Head Gasket change, Valve clearances

[Vard66]

Sockets. Or something similar, holding the block off the crankcase.

[rover220]

vard, im not that far from you and can always lend a hand if you need mate.

[cargo]

There you go an extra pair of hands to lift the motor out................ and back in again

[Vard66]

Raising this again, folks - the ZXR is sitting in my garage now, with everything but the engine mounts disconnected, ready to have the job jobbed.

Just want to clarify before I do anything that could potentially bend valves and piss me off;

Removing the base gasket - can anyone confirm that there's no danger of removing clearances to the crown cutaways with the high comp pistons, to the degree at which the valves might hit?

That's a muddy question. What I mean is; if I remove the base gasket and bolt it up again, without touching the valve clearances, is there any chance that removing the base gasket will lower the deck enough that the valves could run out of cutaway, and hit the crowns?

Someone just tell me 'no, there's no danger' and I'll be happy to get on with it.

[zimm]

no, there's no danger ..

stock base gasket is 0.2mm ..

Kit base gasket is 0.1mm and is fitted in conjunction with the kit head gasket, which is 0.1mm thinner than the standard one.. or something .. anyway, that works with the kit pistons which have shalllower valve pockets aswell to the order of another 0.1mm or something ..

and thats without getting into skimming the head n fings ..

so, aside from the fact that checking and correcting the valve clearances on re-assembly is good practice ... no you shouldn't have any problems just bunging it back together sans base gasket providing everything was in spec to start with.

i've built 3 without base gaskets, they're still fine (apart from the one i stripped to play with.. which was fine and is now in bits.. with 2 others .. )

[Vard66]

Shiny, thanks dude.

I could search, but I'm already posting, so;

Can anyone tell me what the recommended oil for these little bikes is?

I remember being yelled at by a few people on here when I did the last oil change for normal Magnatec 10w/40...

[zimm]

any branded 10w40 semi synthetic bike oil.. I've used halfords stuff for years (free screwdrivers !! ) seems fine .. had a few develop clutch slip with silkolene .. choose a brand and stick to it.. no topping up with another brand - different additives dont aways play well together and in extremis can form plastic sludge or cause clutch slip.

most importantly change it every 3-4k miles.

[Vard66]

Gdgd.

Capacity is about 3l isn't it?

[zimm]

Gdgd.

Capacity is about 3l isn't it?

yarp

[Vard66]

Right.

HG done, and engine running beautifully.

I'm encountering an interesting issue with the gearbox however, in that as before, the neutral light is on, while I am positive the bike is in gear.

I don't know which gear, and I cannot seem to select neutral itself, or anything above it.

Haven't touched the gearbox at all, except to disconnect the neutral sensor, and to obviously unbolt the lump from the frame.

A thought just crossed my mind - the clamp on the selector rod, is that supposed to be pointing upwards from the pivot on the rod, or downwards?

Ok, checked in the manual, and that's correct, pointing up.

Anyone, any ideas?

[RedexRobB]

If the bike is standing you wont be able to select anything above first gear till the bike is rolling. If you can rock the bike back and forth and push down the lever as you were going down the box you should eventually get into first, assuming your somewhere like 2nd or 3rd. Im also assuming that you have the chain linked up?

[Vard66]

Good point, I forgot sometimes you need to move it a bit to engage the gears properly.

I don't, no.

I was planning on connecting it right now; after collecting the rear wheel, with puncture repaired from Martin Ashby on the way back in my break.

However, after spending 20 minutes in traffic to get to Crashby's, I parked up, and found a note on the door, that read 'At home ill. Hope to be back next week.'

So now I have to wait at least three days before I can even get the rear wheel back.

Great.

[cargo]

There is a little ball bearing that stops second gear from being selected unless the bike is moving.

It can be removed

[RedexRobB]

I dont know why but not having the chain linked up causes funny selection problems ive always noticed. Especially when you have a badly adjusted chain. I guess not having the chain at all might be why you cant select anything.

[Vard66]

My hope is restored, don't worry fellas. I'll wait til Crashby gets his old frame well again, and once I've got the wheel back, I'll connect it all up, tension it all and align it all, and then report back if there's still a problem.

I have however just been reminded that I meant to ask for a quote on the neutral sensor when I rang Cradley earlier. Bit late now.

Nevermind, I'll do it Monday.