Winter Maintenance - Part 2
Part 2
After what seemed like weeks but was probably only days, my friendly Workshop Manager gave me a call to inform me that my new shims had arrived.
Now, as everyone will know, each shim has a 2-digit number etched on one side. This number indicates the thickness of the shim.
For example, a shim marked as 85 means the shim has a "nominal" thickness of 2.85 mm. Likewise, a shim marked 05 has a "nominal" thickness of 3.05 mm, and so on.
I say "nominal" because the actual thickness of a 05 shim can be anywhere between 3.035 and 3.065 thick, and by knowing this, it is possible to "cherry-pick" shims for your engine if you have access to enough shims to choose from.
So armed with my trusty micrometer and a list of what shims I really wanted, I headed down to the Workshop, and after sweet-talking the Manager for a while, I was eventually given permission to root around his collection of shims.
This chart shows the results of my rooting.
By carefully checking the actual thickness of each shim, rather than just using the "nominal" thickness, I was able to set up all my exhaust valves with a 0.27 mm clearance, almost perfectly in the middle of the spec range.
Likewise with the Intake valves. They are all in the middle of the spec range, give or take 0.01 mm.
To put that into some perspective, 0.01 mm is a bit less than a smidgen, but certainly a bit more than a gnat's whisker.
Now, is this important ? Well, no, it's not, but as my dearly departed Mum used to say, "if you are going to do something, do it properly".
Besides, having now set all the valves in the middle of their spec range, I doubt I will ever have to change another shim, in either the bike's lifetime or mine.
With the shims swapped over, the next step was to replace the camshafts and time them correctly.
The Service Manual requires that there are 30 cam-chain pins between the Intake timing mark and the Exhaust timing mark.
The "top tip" here is to use a cable tie to lock the cam-chain onto the Exhaust cam, and then use another cable tie to lock the cam-chain to the Intake cam with the required number of pins in-between, before tightening the camshaft caps.
Then it is just a matter of rotating the crankshaft to remove the cam-chain slack before re-fitting the cam-chain tensioner.
With camshafts timed and the cam-caps torqued (106 in-lbs), it was a fairly straightforward progression of replacing the valve cover gasket and refitting the valve cover back onto the engine block.
The next exercise was refitting the radiator. This should have been an easy job, but after 45 minutes and a string of expletives that would have made a coal miner blush, I gave up and downed tools.
Besides, it was late in the afternoon, and close enough to beer-o'clock
The next morning, suitably refreshed after a good night's sleep, I quickly worked out that the clutch cable had moved when I fitted the valve cover, and was now in the wrong position.
Five minutes later, the radiator was secured and refilled with old coolant. I used the old coolant here just in case I had to take everything apart again.
Time to start the engine and hope there are no loud, expensive noises.
Nope, no unexpected noises, just the sweet sound of an in-line 4 cylinder engine with near-perfect valve clearances.
The next activity was to drain the old coolant and flush the cooling system with a 50:50 mix of food-grade white vinegar and distilled water. This is done by running the engine until the thermostat opens and the cooling fan cuts in.
After letting the engine cool back down to room temperature, there was another flush cycle of just distilled water, followed by refilling the system with new coolant.
The new coolant is rated for 8 years / 500,000 km, but I tend to change the coolant every 2 years / 30,000 km.
OK, let's go over the work schedule. Valve clearance checked and adjusted, cams timed, coolant changed, so the next work activity was to replace the brake fluid.
Kawasaki recommends changing the brake fluid every 12 months. I tend to push this out to 15,000 km , which roughly coincides with the fitting of new tyres.
Kawasaki also recommend replacing the rubber brake hoses every 48 months.
The hose replacement recommendation seems to be "over-kill", but on the off-chance there was some technical reason for this replacement, I decided to "up-grade" to braided brake lines (bling) from a reputable global after-market supplier.
After all, every bike deserves some bling from time to time.
Four of the kit hoses were a straight swap, but the 5th hose for the left-hand front caliper hose was not.
Again, after much swearing, I worked out that one of the end fittings on the 5th hose was the correct shape but the wrong length. It was 1 cm too long, and this was causing it to foul the fork leg.
This photo shows the new kit hose laying over the top of the old OEM hose.
" Houston, we have a problem. "
This problem was disappointing, but I am realistic enough to know that errors happen in any manufacturing activity. What is important is how a company handles the problem.
That phone call was at 4:00 pm. I emailed the photos at 6:00 pm, and at 9:00 am the next morning, I received an email from the Distributor apologising for the error, as well as advice that they had already sent a replacement hose via Australia Post.
As the Distributor is in another State, the expected delivery time will be 1 ~ 3 days, so for the second time I have an unplanned " down tools / twiddle thumbs " break until the replacement hose arrives.
So once again dear Reader, you will just have to wait for Part 3 of this story to see if I get my bike back together with no parts left over.
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