Here's a pic of the oil pickup screen TNC mentioned.

 

The silver tubes on the outside of the engine are oil tubes, but there are also passages in the head, and cam cap, that carry the oil from the silver tubes to the cams etc. Make sure all of these are clear.
Dan

 

oil pump is in the top right of the pictures and parts are listed so is servicable

 

Here is a pic of the internals.






Dan

 

FOR ME- So the screen is at the bottom on the clutch side. That seems like it should be easy enough to get sidecase off and inspect screen, clutch and possible crud buildup. One new Gasket and torque it back together?


FOR YOU- Really good looking bike-sorry about the damage- Did the bike run fine for a time and then start with symptoms or was it questionable from the beginning?

If it had a paper oil filter was the element intact?


Steve

 

You guys rock! Thanks for the pictures and advice.
I havent had any time to look into it all yet, Do i have to drain all of the oil to do all this?

Not sure i can replace a head by myself.. Doing all the valve adjustments and stuff i just dont know if i have the tools or knowledge .
The guys at the motorcycle shop i took it took it too said they'd have to take the whole engine out to replace the head. But then how did they get the first two pictures if thats where the wear is?

The bike was questionable from the beginning. from recent craigslist buys i've figured out something will always be wrong internally. Except with my RM..
But my aprilia was an orange sealant bike where the engine seal would fail and mix oil and coolant, and this kawasaki has head issues and god knows what else. it just happens when you buy an old bike unfortunately.

With that being said- i bought this bike with the idea of having a fixer upper and a beater to get around town.
The whirring noise i hear on decel from the top end is concerning and a new thing, it didn't do that before.

 

The shop is wrong, you dont have to remove the engine to replace the head. A big bore can be done without removing the engine. I just had my head off for a valve job also. No need for all that work and money paying them for that. From a complete bike i can have my head off in about an hour.

 

You can take the new/used head somewhere and have them do the valves, pretty simple. If your mech minded you can then reinstall the head, but if you did not take it off, that would be a real challenge. Many mistakes are made when one guy who thinks he knows everything takes it apart, then bails, requiring someone else to put it back together. Hi, nice to meet you, here is the box of bolts.....I don't know what that thing is but it came out of engine somewhere.

 

+1
You (they) would be wasting a lot of time (shop time $$)pulling the engine. Either the shop didn't even look at your bike, and just quoted a general scenario, OR they are trying to pad the bill. Makes me nervous.
Dan

 

I'm now pretty annoyed at this whole situation. The bike ticks when cold, and pops very little (which suggest its not getting enough oil right?) this is a florida bike so its at sea level. never changed the jets in it or anything.

The good news is i contacted the seller, and he offered me a full refund.. i told him i really like the bike and would not mind keeping it - he said he would send a few dollars my way to help pay for the engine troubles.. got a check today for 300$. Normally people on craigslist aren't that generous in this situation so i appreciate him being a stand up guy.

I will have it up and running soon hopefully.. maybe with a new top end and idler gear to avoid future issues.