Hi, thanks for your video. On the 79 model there is no need to tighten the chain tensioner anymore, as there is a spring and ball bearing inside the tensioner that tightens the tensioner for you while running. The Ballbearing only lets the tensioner go in one direction, pushing towards the chain and not outwards again.
$10 says they didn't re-jet the carbs to accommodate for the air pods. Seems like 90% of people just slap cheap airpods on their build without re-jetting. If running standard jet sizes, it's best to use the OE airbox. IMO, the only reason to use airpods on these old bikes is if the airbox is missing. The only benefit to running pods is that it makes it easier to remove the carbs.
I completely agree, I dont like it when people replace factory with them. But its the trend everyone thinks it looks cool. Unfortunately the customer brought it to me like this. And as I’ve learned in the past its best not to touch the quad carbs if it ran as good as that bike did.
Appreciate your extra details about the 650’s characteristics. I have a 77 KZ900 and there is so little maintenance content available that I rely on videos like this about the KZ650 (or the 4 stroke CB Honda’s) to get me at least in the ball park.
Hey thanks for the video, I have the same bike (a '77) and am having a fair bit of trouble with the cam chain tensioner. The bike was running fine and I went to do some standard maintenance and now the cam chain is making a horrible slapping noise and will not run, I'm afraid of starting it as I don't want to cause any extreme chain wear or engine damage. Anyway it seems my chain tensioner is mounted with the lock nut and adjustment bolt facing the other direction..Not sure if that matters or not. I lined up TDC and loosened the adjustment screw and now it doesn't seem to tighten anything at all. So when you loosened the adjustment bolt the first time there was chain slap, but then you kept loosening and it ended up working and sounding better? Because with mine once you loosen a little bit the spring extends all the way and it still sounds like crap. Wish I didn't touch it
Hey Shaun, man sorry to hear that. So on this bike what i did is once you loosen that lock nut you only turn it like… half a turn maybe one full then you tighten it back and the lock nut. Then i rolled it by hand a couple times then started it then i heard that slap. I shut off the bike and loosened that lock nut and did the same thing again half to a full turn then re tighten and tight the lock nut rolled it over by hand then started and sounded great. It could be if you kept loosening you could have unscrewed it from the automatic tensioner… as far as I know you can take off that whole mechanism without having to take off the carbs. And you could look to see if it did that. If it unscrewed from the plunger that pushes against the chain guide. If you want message me on my instagram my account is under procyclerepair and I’ll help you out.
Another thing you can do is go on ebay, and buy a manual tensioner and install that. It says it works for a number of years and it looks like a auto tensioner delete kit but id look on the forums about this. It might be a cheap fix. Again message me on instagram and I’ll help out. You should be fine once we figure it out! The chains probably just super loose.
@@procyclerepair Thanks for the reply, I was just able to put it back together without any chain slapping, it required removing the whole tensioner and resetting it and then holding it in place while cranking the bolt under the points cover until it turned smoothly, then tightened everything together and now I'm going to leave it alone. My tensioner is clearly messed up and doesn't pop out like it should. Those manual ones look like a good idea but I think they require removing the top cover to install. Thanks for the video and keep it up!
Oh sorry, since the Halogen and incandescent bulbs pass an electrical current through a tungsten filament to produce light. This process also heats the filament, which can waste additional energy, making them inefficient. And since there so alike it seems like an honest mistake also because there so different from LED.
Hi, thanks for your video. On the 79 model there is no need to tighten the chain tensioner anymore, as there is a spring and ball bearing inside the tensioner that tightens the tensioner for you while running. The Ballbearing only lets the tensioner go in one direction, pushing towards the chain and not outwards again.
$10 says they didn't re-jet the carbs to accommodate for the air pods. Seems like 90% of people just slap cheap airpods on their build without re-jetting. If running standard jet sizes, it's best to use the OE airbox. IMO, the only reason to use airpods on these old bikes is if the airbox is missing. The only benefit to running pods is that it makes it easier to remove the carbs.
I completely agree, I dont like it when people replace factory with them. But its the trend everyone thinks it looks cool. Unfortunately the customer brought it to me like this. And as I’ve learned in the past its best not to touch the quad carbs if it ran as good as that bike did.
Appreciate your extra details about the 650’s characteristics. I have a 77 KZ900 and there is so little maintenance content available that I rely on videos like this about the KZ650 (or the 4 stroke CB Honda’s) to get me at least in the ball park.
Glad I could help out! Ride safe!
Hey thanks for the video, I have the same bike (a '77) and am having a fair bit of trouble with the cam chain tensioner. The bike was running fine and I went to do some standard maintenance and now the cam chain is making a horrible slapping noise and will not run, I'm afraid of starting it as I don't want to cause any extreme chain wear or engine damage. Anyway it seems my chain tensioner is mounted with the lock nut and adjustment bolt facing the other direction..Not sure if that matters or not. I lined up TDC and loosened the adjustment screw and now it doesn't seem to tighten anything at all.
So when you loosened the adjustment bolt the first time there was chain slap, but then you kept loosening and it ended up working and sounding better? Because with mine once you loosen a little bit the spring extends all the way and it still sounds like crap. Wish I didn't touch it
Hey Shaun, man sorry to hear that. So on this bike what i did is once you loosen that lock nut you only turn it like… half a turn maybe one full then you tighten it back and the lock nut. Then i rolled it by hand a couple times then started it then i heard that slap. I shut off the bike and loosened that lock nut and did the same thing again half to a full turn then re tighten and tight the lock nut rolled it over by hand then started and sounded great. It could be if you kept loosening you could have unscrewed it from the automatic tensioner… as far as I know you can take off that whole mechanism without having to take off the carbs. And you could look to see if it did that. If it unscrewed from the plunger that pushes against the chain guide. If you want message me on my instagram my account is under procyclerepair and I’ll help you out.
Another thing you can do is go on ebay, and buy a manual tensioner and install that. It says it works for a number of years and it looks like a auto tensioner delete kit but id look on the forums about this. It might be a cheap fix. Again message me on instagram and I’ll help out. You should be fine once we figure it out! The chains probably just super loose.
@@procyclerepair Thanks for the reply, I was just able to put it back together without any chain slapping, it required removing the whole tensioner and resetting it and then holding it in place while cranking the bolt under the points cover until it turned smoothly, then tightened everything together and now I'm going to leave it alone. My tensioner is clearly messed up and doesn't pop out like it should. Those manual ones look like a good idea but I think they require removing the top cover to install. Thanks for the video and keep it up!
The Jurassic worl motorcycle was an 06 triumph scramble 865 cool little bikes but nothing compares to the Kawasaki twincam 4 cylinders
I saw that some of the spray went on the air intake
No halogens on the front turns, you mean incandescents...
Oh sorry, since the Halogen and incandescent bulbs pass an electrical current through a tungsten filament to produce light. This process also heats the filament, which can waste additional energy, making them inefficient. And since there so alike it seems like an honest mistake also because there so different from LED.
What do you have the idol set at
Most of the time I set it by ear, but it seems like this bike i had it set somewhere between 1700-1900 rpm.
The handlebars made me puke in my mouth