engine difference between zxr400 and 750

[Eve]

Hi everybody, I hope you can help me to solve my doubt.

I'm currently changing the timing chain of by beloved 'little' bike . I did hope that opening the top end of the engine and the side carter was enough to remove the chain and replace it with a new one..obviuously I was wrong hehe. Apparently the chain gets stuck between the gear and the bottom of the crank case. As I still would rather not to take the engine off the bike the plan was to partially separate the two parts of the crank case enough to allow the chain to slip off and replace it, then close everithing again.

Now, the only problem is that I would like to put my hands on a zxr Hayne's manual before to do that, I already have the service manual but it is not much help in this case. Finding one for the 400 is apparently a lost battle, but the 750 is quite easy to buy. My question is..would it be any usefull on a 400 engine? are the two engine close enough or the similarity between the two models are just cosmetic?

Thanks in advance for any help .

I do apologise for my not amazing english, this is the best I can do for now, if something is not quite clear I will try to explain with different worlds

[cargo]

There is no Haynes manual for the 400 they never published one.

There is a genuine Kawasaki one and you can find it here.

http://www.zxrworld.co.uk/zxr400/manual.html


There are lots of threads on changing ZXR400 camchains use the search..................


It would be very unwise to unbolt the crank case just enough to release the camchain.............there are better and easier ways than that to do it

[Eve]

Thanks cargo for the quick answer!

As I said I aready have those manuals, but you said there there are many threads about the same matter? I'll have a look around the other topics then thanks

I know that there is no manual for the 400, that's what my topic was about , the main question was: Can I use the zxr750 in order to know what unscrew into a zxr 400 engine? Basically..is the 750 engne the same design as the 400, just bigger?

[Eve]

Is it possible that nobody knows if the two engines are at least similar or not?
I'll take a chance and I'll buy the Hayne's for the 750 anyway...I'll let you know how it did go

[masterofinsanity]

the manuals off this site should be sufficient to change the cam chain, you will need both H & L manuals, as cargo says search the forum as there is a thread on how to make this an easy job, also photos, i will try and find it.

[extonyg]

when i did the cam chain on my L1 i ground away the casing just enough so i could get the chain off, not had any problems since.

[masterofinsanity]

thats exactly the pic i was looking for cheers mate! there is a thread on changing your camchain in the "know your stuff" forum, check it out!

[Eve]

Thanks guys!

Yep, I realized only yesterday that the H manual is the one that I did need, I was getting mad looking for another L manual which wasn't the supplement one.
How silly.

Grinding the casing is exhactly what I did prefer not to do..I know it is quite safe, but still this doesn't make me really happy about the idea to do that.

Apparently Kawasaki made everything to put you off from working on the bike by your own

[parby81]

to be honest i also think it varies slightly from bike to bike. When I did mine I didn't need to do any grinding. A little bit of Wiggling and it cam free and exactly the same in reverse to put the new one on.
Though if you do find you need to grind a bit, its no biggy, just make sure all swarf is cleaned away. Vaccum cleaner in one hand, small dremel in the other!!