Kawasaki W400

[stsoh]

yes, seal is still in good condition.

there is no leak, not necessary to change.

oil seals can last, as long as it is not deteriorate.

don't forget there is a seal cover to protect it.

also with fresh new oil will revive lubrication properties for sealing inside the fork shaft chamber.

general practice maintenance is to change fork/brake oil every bi-yearly.

fork oil came out grey color sludge.

[Phang]

stosh is right, if the fork is not leaking, you don't need to change the seal.

 

by the way, the oil contamination of both the fork legs varies, fork oil in the left leg was as clear as new oil but the right fork oil was murky and dark, both seals were ok when I checked.

 

I took the bike for a spin yesterday, the 1:1 blend of 5wt and 10wt felt slightly firm comparing with the feeling before the oil change. I have tried small bumps, speed bumps, expressway riding, gradual and sharp braking, the front end feeling is positive so far.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4875.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4869.jpg

[Demon]

I took the bike for a spin yesterday, the 1:1 blend of 5wt and 10wt felt slightly firm comparing with the feeling before the oil change. I have tried small bumps, speed bumps, expressway riding, gradual and sharp braking, the front end feeling is positive so far.

 

This is from my personal experience. To stiffen up the forks by adjusting the oil weight is rather an expensive affair. I would cut aluminium tubes at 2mm increment from the stock spacer, you probably will have a maximum of 4 sets because any more than 8mm, you will have much difficult in putting back the fork cap. Once you achieved the desired pre-load, you can further fine-tune with slightly heavier oil. You can even have spacer of different length in each fork to achieve the desire effect.

 

With spacers, you can experiment with different lengths, but you can't do that with oil.

[Phang]

Thanks for sharing Demon, I already measured the length of the spacer, planning to replace it with aluminum tube the next time when I change the oil as the stock spacers are made of steel and show some sign of rusting, probably because the steel spacers are high up in the fork tube and didn't get coated with oil. But again, the fork tube should be sealed by the O ring on the cap, I wonder how the oxygen seeps through for the rusting.

 

I may play around with the spacer length as suggested by you if necessary

[Phang]

I removed the front brake hose on the Singapore National Day, took some measurements for recording purposes and planning to replace it with a steel braided hose.

 

Went to the shop on the next day, the nice chap who sells HEL brake hose custom made a hose for me as per my requirements. I also replaced the nipple with a stainless steel one.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4877.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4884.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4886.jpg

[Phang]

Lubed the throttle cables yesterday and applied some grease to the inner side of the throttle grip tube. Some maintenance work need very little time and tools but the results are very rewarding, the throttle action is as smooth as butter now.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4890.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4892.jpg

[swirlacer]

hey phang, where did u do ur hel brake lines custom? i might have to do one for my rear brake.

[Throttle]

eeeeemmmhhh, Phang you the man!

 

can you be my dedicated mech?

[Phang]

eeeeemmmhhh, Phang you the man!

 

can you be my dedicated mech?

 

I am a backyard tinker, will turn your bike into junk in a blink... haha

[swirlacer]

then whr's ur backyard?haha...we lend workshp space also la..

[Phang]

speaking of workshop, I was telling my wife casually last night that I wanted to buy/rent a 20ft container office to put my tools and bikes so that I can hammer the bikes inside and not disturbing family and neighbours... haha

 

http://www.containerspecialist.com.sg/img/popup_office.jpg

[swirlacer]

luckily in sg the thieves dun dare to steal big.. trailers full of bikes and tools have been stolen in usa before..haha...u so rich ah!!!

[Phang]

luckily in sg the thieves dun dare to steal big.. trailers full of bikes and tools have been stolen in usa before..haha...u so rich ah!!!

 

no lah, it was just a crazy thought. A more realistic one is converting one of the room in my house for the bikes work.

[yd72]

Haven’t try that yet but sooner or later I will need to wash the carbs, do you have any idea how much those 2HP~2.5HP air compressors cost?

 

 

Compressor is very useful. I have one small compressor (2HP)at home, you can bring back the carbs and blow the thing at home. But the thing can be quite loud when the thing is building up the pressure, so try not to have anybody at home. Can even blow dust and dirt out of the engine fins with the paraffin blower, very useful. Keep bike nice and clean.

[yd72]

I removed the front brake hose on the Singapore National Day, took some measurements for recording purposes and planning to replace it with a steel braided hose.

 

Went to the shop on the next day, the nice chap who sells HEL brake hose custom made a hose for me as per my requirements. I also replaced the nipple with a stainless steel one.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4877.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4884.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN4886.jpg

 

Bro, when did you get the brake hose customise?? Can post the address? How much is customise?

 

[yd72]

You are one hell of DIY demon man........DIY rocks.....if you have the time and space to do it and especially dont forget your manual and taking reference photos

:thumb:

[Phang]

Bro, when did you get the brake hose customise?? Can post the address? How much is customise?

 

 

 

Not really customisation, I asked the guy at Vector One to cut my original hose and took out the rubber protective hose of the original brake hose and put it on the new hose before they crimped it and I also asked them not to put the yellow colour HEL sleeves at the both end of the hose so that the new hose will go along well with my old man bike. Just like ordering a plate of char kuey tiao and telling the boss that you don’t want tau geh (bean sprout), don’t want chilli… haha

[Phang]

You are one hell of DIY demon man........DIY rocks.....if you have the time and space to do it and especially dont forget your manual and taking reference photos

:thumb:

 

I bought the origianal factory service manual before I bought the bike.

[shoei_com]

hi, Phang, i have a W650 origianal factory service manual in Japanese, if u like to take a look i can lent it to u....

 

 

I bought the origianal factory service manual before I bought the bike.

[Phang]

hi, Phang, i have a W650 origianal factory service manual in Japanese, if u like to take a look i can lent it to u....

 

Thanks bro, I already have the English version of W650 manual and the Japanese version W400 manual, both are original factory service manuals and my english is slightly better than my Japanese... haha

[shoei_com]

ok, hope to see this beauty on the road..... Kawa

 

 

Thanks bro, I already have the English version of W650 manual and the Japanese version W400 manual, both are original factory service manuals and my english is slightly better than my Japanese... haha

[Phang]

The postman rang my door bell today and delivered this to me. These are the parts that I ordered from Japan 2 weeks ago. I have measured the valve clearances earlier and 7 out of the 8 valves of my W400 need a thicker shim. Besides the valve shims I also ordered some small consumable parts which I will need in future. Please stay tuned, I will post more photos when I change the shims of my W400 next week.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN5089.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN5096.jpg

[Phang]

I went to drain the float bowl of the carburetors just now, no traces of rust or water in the petrol, not too bad.. surprisingly the volume drained from both the carbs were exactly the same, I was expecting a little bit more from the first carb which I drained considering the extra few cc in the fuel hose between the carb and the fuel c_o_c_k

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN5097.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN5098.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN5099.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/DSCN5100.jpg

[Phang]

Tools

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/va1.jpg

 

Remove seat, tank and ignition coil

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/va2.jpg

 

Wrap the frame and wiring harness to prevent dust/sand/whatever from falling into the head when the cover is removed.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/va3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/va4.jpg

 

Valve cover removed

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/va5.jpg

 

Use a 50 cents wrapped in cloth to unscrew the caps at the left side of the crankcase cover to prevent leaving any mark on the soft aluminium caps.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/va6.jpg

 

Turn anticlockwise to align the TDC mark with a notch on the cover

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/va7.jpg

 

Ignition advance mark

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/va8.jpg

 

TDC mark

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/va9.jpg

 

Measure the valve clearance using a feeler gauge

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/va10.jpg

 

Eight valves engine is not too bad, imagine doing this for a 20V R1…

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/va11.jpg

 

Apply Moly (MoS2) grease to the bevel gear

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/va12.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/va13.jpg

 

Done, fortunately my torque wrench is slim enough to slip under the frame to torque down the center-rear bolt of the cam cover.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/va14.jpg

 

Fit everything back, clean, check, recheck and triple check before I hit the start button, engine is much more quiet without the loud tapping sound now.

[Demon]

Tools

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/Phang/va1.jpg

 

You are the first bike hobbyist I come across who is so organise, tidy and meticulous. Your discipline surpasses even the japs.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v469/udaloy/Emoticons/notworthy.gifhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v469/udaloy/Emoticons/notworthy.gifhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v469/udaloy/Emoticons/notworthy.gifhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v469/udaloy/Emoticons/notworthy.gifhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v469/udaloy/Emoticons/notworthy.gifhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v469/udaloy/Emoticons/notworthy.gifhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v469/udaloy/Emoticons/notworthy.gif