TOPIC:

The cam adjuster (cam chain tensioner) is the lowest one on the rear of the cylinder block. The upper adjuster is the timing chain tensioner. In the forums, go to the Engines category. Then go to "Wrong CCT?" Post #8993 by kza13 shows a photo of both tensioners on the engine. There is a big black arrow pointing to the cam chain tensioner.

Neither of the tensioners is adjustable. The fix for the known to fail cam chain tensioner is to replace it with one of two choices:

1. ZX1100 cam chain tensioner. Kawasaki part # 12048-1113 and its gasket part # 11009-1858.
OR
2. Manual adjustable cam chain tensioner made by APE company.

No wonder I did feel a hole
wow
how odd that they didn't make them adj
So what web site do I go to to order one?
Thanks

For the Kawasaki ZX-11 cam chain tensioner and its gasket, try www.bikebandit.com. It is recommended that 10mm be cut off the spring before installing this tensioner. If you want to find them by model number, use 1994 ZX-11.

For the APE manual cam chain tensioner, type "APE manual cam chain tensioner KZ1300" into your search engine.

Replacing the cam chain tensioner is the very first thing one should do with a KZ1300. If it slips, and they sometimes do, valves will be ruined.

In conjunction with replacing the tensioner, two parts need to be inspected for excess wear. Both are located on the Guide, chain tensioner, Kawasaki Part # 12053-1028. At the upper end is a nylon sprocket, 21053-1004 sprocket, cam chain. It can be seen after removing the valve cover. You will need a new valve cover gasket and the 4 rubber cam plugs at the ends of the head. Last year, the nylon sprocket was still available from Kawasaki, or bikebandit. The ultimate fix is the steel cam chain sprocket for the KZ1300 made by Liska Racing. To find it, type in your search engine, "Liska Racing KZ1300 cam chain sprocket".

The other part is a rubber wheel on the lower end of the guide, chain tensioner. This is what gets pushed against the cam chain to tension it. With the valve cover off, it might be possible to shine a strong light down the cam chain tunnel an inspect the wheel.
The wheel is available from www.Zed-parts.com in England, or www.Z1300.de in Germany.

Replacement of the nylon sprocket or the rubber wheel requires removal of the head. This needs a head gasket and two small square rubber pieces called dampers which fit on the ends of the sprocket shaft. Liska Racing has these. It is highly recommended that you use a genuine Kawasaki head gasket.

Just as a precaution, I'm preparing to pull the head on my 1980 KZ1300 and replace the sprocket with one from Liska Racing, the rubber wheel with one from Zed parts, and the cam chain tensioner. All necessary parts have been purchased/delivered. I have both the APE manual tensioner and the ZX-11 tensioner - deciding which to use.

Stoner wrote: how odd that they didn't make them adj

They were adjustable, automatically, they work with a set of ball bearings around the perimeter of the sliding shaft on a tapered run, the shaft moves out which loosens the balls then when backwards pressure is applied the balls lock onto the shaft, the shaft is hardened steel, sometimes grooves were formed and this allowed the balls to not lock securely onto the shaft allowing it to slide backwards loosening the cam chain which sometimes could make the chain jump a few teeth and cause you to bend a few valves. The 1100 one is a ratchet design and won't back up, so a better idea all round. You can turn the original tensioner into a manual one but it will require a nut to be welded onto the back of the body of the tensioner, and a hole drilled through the end, then a bolt and a lock nut put in, the bolt is then adjusted pushing on the rear of the original tensioner shaft and when at the required position the lock nut is tightened, I've seen it done, in fact I have one here on my parts bike, cheers Pete.

Stoner- Sounds like you're comfortable with adjusting your own cam chain so you could go after an APE manual adjuster. One nice thing about it is you can "see" how much was adjusted and be able to track the stretch as life goes on.

yeah Im going with the APE
as for all the tearing apart the top end
well not this guy
got the BG thursday
so I will wait till the adjuster gets here and we see what we see
THANKS GUYS