First of all get your self a shim kit.. you can find them here SHIM KIT 7.48 just order a shim kit for a zx6, its the same shims for all 3 models (zx6-9-10's).
Make sure you order the 7.48 shims.
Youll need a few allen keys, a 8mm, 10mm, and a 12mm socket set and open end wrench of same sizes.

1) Remove:
lower, inner and mid fairings
seats, fuel tank, air cleaner housing.

use cleaner to clean the top of the motor, and vacume up anything loose you can.

2) you can remove the carbs at the lower chambers, youll see 4 tiny allen bolts holding the carbs in place, just loosen all of them (4), and the carbs will pop right out of the rubber chambers.. at this point fill the empty cylinder holes with 4 dust, lint free towels.
(DONT EVER DROP ANYTHING IN THERE). Dont remove the hoses that are in front of the carbs (2), if you remove them youll be smelling gas for the rest of the day. Just take the carbs and tie wrap them up the fairing stay braket. i use a pillow sheet to wrap the carbs up, so they wont scratch anything or get anything in them. if your feeing mechanical-feel free to remove the carbs completely.

 

3) disconnect the coil wires from each plug, and pull each coil out, i like to mark mine so they return to the right cylinder later.

4) you will need to remove the black plastic wind guard from the top of the valve cover gasket, it has 2 bolts just under where the carbs were sitting.. remove them, and also romove the 4 bolts that hold in the reed caps (the 2 caps just in front of the wind guard)

if you choose not to remove the reed covers.. thats ok.. its just a bear to get the wind guard out with them there.
at this point any hoses, wires etc, should have been moved out of the way to get the wind guard out, and you should be able to see the whole valve cover at this point.

5) pull the plugs out, and remove the valve cover and the valve cover gasket.. it should be in good shape and you may use it again

6) remove the crank shaft cover. (this is important) turn the crank clockwise, while looking at the front cam, from the side of the bike you can see just under the frame ( turn the crank till you see the mark on the cam that says (EX-) i want that line to be exactly even with the cylinder head, now look at the rear intake cam from the inside of the motor, that should also line up (IN-) exactly with the edge of the head... your crank should read at the bottom of the motor (F I I 4) you will see a line just to the left of these markings, that line on the block should be lined up with the second (I) just before the (4) (that will be TDC at the end of the compression stroke)

 

7) use a meteric gauge to measure the valve clearance on these valves only (O's mean dont measure yet, X's mean measure that vavle clearance) Example: intake clearance of cyl #2 and #4, and exhaust clearance of #3 and #4 cylynders

front of motor:
OO OO XX XX
OO XX OO XX
rear of motor

8) go around again on the crank.. clockwise and set the crank to the same spot.. t his time you wont see any mark on the cams.. this will be (TDC) the end of the compression stroke.
now you can measure the second half of the vavles..
Example: intake clearance of cyl #1 and #3, and exhaust clearance of #1 and #2 cylynders
front of motor:
XX XX OO OO
XX OO XX OO
back of motor:

when measuring the valve clearance even if the valve clearance falls into specs.. record it anyway
kawasaki specs are intake: .15 ~ .24mm and .22 ~ .31 on the exhaust.

You can get a valce clearance form clamarichris's web site... and the pictures will help... please use chris's site as offten as needed... his site is good but basic.. im just filling in the blanks.

before doing enything else... set the cams back to the way described in step 6

remove the cam chain tensioner (its on the throttle side of the bike just under where the carbs sat, and its of course up against the frame).. first remove the 12mm bolt (the center bolt of the cam tensioner). then remove the 2 little 8mm bolts that will remove the cam tensioner housing. to get it out, use a rocking or twisting motion to free it up.
please note.. when removing the big bolt in the center of the tensioner, you will get the bolt a spring and a pin 1/2 the size of the spring.
when it comes out..

now take you cam tensioner, you will clearly see the little spring holding the shaft stop... depress the latch.. push the arm in all the way then start pulling the arm to the fifth click out....

 

9) back to the top of the chain: pull the 2 bolts out that hold the chain down (1 bolt from each cam..)
stop for moment and put a tie wrap around the chain before romoving the cam covers.. this will prevent the chain from slipping down into the cavity... at this point i would also get some light colored nail polish or white out and mark the cams to the chain spots.. this is not necessary, but youll feel beter later on when putting it back together and everything lines up...

10) remove the cam covers.,.. just break each bolt loose at first.. there are about 20 bolts all together. take your time, loosening each bolt a little at a time.. this will prevent the cam cover from popping loose and scoring anything... dont worry about getting the cams mixed up.. they are marked.

11) youll need a magnetic stick for this part.. ( I suggest pulling out each shim one at a time.. so not to get confused)
the shim will be sitting under the bucket (the bucket is the round cover that the lobes of the cam compress)
just touch the bucket in the center with the magnetic stick and gently pull the bucket out... when you turn the bucket over the shim will still be in there...

 

12) after removing the shim from the bucket.. set the bucket aside and measure the old shim with a micrometer... take the measurment of the shim (it may be to big as well as to small) and add or subtract that measurment. to figure out what new shim to put in place of the old one.
(example: Exhaust: lets say i took a shim out that measured 2.70 and my gap from my original measurment was .33 to make up the difference to be in specs.... i only need a gap of .22 ~ .31 so you would take the gap of .33 and minus .12(to get into the middle of the spec range .33 minus .12 = .19 then add the .19 to the shim you took out. the shim that goes back in should be a 2.89

ill try to mix up the math here and there... so when you get it.. youve actually got it.
heres the math again:
example: my gap is .45 the shim i took out was 2.90
.45 minus .25 =.20 / 2.90 plus .25 = a new shim of 3.15


heres another example of a shim (lets make this one to tight)
example: i have a gap of .15 i need to be in a gap range of .22 ~ .31
the old shim measured @ 320
320 minus .10 = 3.10
original= 320
new = 310
a .10 differance in gap
-------------------------
.10 plus my original gap of .15 = .25 (right in the middle of the spec range)


another note: kawasaki likes to set clearances at the lower end of the specs!!!!!! you may go to the tighter end if youde like but, it will tear up the motor in the long run.

13) place the new shim on top of the valve spring, put the bucket back on and move onto the next shim....

14) after all the shims have been done.. now its time to get those cams in.

 

15) i hope you tied up the chain as explained in the previous steps.
grab your exhaust cam (you can tell the difference as the cams are marked on the very bottom of the shaft)
take the chain and pull it up and tight from the exhaust side, gently place the cam in place (if you marked the cam and chain with nail polish putting it back in the right spot should be easy) if not: the cam must be placed with the (EX-) mark exactly lined up with the head.. a nice straight line across. (seen from the side of the bike. just under the frame)
the same goes for the intake cam.. it must be lined up straight with the (IN-) mark matching the head line (this can be seen on the inside only.. as the frame is in the way to see from the outside)

16) assuming youve done what youve been told? the chain will still have slack on the intake side of the chain..
17) take the cam chain tensioner (just the housing and not the inner shaft) and place that back in the motor.. do not bolt this in... it will just keep some tension on the chain as we will then start tightnig the cam shaft covers.

18) place both covers on the cams.. tighten them all by finger first... after that (use a 1/8 drive socket as these dont require alot of torque) begin by tightening the middle of the covers and work your way out to the edges.. take your time and dont force anything... just a little at a time for each bolt and yes theres alot of them. (they require 104 in lbs = 104 divided by 12 = 8.67 of torque) i use the 1/8 th's drive socket for this as i only have a 1/2 drive torque wrench available.

19) check your alignments NOW... turn the crank clockwise.. make sure everything matches up...
20) check it again.. even if one tooth is off it will make the valves chatter like a mother...
21)if your sure everything is lined up.. you have nothing to worry about....
22) put it all back together...

IF YOUVE FOUND ANY MISTAKES IN THIS POST!!! PLEASE POST IT HERE!!!
But everything should be ok...
ill read the post over again tommorrow to make sure...

 

I read it over and it looks ok to me..

 

Looks very good to me also. I will definately use it for reference when I do my valve adjustment.

Thanks!

 

well since this post (only a week or two ago).. ive had a 1/2 a dozen requests for valve adjustments...
i believe the dealer charges around $650. plus... i have done 2 more valve adjustments in these past few days @ 375.00 each
and the cash generated has bought me a new set of leathers for track day... learn how to do this job, if you need a few extra bucks
the whole job runs mostly the whole day... if im lazy.. a day and a 1/2, and if i smoked to much.. 2 days..lol

a few more valve adjustments will get me those ohlins forks ive been wanting..

 

Nice write bro. Can you post a pic of the needed feeler gauges and measuring devices you used?