Shim kit

[Ped]

Hello Bill,

Well written - thanks for sharing! :) I'm happy your efforts resulted in 
a smooth running engine again.

As for the the wear on the cam lobes: Mine had the cams replaced under 
warranty (at 24.000 km - 15.000 miles) because the mechanic had noted 
tiny little cracks on the cam lobes. However, already 15.000 km (9.300 
miles) later the new cams showed the same signs. A few others on this 
list had experienced the same, and someone mentioned that his mechanic 
had told him not to worry about it. The wear (pitting) would reach a 
certain stage and then don't get any worse. And this is exactly what has 
happened to mine. All 8 of the exhaust cams are pitted and a few of the 
intake cams as well. And the stage of wear has been the same for many, 
many thousands of miles. So not to worry about it seems to be a good 
peace of advice in this case.

As for the handkerchief in top end: Been there - done that. Except that 
in my case it was a piece of paper rag - and I run the engine before I 
realized my mistake. Boy, that was an expensive experience... :-(

Ped
'96 "Black Stealth" GPZ
Denmark


Den 30-07-2015 kl. 21:24 skrev William P. Zeller:
> Greetings.
> The shim kit arrived here in the Chicago area from Bill Y. and I 
> apparently decided to let the little dears acclimate a while before 
> putting them to use.
> Finally getting a nice warm July morning I tore into the long-idle 
> ZX.  It had been sitting since last October due to poor running, way 
> too long.
> I'd changed the carb float valves last autumn but that wasn't the main 
> problem.
> Remembering the first time I did the valves on this bike, when I let 
> one of the discs tumble down the cam chain tower, leading to a 
> delightful hour and a half of fishing with a flex magnet, I stuffed a 
> red handkerchief in there instead before going about the chore. Never 
> actually needed it, but the red seemed to help repel the flying shims.
> Somehow, in the previous adjustments, I never figured out how to 
> correctly hold the rockers out of the way.  Until now. Exasperated, I 
> just wiggled and pushed and there it was.  Sure a lot easier to go 
> shim-fishing that way.
> Most of the exhausts were waaay tight; a couple were only a few 
> thousandths clear, so I had plenty of guilt to keep me company in the 
> workspace.
> I finished up near dinner time- the missus is a pro chef and I don't 
> care to be late for any meal at home- and buttoned the top end back 
> up, but left the tank off so that I could get the carbs out for 
> another go-round of cleaning and inspection.
> Sometime just before the arrival in dreamland, I was struck by a 
> horrible head-picture: the dang handkerchief was still in the engine.  
> In a hurry to get home, I had begun reassembly without removing it.
> Cold chills kept me on high alert all the way til the following 
> morning, thinking of what would have happened had I continued to 
> forget, and the thought of that cotton traveling around the motor was 
> all the impetus I needed to charge back to the garage in the a.m. 
> looking for the 10mm socket.
> No harm, no fouling.  The carb fix went well enough, too, and I 
> actually straightened out a couple of cable and wire loom kinks, too.
> A touch of start button proved the worth of doing the project: the 
> return of the sweetest-tempered, most docile and willing motorcycle 
> engine I've ever experienced.  What a happy motorcycle!
> Now at 89,000mi (143,000km), the motor is as willing to head off for 
> the 500-mile breakfast as it's ever been.
> I did observe some wear on the cam lobes, especially on the exhaust 
> ones, but no scarring.  I took pictures (heck, here in my senior 
> years, I take pictures of everything I'm taking apart anymore!) and 
> will share them eventually if I can get my website editing software to 
> cooperate.
> I was going to worry about it, but figured, ah, what the heck, just 
> ride the thing.
> Having been exiled to my GL1800 all these months, getting Kaw Kam 
> Whine between the knees again is a pleasant feeling.
> The missus isn't so happy... an hour on the back of the ZX's Corbin 
> makes her butt "tingle" and her feet fall asleep.  Guess that's why I 
> still hang onto the big blue whale.
> So, the shim kit is released from need here in Chicagoland and is 
> ready to travel to its next mission.
> Bill Zeller
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