Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

I finally got to debut my 03 ZX6R track bike yesterday.

The bike started off well, plenty of grunt, but on lap 8 i knocked it down one to many gears comming into turn three, locking up the rear and causing the engine to make an odd noise as i slid towards the kitty litter.

So I managed to get a whopping 26 km out of it on the track before it started to make this godawfull rattling/knocking sound as if there were a bunch of ball bearings loose in the engine.

Needless to say i pitted immediately, but what ever it is it sounds terminal like the bottom end has gone or something.

So it looks like i could be up for a rebuild...

Who would have thunk an 03 bike could be so rooted???

I've always like to know what's the definition of 'rebuilding a motorbike engine' ?

quite possibly spun a bearing

but of course something bad has happened

go down too many gears and the engine will easily exceed 20K RPM which equals bad

have seen a skyline GTR that did the same and rods exited the block stage left

its going to be a case of split the case and find the cause but in the end a replacement engine will likely be the easiest and cheaper option

hey varden, thanks for reminding me, work has a heavy duty stator cover for one of those... it's polished with 636 engraved into it..
might be a good thing for a track bike and if you've got it pulled apart already


and i may be selling my bike.. would you be interested in my crash's? they're ER racing ones and the knob unscrews and hooks screw on to use as tie down points, it's what we used coming back from Melb and bike didn't move a cm

johnnie5 wrote: go down too many gears and the engine will easily exceed 20K RPM which equals bad

pah it wouldn't have even come close to 10,000rpm at the speed i was doing, my road bike with less than 5000km has copped this without tossing its cookies.

Tanya wrote: hey varden, thanks for reminding me, work has a heavy duty stator cover for one of those... it's polished with 636 engraved into it..
might be a good thing for a track bike and if you've got it pulled apart already

bling has no place on my bikes Tan

and i may be selling my bike.. would you be interested in my crash's? they're ER racing ones and the knob unscrews and hooks screw on to use as tie down points, it's what we used coming back from Melb and bike didn't move a cm

Oh how much? pm me if ya want.

What you didn't RIDE back??

I did fire up the track bike this morning....it sounded fine....no rattling noises.

In fact i couldn't pick any odd noises even at normal operating temp of 70-90 degrees.

So i left it to idle under the house til it was at the temp of 100 degrees it was at when the problem started on the track.

The rattle came back with a vengance.

Sounding like worn bearings, a fault that may have been there all along but i didn't find till i got to ring its neck for a good 10-15mins.

Maybe i should run 20-50 in my track bike instead of Motul 10-40 synth.

Could get me a few more track days out of it before it throws a rod...

The stator cover is more practical than bling... it would protect the clutch bits more than the standard ones if you came down on that side The standard ones seem to be pretty soft, and they only want as much as a normal one is worth.. I immediately thought of you


Not sure about the frame sliders yet.. i'll wait to see how much i like the zed before i decide to sell this bike.. but if you are interested i can point you in the direction of the place i got them from..

And i didn't ride the bike back because i'd just done 6,400km, I was stuffed, and i had to be back at work on the thurs, and it would have taken me mon, tue and wed to get back

RG wrote:I've always like to know what's the definition of 'rebuilding a motorbike engine' ?

depends on the mechanic

Rebuilding an *engine* usually means a crank rebuild and/or replacement, Gearbox specifications checked (min.thickness on shift forks, min.width for grooves on shift drum, end-float measured and adjusted on input and/or output shafts, return spring tension etc, etc)........maybe a clutch and/or clutch basket replacement. Basically, the entire bottom-end gets a going over, plus the top-end, as described next.......

Top-end rebuild is *just* everything from the base-gasket up. Re-bore, new pistons, rings, l/e bearings, camchain and/or cam guide stuff that needs replacing. *May* also include new valve seats if req'd, and/or new valves and/or valve springs.......sometimes camshafts may be replaced with *lumpier* models.....and complete change of all gaskets from base-gasket up as well.

Engine re-builds do not *generally* mean carbie rebuilds/replacement.

Engine *blueprinting* is the process by which *every* part and tolerance is measured and bought to the tightest of factory specifications......it is not an easy or cheap process, and only really needs doing if you race to pay the mortgage.......