doing the valve stem seals today

Hi, I did a re-build a little while ago, the cause of the re-build was that the bearing on the clutch side of the secondary shaft wore out, then it fell out and of course the shaft flogged out the cases, have a couple of spare motors, used an old bottom cases spare I had and the secondary shaft from it to fix the old girl up. As most Aussie 13 owners will know, and I guess others, the cost of parts, if you can get them is rather scarey, anyway the barrels were pretty good, did a hone and new rings, big end and main bearing and of course secondary shaft bearings. I had the head checked and new valves put in, exhaust valves are hard to find, but anyway silly me thought the valve stem seals would be ok, never assume that, another reason I never changed them was because every bike shop I contacted wanted $20 each, and at the time, after getting all the other parts from either Germany of England I was a tad broke. Anyway I got a complete set from e-bay for $45, and because it our Labor day long weekend, I decided to pull the head and change them, also got a whole new 6 into 1 exhaust system to put on at the same time. I changed the seals yesterday, so the head and the other new bits will go on today or tomorrow, So anyway, just a bit of news on my old girl, she keeps on going, now if I can stop the blue smoke when I give her a gut full of throttle I'll be really happy, cheers Pete

Oh here are photos of the secondary shaft bearing that "failed" on me, just thought i'd show them, cheers







I was wondering what the "tinkling" noise was when the bike was running, the bearings hitting the clutch housing

Hi Pete,

I see from your other post about the exhaust system, that you got the head back on without too much drama.

Congratulations.

Bill

Hey KZA.............

Did your new Valve Guide Oil Seals stop the oil burning problem ?

Pete

Well yes and no, no smoke when engine starts, or when she is in the mid range temp, but do some hard riding staying at about 140 to 150 kph for a while on a hot day and the temp gets up in a few stop and start traffic, there is a wiff of smoke, a hard ride will use a tad of oil, I have the later model clutch cover with the bigger sight glass, so from the top mark it would drop about a 1/16" or a bit over in the oil level, hey something I can live with, she starts with just a slight press of the button and idles great, can't have everything or what would we complain about and work on ?? , thanks for asking, cheers

P.S. the KZA13 is my number plate, the KZ13 and the A thrown in cause she is an A1 model , smart fella huh

Thanks for confirmation.

I currently have my full top end off & on the workbench to do the following:-

Replace valve stem oil seals.
Re-grind valves.
Hone cylinder bores.
Replace std rings (only 27k covered).
Water pump seal.
Water pump shaft seal.
Replace cam chain idle gear & rubber gear.

The bike did use oil before strip which part of the reason I am doing the work over this winter.
It used about 1 litre per 1000 miles depending on how it was ridden. It used less at low speeds & more at high speeds.
When I served my time as a bike mechanic in the late 70's & early 80's, Kawasaki Uk stated it was acceptable for any 4 stroke 4 cylinder bike engine to use up to 1 litre of oil per 1000 miles.......& many did just that. Obviously with 2 extra cylinders the Z1300 often used more. I have read many accounts & reports over the years from early model 1300 owners stating they had high oil usage from new & some claim the early A1 & A2 models had piston ring issues which were sorted by the A3 model which was made in the USA which seems to ring true.
My findings on oil usage & its causes have been as follow:-

Smoke from cold start. = Valve stem oil seals leaking or / and excessive piston ring / bore wear.
Smoke when revved hard = Piston rings.
Smoke when throttling off / over-run = Valve stem oil seals.

Like you I dont mind a bit of oil burn, but feel better if its quite a bit less than 1 litre every 1000 miles. Hopefully the new rings & seals will sort this. I am using brand new rings, but not genuine K ones as I want to be sure they dont just do the same as the originals.