Kawasaki KZ650 cafe-racer. Engine disassembling and checking. Part 1.

As I wrote earlier, I bought KZ650 engine in the year 2011. As you may see, seven years passed before I start working on it. I removed top end of engine in the same 2011 but I have no chance to look into crankcase or to disassemble cylinder head.

To speed up the KZ650 project I decided to disassemble engine completely and compile the list of parts that need to be replaced.

All engine’ hardware was original and looked untouched.  Seemed like no one before me disassembled crankcase. When I began to unscrew crankcase bolts it was alike to those scenes in films when archeologists open untouched tomb of some Egyptian pharaoh: puffs of the air and white powder of oxidized aluminum and zinc entombed for thirty years under the bolts heads.  I took that for a good sign.

And holy moly, after disassembling it turned out that I got KZ650 1978 engine with extremely low mileage!  Chance one to thousand I may say. Here are some photos, as you may see there is no any or only little signs of wear on crankshaft main bearings as well as on all honed surfaces.

I shot a lot of photos and I have my guesses about how this engine was preserved thus: to be continued.

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