<div dir="ltr">Not surprised about the compression, Spencer. Japanese bikes are built more or less like Toyotas and Hondas (go figure)... they just last and last. I see you're tooling up, and wanted to mention THE go-to source for motorcycle-specific special service tools, Motion Pro: <a href="https://www.motionpro.com">https://www.motionpro.com</a><div><br></div><div>So, speaking of Japanese.... at work, one of the many things I do is manage and grow our CNC capabilities. We are small, funds are tight, and we aren't a job-shop so I can't just finance a sweet new piece of equipment and pay for it by selling parts to others. We build parts for our own internal needs, so I pick and choose parts we currently purchase from others, figure out what we can save doing it inhouse, and use the projected savings to fund the acquisition of used CNC equipment. Once I locate a suitable machine and coordinate shipping and rigging, it lands on the factory floor, I next get it all set up, leveled, aligned, and powered, then on to figuring out what's wrong. Bear in mind we're talking say $15,000 for a machine that was $200K new in 1997, so they have some miles on them. I do all the necessary refurbish, largely myself, but I also know a great independent CNC repair tech for stuff that is beyond me. Then I do all the programming, tooling, debug, and finally write detailed "cookbook" setup instructions so I can hand-off to the shop floor guys for daily operation. Sorry, I'm rambling a bit... my main point was that these CNC machines are Japanese, and ~25 years later, they will still happily run 10,000rpm on the main spindle, and still hold tolerances in the +/-0.0001" range. I like older Japanese stuff. Back to your Kawasaki, we've got two vintage bikes: my wife has a '76 Honda CB-200 and I've got a '75 Yamaha DT-175.</div><div><br></div><div>SO</div><div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Mar 31, 2020 at 8:53 PM Spencer Yost <<a href="mailto:spencer@rdfarms.com">spencer@rdfarms.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">So I mentioned a little while back that I was doing a valve lash adjustment on my 1989 Kawasaki 454LTD. It is been awfully hard to start, and valve adjustment is a common culprit. I’m glad I did it because the adjustments were definitely out though I could tell they were not so far out to affect starting to a degree its been happening. So I started looking for other explanations. I seem to have spark and had the smell the fuel on spark plugs. So I didn’t think it was fuel or spark. I then did a compression test: For a 30-year-old bike it’s got startlingly nice compression. 135 both sides cold with no oil. But I also noticed that it took 15-20 seconds of starter time to actually get the four or five compression strokes you need to get a max reading. Hmmm. That’s suspicious.<br>
<br>
So while the alternator crankshaft “peep-hole” cover was off so I could rotate the crankshaft for the valve adjustment, I took a look see at how fast the starter was spinning the engine. The engine wasn’t spinning at all except about every 5-10 seconds it would catch and turn over once. Clearly the starter clutch was slipping. This would explain why I had better luck roll starting it than using the starter. But the engine is big enough and I’m small enough that I need a pretty big hill to roll start it and that just isn’t viable where I live or wherever I might stop so I have to fix it to be in “riding” condition.<br>
<br>
So I took this opportunity to order a few things on eBay like flywheel puller and a fuel petcock that this bike desperately needs. They should be coming in a few days. My guess when I get it disassembled is to find weak springs in the clutch.<br>
<br>
The goal is to have this bike starting and running smooth before the covid-19 zombie comes to get me so I can out-run it. :-)<br>
<br>
Spencer<br>
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