[KaosKontrol]

Here's some pictures of the bike back together again for now.

Might add a ferring here... not sure. If I remember correctly, these had an optional ferring you could order with the bike... but I'm not sure. I just know that I've seen one of these with a ferring on it.

(I kinda messed up with routing the wiring a bit. I'm sure someone will spot it. 😅)

I'm definitely going to have to redo the seat cover. That tear with the electrical tape around it is mocking me, I swear. 🤣

 

[WFO-KZ]

I am not an electrician and perhaps our resident electrician can offer his expertise here, but I am not sure it is wise to let your alternator continue to spin without the regulator and battery connected. Would be good to know. Kent are you listening?

While your float bowl gaskets may not be correct, the root cause of the leak is likely one of the following:

1) Fuel service level in the float bowl is too high. Ordinarily the fuel level should be several mm below the gasket surface.
2) Your float valve is not sealing, and likely needs to be replaced. It is like a dripping faucet and will not stop leaking until the gas tank is empty.

 

[KaosKontrol]

I am not an electrician and perhaps our resident electrician can offer his expertise here, but I am not sure it is wise to let your alternator continue to spin without the regulator and battery connected. Would be good to know. Kent are you listening?

While your float bowl gaskets may not be correct, the root cause of the leak is likely one of the following:

1) Fuel service level in the float bowl is too high. Ordinarily the fuel level should be several mm below the gasket surface.
2) Your float valve is not sealing, and likely needs to be replaced. It is like a dripping faucet and will not stop leaking until the gas tank is empty.

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while but I'm playing the waiting game for now. 😅
Regarding the float bowl issue, I'll have to look into the float valve bit. Might also be something to do with how I routed the fuel line though since I had it routed straight down from the tank over the top of the carbs? Not sure. If I could get a good source for an actual rebuild kit for the stock carbs, that would be great. If anyone has any info on that, feel free to chime in. I don't know what the stock sizes are for the jets and needles on the carbs.

As far the stator not being connected, I happened to run across a guy that was parting out this same bike on ebay and he had a regulator/rectifier for sale there. Seems the crank on his broke according to him and the regulator/rectifier should work. I hope it does but I'll be fusing the connection between the negative wire and the negative battery terminal after it's connected just in case. It shouldn't blow the fuse if it works...or at least as long as it's not trying to back feed the positive charge down the negative wires. Just waiting for parts to come in at this point. Guess we'll see how it goes once the part gets here.

On another note, I now seem to have developed an issue with the starter. It was cranking over fine before but recently it started clicking instead of turning over. Really just wanted to get the engine to start for a couple minutes at least so I could get some fresh oil going through the system after I did the oil and filter change. I put my hand on the starter and hit the start button and I can feel it click a bit in the starter like it wants to try and spin but nothing else happens. Set up the multimeter leads directly to the starter and I'm only getting about 4.8v with the battery fully charged. Probably going to get my nephew to see if I can get it jumped off from the battery in his truck. If it kicks over... well I don't know but at least I'll know it isn't a direct issue with the starter. I still need to check the resistance for the solenoid though but bypassing the solenoid didn't work. So either the starter went out or there's something wrong with the new battery. 🤔

If it is, in fact, an issue with the starter, I'll probably see about getting it rebuilt. If it's a battery issue though... I don't know. It's a cheap eBay battery and it was one of the few batteries that I could find that would actually fit in the bike (excluding lithium batteries since the bike doesn't have provisions for that).

Edit: Haven't heard from Kent in a while. Kent, in case you're still watching this thread, I appreciate your input so far and I would love to get more input regarding the starter issue if it's not too much trouble. 🙂

 

[KaosKontrol]

While your float bowl gaskets may not be correct, the root cause of the leak is likely one of the following:

1) Fuel service level in the float bowl is too high. Ordinarily the fuel level should be several mm below the gasket surface.
2) Your float valve is not sealing, and likely needs to be replaced. It is like a dripping faucet and will not stop leaking until the gas tank is empty.

So I figured out my fuel leak. It's coming from the fuel inlet t-connector between the two carbs. Looks like I will have to separate the carbs and deal with it. 😓
Sourcing parts for the carbs is a real hassle at this point. I really wish they made a rebuild kit for them that I could just buy with all the gaskets, o rings, and seals.

If anyone knows the exact size and composition of the o-rings circled in blue, I would really like to know since I can most likely find them at my local hardware store. Plus, if I know whhat their chemical make-up is, I can probably just print them on my 3d printer. I really need this bike up and going since it's my only transportation.

Front brake master cylinder needs a rebuild too since I'm getting a handle that engages the brake and slowly loses pressure. It's not leaking anywhere and I already bled the brakes.

 

[WFO-KZ]

Glad you found the source of your leak. The T fitting may be cracked and of course you need new o-rings.
O-rings are precision molded to tolerances that a 3D printer simply cannot obtain so even if you could print them, they would leak. But once you get it apart I am pretty sure you can find a match. You can usually buy an entire set of O rings for around $10 or less. Here is an example (no affiliation)

Metric O-Ring Assortment, 397 Pc.

Amazing deals on this 397 Piece Nitrile Metric O-Ring Assortment at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

 

[KaosKontrol]

Parts came in today. Starter motor is an absolute pain to remove even after getting the carbs out of the way. I think I made a mistake in the removal process though. I had to remove the valve chain tensioner cover and I accidentally pulled out the tensioner. Heard something drop when I did it.

That thing. Not sure how much of a mistake it was. Hopefully not tear down the engine kind of mistake. If this were a Mopar or GM v8, I'd know. Not sure on this engine.

Yeah... the bearings came out with it. 😐

 

[WFO-KZ]

Looks like the only thing that might possibly have dropped is the spring. Peek inside with a flashlight.
You really should clean off your engine, before taking it apart. You really don't want that crap to make it to the inside.

https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/kawasaki/motorcycle/1981/csr-kz305-a1/camshaft-chain-tensioner

 

[KaosKontrol]

Looks like the only thing that might possibly have dropped is the spring. Peek inside with a flashlight.
You really should clean off your engine, before taking it apart. You really don't want that crap to make it to the inside.

https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/kawasaki/motorcycle/1981/csr-kz305-a1/camshaft-chain-tensioner

There was a spring on the outside of the tensioner rod when I took off the cover. It was sitting between the c-clamp Ring and the cover. Not sure if that's the spring you're thinking about though.

 

[WFO-KZ]

Look closely at the diagram I sent. There are two springs. A long one on the outside and a short one on the inside.

 

[KaosKontrol]

Look closely at the diagram I sent. There are two springs. A long one on the outside and a short one on the inside.

Ahhh. I didn't see that. This is all I saw when I took it out.

 

[WFO-KZ]

Your manual shows a different style of tensioner and it looks like your photos show that you have the kind of tensioner in my Partzilla link. Unless your manual covers both styles of tensioners you won't be able to follow the instructions in your manual.

I would see if the inner spring is visible. Use a mirror or borescope and see if any trace of it is visible and can be fished out.

 

[KaosKontrol]

Your manual shows a different style of tensioner and it looks like your photos show that you have the kind of tensioner in my Partzilla link. Unless your manual covers both styles of tensioners you won't be able to follow the instructions in your manual.

I would see if the inner spring is visible. Use a mirror or borescope and see if any trace of it is visible and can be fished out.

I don't have a borescope available to me, unfortunately. I did take the head cover off though and this is what I saw. (Also, the timing chain seems awfully loose but maybe that's just because the tensioner is out.)

 

[WFO-KZ]

I see something shiny in there that might be a spring. Could you tell?
Do not try to turn the engine over. Too risky to jump a tooth.

 

[WFO-KZ]

I have some good news for you. I found what I believe is a cross section of your chain tensioner. If in fact it is the same you will see that it is impossible for anything to fall inside the engine. You may have heard the tensioner fall back against the block, but that is no problem as it will push back into place. However, it does mean you are missing the short spring if it is not stuck somewhere inside the hole. Have a look at the diagram and you will see what I mean.
There would be no need for a spring on the inside of the engine. This tensioner is from a KZ440 but cross reference shows its parts are the same as yours and the short spring is still available.

 

[KaosKontrol]

I have some good news for you. I found what I believe is a cross section of your chain tensioner. If in fact it is the same you will see that it is impossible for anything to fall inside the engine. You may have heard the tensioner fall back against the block, but that is no problem as it will push back into place. However, it does mean you are missing the short spring if it is not stuck somewhere inside the hole. Have a look at the diagram and you will see what I mean.
There would be no need for a spring on the inside of the engine. This tensioner is from a KZ440 but cross reference shows its parts are the same as yours and the short spring is still available.

View attachment 44329

That's the one. I'll see if I can locate the Short spring. I rotated the crank before I saw this. So I guess I get to set the timing since I heard it go "click on me. I'm guessing that was from it jumping a tooth on the crank. I did keep tension on the chain while I turned it but it was only hand tension on the tensioner guide. I was trying to get it to TDC.

EDIT: I used a pick to see if I could find the small spring but it wasn't there. I really don't want to have to tear down the entire engine if I can help it. Also, I probably only have until Monday to get this done. After that, the forecast calls for thunderstorms and I don't want to leave it apart with that going on since I don't have a garage to work in or store the bike in. Also, I used a magnet and tried to catch anything I couldn't see down there at the bottom and I got nothing. No spring or anything else.

 

[KaosKontrol]

Kinda just wish I could do a video call with someone who knows more about this than I do at this point. 😅
It is what it is though. This has definitely been helpful so far so I can't really complain. 👍

 

[WFO-KZ]

I think you should consider the possibility that a previous owner lost the spring and put it back together.
Make it weather tight and order a spring. I think they were only like $4 or $5.

 

[KaosKontrol]

I think you should consider the possibility that a previous owner lost the spring and put it back together.
Make it weather tight and order a spring. I think they were only like $4 or $5.

The spring goes behind the bearing ring or in front of it? I'm pretty sure it doesn't actually go inside the bore of the hole since I checked it and it's a smooth bore after the outside lip. Can't locate my glasses so I'm finding it hard to tell.

Also, think you could dig up a diagram or something for the KZ440 on setting the timing? I would prefer to put it back together knowing that it's properly set.

 

[KaosKontrol]

Is it the left cylinder that I'll be going off of or the right cylinder to find TDC? If it's the left one, then I have it there. If it's the right one...that one is currently at BDC. Also not sure if it should be on the intake stroke or the exhaust stroke. I'm guessing the intake stroke though.

(Sorry for the possibly stupid questions. I'm used to working on V8 engines.)

 

[KaosKontrol]

I think you should consider the possibility that a previous owner lost the spring and put it back together.
Make it weather tight and order a spring. I think they were only like $4 or $5.

So I found this on eBay. I'm not sure what size the small spring is so better safe than sorry.

1981 Kawasaki KZ305 Cam chain tensioner (OL1) | eBay

We test run our bikes before parting them out to ensure everything is in good working order. Part Compatibility: Most parts will fit a wide range of models.

www.ebay.com

I figure if I'm going to get it, I might as well make sure I have the right one.