Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Well I finaly got some decent time today for the bike.
My garage is sorted out pretty nicely now so I've got a good area to work in.
I _think_ I have everything ready to drop the engine out.
Only thing left in the engine cradle area is the engine (minus rocker cover & carbs), gearbox, starter motor & stater.
I've removed / detatched & labels all the hoses and wires that might make droping the engine out hard.
And I've been refering to my Clymers manual to double check things I'm taking off.

So this post is mostly for the guys who've offered to help me- Greenman, MBP, Robracer- to see if anyone has any advice for 'preparing' to remove the engine, so everything is as smooth as possible.
I've read all the posts & articles I can find and it really doesn't sound like rocket science, but it's still unexplored territory for me so I'm playing it safe NASA style
I read on the ZX7/R owners club forums about the bolts seizing in the mounts; should I chuck some WD40 on all the mounting bolts/nuts now? I've already loosened them all with no prob. so I don't suppose they're tapered or something and can jam half-way out... I hope.

So I'm thinking on making this coming weekend "Remove James's Engine" weekend
I'm not short of random people wanting to come round and "help" (probably only for the glimmer of hope that I may get hurt) but it would be great if a guru or two can make it 'round to offer some advice and have a yarn.

Oh btw; I'm a kiwi, so I'll understand if any aussie Rugby fans can't make it due to depression
I'm not posting this as an Event because it's only really directed at the guy's who've offered to help me, I wouldn't usually post on a forum like "Fix My Bike! Wow, so much fun for the weekend" .

Thanks again to Greenman, MBP, Robracer and everyone else who's given me tips Oh and Samhasa636 for making sure I regret every second the ZXR is immobile.

Go James !! sounds like you have done everything right so far. Keep some beer in the fridge for the helpers - and for yourself if something stuffs up you'll be right mate.

Do the WD40 thing on all the bolts and nuts, it can't hurt. If they are already loose and not 'seizing', you are on the right track. I have dropped out heaps of motors from frames ( but not any 750's), but the principles remain the same: Label Everything, keep a Big Tin handy for all the nuts/bolts ( if you want to go fully anal, then use the little clear plastic 'zipper' bags to keep each 'set' of nut/bolts in.) Clutch/Throttle cables removed, all Electrical connectors, Oil lines, Radiator hoses, etc. all removed.

Have a good time - bloody Bledisloe Cup BAH HUMBUG

cheers

Gosling, i second that last motion, the nightmares i gave myself when i merely pulled my fairings off, fiddled with the exhaust & radiator simply makes my mind hurt. buy a pack of 50 ziplock bags & a big fuggoff perm marker for the bags.

even just taking the fairings off the other day i had a icecream container for the fairing bolts for each side, the front as well as all the radiator related bits & peices. It's a mistake i dont want to repeat & it's rather un-nerving coming out of it with more bolts than i went in.

Though on that note i *did* replace a few of the older ones with new stainless hex head bolts .

Ziplock bags - thats it. My mind was hurting from trying to remember the right name for the bloody things !! They do come in handy thats for sure, the permanent marker pen is also a good idea.

I use a Tupperware container for holding my buckets/shims when doing the valve clearances on a Zed - the big round ones with 8 sections - they are really good, have their own lid, and each one has #1 IN, #1 EX etc marked - mate, you can't go wrong

cheers

Cool thanks guys.
I've got a LOT of egg-cartoons (ex-housemate / owner has a farm) so I've been using them for now and also threading the bolts back into wherever they came from. I've decided I don't like doing this though incase I drop somthing and the thread gets rooted.
So yep I'll grab some zip-lock bags today and label them Might as well go fully anal...

Bledisloe was great How's the ref saying "No no he's veery veeery quick!!" when the Wallies accused Rokocoko of being off-side, bahaha, funny

when I pull the bike apart in the dining room I just leave the bits in little groups on the floor... but when I get my new shed in next coupla weeks I'll do the coffee jar thingy and zip lock bags.

James good to hear you are underway once you have got the sucker out are you sending it out to be fixed or really go the full hog & DIY?
PM me & i will give you my mobile for if you have any tech questions.

robracer wrote:James good to hear you are underway once you have got the sucker out are you sending it out to be fixed or really go the full hog & DIY?
PM me & i will give you my mobile for if you have any tech questions.

Thanks Rob, I'm going the full hog... I will hopefuly be buying an engine off a forum member (he's waiting for a new engine to arrive) so I might eventually have two working engines or 1 working and 1 for parts.
Can never have too many engines though it seems; plus on my future trip to Darwin I can chuck a spare engine on the ventura rack .

woohoo, easy mono's!!!

I use a very scientific method of catalogueing all my bits when i pull apart a bike.

All the bodywork nuts n bolts go in one container

All the engine bolts and frame bits in another

Simple

I kinda worked out that with the jap stuff they are masters. Pretty much they make certain bolts match, so it's really easy to put it all back together. Occasionaly u get a few left over bolts But nothings come apart on me yet

I'm reading with interest ......... keep the brainstorm happening kids i'll be doing this is the not too distant future.
Some good ideas floating around in this one.
Cheers Brett

Pontikat wrote:Some good ideas floating around in this one.
Cheers Brett

yes, especially the one about beer in the fridge *chortle*

left over nuts / bolts really cheese me orf. Where did they come from ? How come nothing has fallen off my bike yet ? How come they were there in the first place? - if they have been left over, how many other unneccesary nuts and bolts are fitted at the moment ? Can I lose some weight here ???

Signed


WhendidmenutsdropDave

I always either re-insert the bolts/screws into their thread, or put any bolts/washer/nut combinations back together with the nut screwed on.

Strika has a point about the jap bikes being pretty good; from what I've seen so far they're fairly unique, but it still worries me a bit.

The more stuff I've stripped down, the more I've realised it would be heaps better to put the bolts into a labeled zip-lock bag. The last thing I want is uneven pressure applied to a lose bolt sticking out and stuffing the thread and/or bolt.
Also, sometimes it's just not possbile to re-insert the bolt/nut into an approrpiate place, so you end up with half-half. Some are on the bike, some are in containers.
I think that's asking for trouble too.

Since there's some interest I'll take some photos of my work area and post here.
Maybe others can share theirs too? As I'm sure mine's pretty average compared others.ov
The main important thing for me was a biiiig solid bench that can support a few engines and two sheets.
A base sheet to so the surface of the bench can be kept clean if it gets too dirty... and another sheet that can cer all the fiddling parts that need to be keep clean.

I've even attached the base sheet to the bench, and attached the 'cover sheet' to a plank of wood running along the back (to stop things rolling off), so I've basicly got a bed setup, with my engine keep safe and snug under the covers

The plan is to strip parts down and lay them along the bench in the order they came apart, with their corrisponding fixtures in zip-lock bags nearby
I've also put some lines along the roof to hang random not-so-heavy crap like fairings and stuff.
Then I've got an area for heavy stuff that isn't tooo fragile, fuel tank, airbox, radiater, starter motor, water pump, blah blah blah.
Got a "nerd" desk almost set up too, which will be for electronic stuff and have a computer for checking parts, micro fiche and forum.

Bar fridge is about 2 meters away in the living room; no beer though (I'm a non-drinking, please don't ban me from the forum) but I don't mind keeping some stock.

'Aight, photos when I can be arsed.

Good Stuff, Big Kev is setting up a top line workshop atm, We wired the sucker up properly today. No more running the extension leads to the shed & leads everywhere on the floor.

One thing you did forget mate, the $25 second hand tellie to watch the Sport on. We dont have a fridge yet, but kev needs the excercise to walk up to the house for his stubbies anyway.

cheers Brett