Just another shopping post, so to say another couple of hundred bucks spent on KZ650 project.
What I like in OEM parts is a fact that they always work as they were intended to work. For example, in my repair practice I tried different aftermarket repair kits for fuel petcocks and no matter how meticulously I cleaned and prepared petcock, aftermarket repair kit works 50/50. Later I went to simple conclusion: it’s simpler to buy new petcock (if available) than fix old. New Honda CB500T fuel taps went out of stock long ago and one barely could find NOS fuel tap nowadays. However I bought compatible Honda OEM petcock and here it is:
Clutch lever I also bought Kawasaki OEM, however from later models of KZ650. According to its part number it also fits KZ1000 Police and KZ750.
Next lot is left hand secondary shaft bearing and shift drum bearing. They both sit in crankcase and I bought them as I am about to pull out old bearing before crankcase glass beads blasting and following painting.
Some O-ring I forgot to order earlier and some rubbers.
Kawasaki KZ650 part list calls them damper rubbers, however they have no damping function but work as plugs for drain shafts drilled in cylinder block.
Sure, it’s not a wonder that not all OEM parts available for motorcycle that is forty years old. As I wrote in one of previous posts, rubber wheels for timing chain tension system of KZ650 now are rare, and those of that could be find on ebay and marked NewOldStock may do little good. I replaced tension wheel with PMC sprocket and after some thoughts I decided to replace lower idler wheel ( part number 12055-004) with upgraded version of wheel made by Liska Racing, USA. Here it is:
As you may see, it’s dimensions perfectly correspond original idler wheel, however it is equipped with needle bearing and material of surface that contact with timing chain is not rubber, but some kind of plastic. I think it might be a good upgrade.
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