And here is another Kawasaki KZ650 cafe-racer shopping post.
As I bought a new tank for the project, I also had to buy rubber cushions to mount the tank. Here they are:
Let’s unpack them!
Front mounts are of pretty ordinary design.
While the rear mounts are a bit more complicated: rubbers are made in two pieces and so are the metal spacers. They are to be assembled like this:
Now, with rubbers on my hands I could finish setting a new tank on the frame.
When I was buying a PMC manual timing chain tensioner for our Kawasaki KZ650 I did not notice that an option of automatic tensioner was available. Actually, both PMC manual and automatic tensioners are marked by manufacturer as products designed for bigger Zs, like Z900, Z1, Z1-R and so on. However, as part numbers for early KZ650 cam chain tensioners are identical to those of Z1-R, one could deduct that the PMC automatic tensioner might be compatible with KZ650 (and likely with its further developments too). So the idea of an automatic timing chain tensioner of modern design in the KZ650 engine started itching at the back of my mind since the moment of the arrival of the manual tensioner. On the down of this year I decided to stop that itching and so I’ve bought the tensioner. Here it is:
Package contains the tensioner itself (with housing nicely machined from aluminium), spring, rod and spacer for it, gasket, two Allen bolts to mount a tensioner and manual written in Japanese.
Here is a photo of the manual. It’s Greek for me, but basic specs of the tensioner are clearly shown in pictures. According to the manual, the tensioner set initially had to contain two springs of different strength. My tensioner has only one spring.
Let’s take a closer look at the tensioner and at how perfectly it is machined:
To finish the post, here is the photo of tensioner with its piston completely compressed:
And fully extended:
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