timed this thing many years ago, and all of whatever I finally determined is now lost thanks to whoever let the kztwins forum die without a backup.

In order to get the camchain back on the manual (last paragraph page 47 below) says to line up the timing mark near the "L" (there is no freeking L) or the 1 (there is nothing discernible as a definite 1) with the timing pointer.  There is something that might or might not be a 1 right next to what could be a timing mark but it looks exactly like the other mark. So if one is a 1 and one is a timing mark, I have no idea which is which. And of course you have to stand on your head to see any of this.

Then in [E37] to make it more confusing they show you how to line up an invisible TDC mark near the "F"  (they never mention the F) but there is no visible TDC mark there, not in the picture and not on the bike. HA! 



 



So which is it, the nonexistent L or the F in the picture? And am I supposed to guess where the imaginary TDC mark is?

 

is one of those a "1"? If so, which one? Ha!



There's the F, off to the right...But there is no L that I can find...there is a part where turning the crank causes it to zoom past a section making it hard to read...


 

and I found this mark that I remember making with an indelible marker 7-8 years ago years ago, that MIGHT be marking the TDC spot, but I can't confirm it thanks to the kztwins forum evaporating so I don't know what justification I had for making that mark where it is...I just know its there for a reason.
 

PRAISE ZEUS!! After 2 days of cranking and a neckache that will last for weeks, I finally found the bloody M&%$#@! "L" mark. 

Congrats on the new development. It took me a good while to find it too...very frustrating. FWIW, I think that there are two sets of two notches, and the notch on the right should be the TDC/BDC mark (I think the first notch is the firing point?). But whatever, you got it. 

Side question for when you finish up with the cam - is there a trick to getting the valve cover back on? It drives me insane every time. 

The L was hiding in the section that kept flying by when I turned the crank...it must have been just off the tip of a lobe on the crank gears or something because it was really hard to get the rotor to balance at that spot. I haven't gone past hand tightening of the sprocket nuts because I'm having issues calibrating my torque wrenches and I want to make sure those are right before I close it up. I'll post a pic later showing what I did to make sure I don't have this problem again in 7 or 8 years, if me or the bike are still alive then...