CRACKING BUBF CASES

This is a brief list of notes to be used with the 1500A/B, and C Service Manuals available from Kawasaki and Clymers.  These notes in no way replace these service manuals, but are tips and techniques that may be useful if you intend to pull your engine and crack the cases to do upgrades or repairs.

I.  Before you start .....

1.  BEFORE you start taking the engine out, have a compression test (or better a leak down test) done on the cylinders.  If your compression is low, now would be the time to replace the rings, or have a valve job done.  It will never be cheaper.

2.  Consider replacing all the ball bearing while you're in there.  A tool set for installing bearing is less than $40.00.  It will never be cheaper.  Buy only KAW bearings.

3.  Think about installing a KAW steel oil gear in place of the plastic one, if only for peace of mind.  It's the same one used in the other 1500's and costs less than $20.00.

4.  Get Clymer and Kawasaki service manuals for your bike.  One manual augments the other and they both have a lot of useful pictures.

5. You'll need an impact hammer for the clutch nut (and it will help some with other pieces).  Get a cheap electric impact hammer (=< 250 ft-lbs).  They cost less than $60 online.

6. Have a full set of metric tools (sockets, box wrenches,  etc.) and torque wrenches that will go from 20 inch-pounds to 80 ft-lbs. for some of the internal nuts.

7.  Have a place where you can work at any time that has plenty of light (get a trouble light, for close in work).  Sometimes a small pen light helps, too.

7A. You'll need the ability to keep bike upright and off the kick stand as you pull the engine out of the frame.  If you are working in a basement, you can tie rope to the handle bar grips and to eye hooks in the floor joists above.

8. Use a good ATV/motorcycle 2-arm hydraulic jack.  It  make it easier to move the engine away from the frame easier by yourself.  A regular jack will work, but you'll want someone to balance the engine as you pull the jack and engine away from the frame.

9.  Get and use plenty of cardboard boxes, marking pencil, and plastic bags to protect parts and  to keep parts organized.

10.  Talk a friend into helping you with the heavy lifting :>))

II.  GET ORGANIZED

1.  I took pictures of the bike that were just about useless after things started coming apart.  Use pictures to record where cables and lines run on the bike.  Don't rely totally on your memory.

2.  Clean-up the floor under bike and put old cardboard (pizza) boxes under bike to catch oil and coolant that WILL drip.

3.  Become familiar with each section of the manual ahead of time, and follow the steps in the manual throughout each work session.

4.  Use egg cartons and yogurt cups to hold nuts, bolts, etc. as they come off bike.  Then put them in plastic bags.  Mark bag if necessary.  Put the plastic bag with the part that just came off the bike.

6.  Thoroughly understand the section about re-installing the cams.  The cams will go in wrong if you're not careful.  Click here for a write-up for setting cam chains that's helpful and well done.

III.  PARTS AND SUPPLIES

1.  Use www.RonAyers.com for all your parts purchases.  Use www.buykawasaki.com to determine what parts and gaskets you will need.

2.  Buy and use KAW gaskets. 

3.  Use Three-Bond #1211 silicone to seal the case halves together, and on the rocker cases.  It's expensive, but very high quality silicone.  No leaks after 8,000 miles.

4.  You should replace the water pump bearing and seal if your bike has over 50,000 miles.  

5.  Replace ALL O rings, even those in the internal oil pipe lines with KAW O rings.  KAW O rings are different from the same sizes you can buy in the auto shops.  They're thicker.

6.  When something does not go together smoothly, you are probably doing something wrong.  Stop and relax.  Check the manual.  Look for stuff that may be in the way.  Try again, and be more gentle.

7.  I bought a set of salvage (water damage, but unused) D2 transmission gears, forks, and shift drum from http://www.williescycle.com .  Willies was prompt, knowledgeable, and had a fair price.  I'd buy from them again.

8. Here's a list of the 1500A9 gaskets, O-rings, and other parts you will need, or should consider getting for cracking the cases, or doing just top-end work (i.e., valves, heads, cylinders ).  CLICK HERE 

9.  If you are replacing the shifter seal, the part number is 92051-005.

IV.  DOING THE JOB

1.  The engine weighs a ton and is awkward to move.  Once it's out of the frame, leave it on the jack.  Take off the heads and cylinder before thinking about moving the engine to a work table.  Or get a strong friend or two if you really want to take a chance getting it 2 1/2 feet off the ground and on to a table.

2.  There is no need to put silicone on the gaskets if they are installed correctly and torqued (in the right sequence) correctly.  You can patch a torn gasket with silicone if you accidentally tear it, but this trick only works once or twice.

3.  Torque every nut and bolt according to the service manual specifications.  An extra 1/4 turn may break off a bolt, or take another part out of spec. 

4.  When taking off the engine side covers bolts, take a piece of cardboard and make an outline of the cover and mark it where is bolt is coming from.  As a bolt comes off, push it into its respective position on the cardboard drawing.  Put the various bolt laden cardboard pieces into one large box so that if a bolt comes loose, it will be at the bottom of the box, and not somewhere on the shop floor.

5.  Reference your service manuals and www.buykawaski.com parts diagram for your bike.  Between the two of them, if you loose orientation of a part, the drawing will indicate which way it faces.

6.  Try to work continuously without big interruptions of more than a few days.  You will forget a lot of stuff.  But if you keep the parts organized and follow the manual, you will only loose a little time when you get back to work.

5.  Use medium strength blue LOCTITE on all the external screws and bolts as you put the engine together, and as you re-install the engine in the frame.  It's a little bit of insurance.

7.  A lot of parts can be installed only one way which is usually obvious.  Less obvious are splined parts like the shifter arm.  Before you take off something like the shifter arm, take marking pencil, or a sharp punch and make alignment marks.  This will save you a lot of time.

8. Be sure to clean (or replace) the small oil filters inside the cylinder head.

When you are done, you will have a near new engine that should be good for the rest of the time you own the bike.

My thanks for tips from Wiredgeorge, Bryon, Seeker, JeffCrusin, Randy F.  These folks provided suggestions, comments, help, before, during, and after the project.

TECH TIP: Use blue Loctite on the balancer gear bolt. It has a left hand thread so it shouldn't work loose but mine did 13,000 miles AFTER I replaced the OPG. It knocked a hole in the alternator cover, when it came loose, but didn't hurt anything else. Ride safe, Bryan Baker V~2912

TECH TIP: the spark plug extendo thingees that go between the cam chain (deep spark plug holder on each cylinder)... Clymers says to buy a "special tool" or use the 27mm axle from the bubf to remove these spark plug holder things... If you do any plumbing and have a set of plumbing sockets (those big big big sockets that come on a wire holder - you can buy a set for about $5 at any home improvement place)... the 29/32" socket OD fits perfectly into the 27mm hole in the spark plug holder... you just hold the other end of the socket with a monkey wrench and it will turn these guys right out. Lots better than jacking up your bike to remove the axle to use... All I have to do is remove the cam chain tensioners and suspend the cam chains and remove the cams and will be able to remove the cylinder heads / cylinders this evening  to measure the bores/pistons so I will know what I need to do... wiredgeorge v2420 bubf nadfi kz900 mico tx