TOPIC:

I've not had my recently acquired KZ1300 running yet, but I have a question regarding engine noise. Is the top end of this engine generally quiet in operation? I used to have a Yamaha XS1100, which had a great engine, but when the engine got really hot - after a hard run - the top of the engine used to make a tappety sound when ticking over. I'm hoping, because the Kawasaki is liquid cooled, it won't suffer from this. Comments would be appreciated.
James

I for one really like the valve design of these cam on shim engines. If the clearance is kept within specs the valves are quiet enough. There really is no water jacket on top of the valves so the liquid cooling probably would have no effect on concealing the valve noise. The same probably goes for cam chain noise.

I suppose that if you've got the cooling system working as designed, it would not allow the engine to get a hot as an air cooled unit might and that would even things out.

Bill

I have never had any untoward noise from mine unless one of the shims need changing and even then it is a subtle change.

Only had my Z13 for a few weeks, sadly not had a chance to ride her yet due to fixing some gremlins, which were kindly supplied free of charge by the previous owner

However, I think I've now sorted most issues, but have noticed the clutch is quite noisy / rattles at low revs, which goes away once revs are above 1400 RPM. Not sure If I should be worried or if this is normal / acceptable. The bike has done a genuine 29K Miles, only had 2 previous owners and appears to have been fairly well looked after.

I did not really want to strip the Zed clutch for no reason: but have recently had a similar issue: for my sins I have a Honda CBX, which had a pronouced clutch rattle: so I decided to strip & refurb the clutch, and once apart found absolutely nothing wrong - Bugger

Any thoughts appreciated. Cheers Tim

Wait till you have the carbs syncronized and all is smooth with the engine. I found over the years that was the reason for a lot of rattles.
Not saying the clutch doesn't get noisy. Try pulling the clutch lever in when its idling and see if the rattle goes away. At 29K I certainly wouldn't expect it to be frittered and need major work.

RICKG..........

That is the REAL voice of experience speaking there !!

Most multi cylinder jap bikes have clutch rattle after 5000 miles or so of use.
I have heard them sound like a diesel if the carbs are well out of sync.
I did mine on Saturday & it made a vast difference to the clutch noise, but you still get a bit of noise no matter what.

Pete F