1981 Kawasaki GPz550: Restoration

[TeamDar]

They just need the standard bore size for the displacement. In your case 61mm or 2.402". Then measure the ring thickness or ring groove thickness and your good to go. Dar

 

[srsupertrap]

They just need the standard bore size for the displacement. In your case 61mm or 2.402". Then measure the ring thickness or ring groove thickness and your good to go. Dar

Thank you TeamDar for the information . . . Here is the update on the elusive Wiseco 615 rings I need. Keith at Total Seal Piston Rings was helpful but by Tuesday had bad news to share.

Steve,
I would assume if the piston is 60.85 at the bottom of the skirt the cylinder bore is most likely 61mm And if is cut for the XC set 1.0 1.2 2.8 you may be in trouble. Only thing I have of that nature in the 61mm bore is an XA pack .8 .8 1.5 ring combo. I've checked a few other sources and again unfortunatly don't see that pack available anymore it may be required to get new pistons made with the more common XA pack.

Sorry I couldn't help on this one.

Though I did find a listing on a 61mm bore Honda set # 13010-392-003 it is a 61mm 1.2 1.2 2.8 pack you can open your top groove to accept the 1.2mm top ring and be good to go if you can find these on the web. We can re-groove the piston if needed. "

Since Total Seal stated they could open the piston top groove on my pistons for $12.50/piece I spent yesterday evening searching through various Honda websites & Ebay looking for P/N 13010-392-003 (Keith did not have a Honda model) but no luck. Perhaps if someone with some free time on their hands knows of different sources than Carolina Cycle & Babbit or different piston ring supplier I would be grateful.

TIA
steve

 

[srsupertrap]

Pardon the pun but I am going to shift gears.

While the head is away I decided to remove the oil pan & clean the sludge out from he bottom of the pan. As usual I found the oil filter bolt & drain plug so tight I needed a breaker bar to loosen both of them. The M6 pan bolts on the other hand were loose but I still needed my mallet and block of wood to break the seal.

A picture is worth a thousand words

At the front of the oil pan I spy this . . . . its cursed

I looked at the crank Hy-Vo gear, its Ok but the tooth is approximately the same width. What do you think transmission gear set? I never had a bike shear a tooth off a gear set what exactly is the symptom?

 

[tkent02]

Just one tooth I don't think you'd notice, as there are always two or three teeth engaged at a time. Maybe a funny noise, not sure. Had broken teeth in car trannies, couldn't tell at all.

 

[Nessism]

Missing gear teeth is never good.

 

[srsupertrap]

Ed I agree, I could not put it back together knowing the engine bottom end could explode underneath me at any time.

I have never had to split engine cases and don't know what special tools are required. Lets say I replace the entire gear set . . . how do I know the starter clutch isn't toast ( this happened to another GPz member).

Maybe the wise thing is to find a known good GPz 550 bottom end & graft my cylinder & Head (if okay & I can find 61mm XC piston rings) onto it.

Or throw in the towel & part it out.

 

[tkent02]

No don't even think about putting it together that way, but which gear is it? What makes you think the starter clutch is bad?

Splitting cases is easy. At least on Suzukis it takes no special tools, dunno about the Kaw.

 

[rustybronco]

Split the cases then decide whether or not to fix it, find another engine to replace yours with or to part it. That's the way I would attack it.

 

[tkent02]

I guess you have to split the cases to replace a starter clutch? If so throw a new one on just to make sure?

Do they ever wear out on the little 550 engines?

 

[Nessism]

Splitting the cases is easy enough. Only semi hard part is remembering where everything goes when you put it back together. Take lots of photos during disassembly if you have any questions.

Should be easy to find a transmission assembly on ebay if it comes to that. Regarding the starter clutch, on my 750 I'm going to replace the rollers and springs while the cases are apart just to hedge my bet. Can't see replacing the entire starter clutch straight away unless you know it's been acting up.

 

[Wester Cooley]

Take motor out of frame, flip motor over. Remove clutch assembly, and spin transmission shafts slowly and look at each gear for that missing tooth. I have not done a 550/4 Kawasaki motor since back in 1982 or so. But you should be able to look at trans from the bottom if I remember right. Three things you NEVER shortcut on a motorcycle.....Brakes Tires and Transmissions.

No special tools needed if you don't take rotor off of crank end when you split cases on that motor. Just make sure you have ALL the case bolts out when you try to separate the case halfs. While you are in there you can also check out the condition of the main crank bearings.

You gotta save that GPz550. A stock one is a gas to ride. One with a nice built motor would be up there with riding a RZ350 or a H1 500 triple I think!!!

 

[koolaid_kid]

Did this to my GPz a year or two ago. You can split the cases with it upside down on your bench and work on the tranny.

 

[tom203]

Oh look, another with special winter pricing

http://maine.craigslist.org/mcy/4308129330.html

 

[srsupertrap]

Good stuff . . . . Didn't do anything to the GPz yesterday but I got talked into "helping" replace my nephew's 2004 Honda Civic EX water pump, timing belt & tensioner. I ended up doing 99% of the work although he did hold the light pretty well

Back to the GPz, I will bolt the pan back on, pull the engine and let you know what I find. Cory Clough (Admin & Racer @ GPz550 forum) has a couple of GPz engines which he has offered to cannibalize for the gear sets (nice to have friends). Probably also a good idea as Ed mentioned to rebuild the starter clutch with new rollers & springs if available. I don't know if they are weak but they have sidelined other GPz 550's. While the engine is out I can remove a couple of sheared off bolts in the C/S cover too then replace them with S/S allen heads.

And I am still looking for the following GPz/ items

1. 1981 GPz seat (Like tom203 reply)
2. 1981 GPz rear fender
3. Wiseco XC 61mm piston ring set (1.0, 1.2 & 2.8mm)

 

[tkent02]

Maybe that guy will sell you his extra engine?

 

[srsupertrap]

Did this to my GPz a year or two ago. You can split the cases with it upside down on your bench and work on the tranny.

Pulled my engine this afternoon, note the D on the back

Flipped the engine over but my progress halted because I could not break the clutch hub nut loose. Think I need a 1/4 bar stock with a couple of holes spaced correctly so I can bolt the bar stock to the inner clutch hub . . . other novel suggestions ?

I spent considerable time looking for the broken tooth by rotating the crank then rotating the countershaft which rotates the gear set but could not find a missing tooth. The sheared tooth looks larger than all the gear set teeth I could see. It really looks like one of the crank Hy-vo teeth, has the same horizontal striations and oddly that is where I found it.

Edit: Yes I can see all the crank & crank secondary teeth from underneath

 

[tkent02]

Did you try an impact gun?

 

[rustybronco]

Barring not having an impact gun, take it down to a local repair garage. Bet they will blip it off for you in a jiffy.

 

[tkent02]

My jeep engine just did the same thing, the timing chain broke, and all the sprocket teeth came off the camshaft. Not sure which happened first, but there are teeth and cam chain pieces everywhere.

You should be able to see all of the crank teeth from underneath?

 

[srsupertrap]

Barring not having an impact gun, take it down to a local repair garage. Bet they will blip it off for you in a jiffy.

Yes, I don't have a impact gun & by the time I get home its after 6pm. So I found a piece of metal to secure the inner clutch hub, well they torqued that clutch hub nut pretty well