Wow, and your engine sustained no damage? I can't see the labels on the gears in the picture but comparing to my pix post MCM it looks like your intake was -45 deg
and exh +45 deg compared to mine based on bolt head position and keyway position. I wonder why there is a keyway at all in our cams. Or maybe what I think is a keyway is something different.

 

Right? It's a miracle that nothing bad happened. I'm still a little concerned, but from what I've read, if I had actually bent a valve it wouldn't even start much less run amazing. I have noticed a noise around 6500 rpms, but the fact that I only hear it when giving it gas and that it feels fine besides that leads me to believe that it was likely there before and I'm just paranoid now. I'll probably order a manual tensioner when I have a little cash anyways though.

 

My initial reaction (after 1 mile up & down in front of the house) is that I now have the mother of all tappet noise (anyone who set the valves very loosely on a '40's Chevy Six knows what I mean), and the idle is just a tiny bit like a Harley - not quite smooth, unlike how it was prior to doing the MCM. It was dark and I didn't do anything too crazy because there are lots of critters in my neighborhood, but it did seem like it had more zip. The noise is very much like that in the video in the previous post in this thread. I was careful how the OEM Chain Tensioner was remounted except that I lost the the washer (D) that "is placed between the sub-tensioner bolt and the spring" as referred to on page 5-17 of the Kawasaki Shop Manual. My question is, has this noise gone away over time with the OEM Chain Tensioner?

I did check the valve clearances and no adjustment was needed - 5400 miles, adjustment wasn't needed after the first check at 550 miles either. Which brings to mind - after shifting the positions of the cams at TDC, are the recommended clearances still the same?

I did get a little nervous about the comment "Spread the KACR shoes open and put the wire into the holes." As in what if I put the wire in with the shoes closed, but after looking at the pictures very closely, I had duplicated what was done in the pictures.

 

Well, you're gonna hear a lot about the wire - I'm the one who did it and know what it does, how it will hold up, and why. I do have an engineering degree and background so I'm not flying in the dark as some will want to make it sound. If I'd had the equipment the compression release would have been pressed out and into the trash can. It is about as useful as an appendix.

I have two Kawasakis with the KACR and the compression release is disengaged when the shoes fly out - thus fixing them full out. I know of a number of 650s that have lost their shoes damaging the top and sometimes bottom end, so I did not want them loose. If you lock them in closed or not at full extension the compression tab will hit the exhaust valve and click it open loudly. It will alter the idle since it is losing compression every turn.

I would say it is possible you have the shoes not opened fully. Open it up and take out the wire, leave 'em flop. Locking out the shoes is either done right or shouldn't be done.

 

I'll take the wire out on the assumption I didn't install it correctly and see if that reduces the noise. Thanks for your insight.

 

I hope it works fine. Hate to hear of bike issues. Especially if they're mine.

 

Not your issue, all mine because I must have installed the coat hanger wire incorrectly. I did remove the hanger wire and, VOILA, its back to purring like a kitten just like it did before I did the MCM.

As a side note, I looked up the valve clearance readings that I recorded after the first check at 550 miles, and they are identical to the check at 5400 miles.

 

Overhead cams & valves don't wear much, it is a long process.

 

With the exception of the KLX300's. The intake valve faces had a tendency to cup.
Ride on
Brewster

 

Biggest part of "wear" is the seating of valves into the head, the reason they get tight when new or rebuilt.