More Kawie Questions

Now that my '82 KZ550 has clean carbs I'm looking into more
preventive maintenance:

I am about to open up and lube the centrifugal ignition advance unit.
Suggestions?

I need to check valve lash and adjust if necessary. Are the valve
shims readily available?

It seems a bit noisy, if I was to open it up and look at the cam chain
tensioner should I suspect some sorts of trouble?

TIA

Biker Dude

 

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36wt_1165

I can't add anything to this except to say that a lot of these Kawa
tensioners stick when cold. However, a lot of these old Kawas are also
naturally noisy when cold. I wouldn't fiddle with the tensioner unless
any of the valves need re-shimming, in which case the tensioner has to
be removed anyway.

 

I do have the Clymer manual and it states that it should be lubed once
a year or every 6K miles. It does not state what I'm supposed to lube
it with. I suppose I'll figger sumpthin out......... What would Toggy
say? "a happorth of tar"?

I'll order a cam cover gasket and then check the valve lash.

It also looks like a warming trend is headed my way, if the roads
clear for just a day I'll give the Kawie a road test.

Biker Dude

 

No, it's not, not on those old air-cooled Kawasakis. It's not a big
O-ring type: it's a proper sort of paper gasket, and they always get
wrecked when they're removed. He'll definitely need a new one (over
here, they're £20!).

Really? I always remove the little rubber bungs, clean them, apply rhe
silicone and refit. It only takes a minute or two. No leaks.

If you're careful, you don't, because that l/h side cover isn't really
under any kind of tension and there's no oil floating around there, but
it's a good idea to have a spare. These ones are very cheap.

Again, not necessary. What I do is remove all the spark plugs, shove
them back into their plug caps, remove the cam cover, and turn on the
ignition. Then I just tap the starter button with my finger. The cams
revolve maybe an eighth of a turn with each tap. Very easy. Or I stick
the engine into gear and turn the back wheel. With the plugs out there's
very little resistance.

I don't actually bother to align the tiing marks when checking the
clearances. As long as the cam lobes are pointing directly away from the
buckets, that's all you need to do.

True. Don't try cutting a copy of the cam cover gasket though - it's
next to impossible.

 

I have just ordered the gasket from fleabay for $21 postage included.

If I do shim the buckets do I deal with the cam chain with the same
tools as I would use on the drive chain?

Biker Dude

 

See what Olson said.

If you do need to re-shim, the procedure is to remove the tensioner
assembly complete. This puts enough slack in the chain to allow you to
displace the cams and remove the buckets.

You emphatically don't need to break the chain unless it's knackered
(and on 550 Kawasakis that's unlikely below 50,000 miles).