ENGINE



Engine : Adjusting the Clutch
The clutch has two adjusters. The first is the obvious one - up on the handlebars, on the end of the lever. The second one is a bit hidden, and this is where you need to go once you find you've used up all the adjustment on the first one.

Down on the left-hand side and towards the back of the engine is the gearbox sprocket cover. A the front of it, you'll find a round rubber bung about an inch and a half (from memory) in diameter. Behind that bung is where this adjuster lives.

It is a screw with a cross-head and a locknut on it, and they are what you use to adjust the pushrod clearance. And this is how.

At the handlebar end of things, screw the clutch adjuster all the way in - so you've got a really sloppy clutch.

Next, undo the locknut on the pushrod adjuster.

Now, while holding the locknut with a spanner (so it doesn't tighten) screw the screw in until you feel a bit of resistance. Then back it off a quarter of a turn.

Now - holding the screw still so it doesn't turn - do up the locknut.

And finally, adjust the clutch at the handlebar end where (if things went proper, like) you should find a bit of the slack in the cable has been taken up, and the adjuster doesn't need screwing out so much.

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Engine : Noisy Camchain
Lots of people have reported their camchain becoming noisy when the engine is cold, becoming quiet once it's warmed up. This often seems to happen around 17,000 miles, although when it struck my first Fazer, it was nearer 31,000.

The most commonly suggested reason for this is that the automatic camchain adjuster is 'stuck' between two notches, although why it should only be like it when the engine's cold is a bit beyond me. Answers on a postcard.

Anyway, there are a number of suggested ways to overcome this.
One is to replace the tensioner.
Another is to take the spark plugs out (to remove compression for the bit that comes
next), put the bike in gear and wheel it backwards - the theory being that the
tensioner ratchet will click more easily this way than with the engine running.
Another still is to remove the tensioner from the block, and then refit it. This will
often cause the tensioner to take up the slack, removing the noise.

My preferred answer is to just leave it. In all the cases I know of, the noise went away all by itself after a thousand or so miles, and it was as if nothing had ever happened.


And if the worst comes to the worst, and it does need changing, Spen (one of the FOC-U crowd) says:

Hi Guys

Try this guy, he will fit brand new camchains and check valave (or anything else) while
you wait.

Its a rid in ride out service

Galia camchains
01268 735 355

tell him Spen (ZZR) sent you.

So there you have it.


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Engine : Changing the Oil

If you've done it before, then you won't need me to tell you how. I guess all you could possibly need me to tell you is that the drain bolt is down low on the lefthand side of the engine, below the water pipes. And that you'll need a 17mm combination spanner to get it undone, cos you can't get a socket and ratchet on it. If you need more than that - well carry on reading.


If you haven't done it before, well hopefully the following will help you.

Like all jobs, it's pretty straightforward if it goes well; but it's a real swine if it doesn't. So do your preparation before you start.

1. Have your replacements ready
That means the oil (and a new oil filter if you're doing it).

2. Work out where the various bits and bobs are, and have your tools ready Like I said up there, the the drain plug/bolt is down on the lefthand side behind a frame tube, and you'll need a you'll need a 17mm combination spanner to get it undone.
In case you're a combination spanner has an open ended spanner at one end, and a ring spanner at the other, both of which are, helpfully, set at an angle to the handle of the spanner). Use the ring spanner on the drain bolt.

You'll also need a 17mm socket later on, so have one of those handy too.

And if you're doing a filter change, you'll need a wrench/socket to fit the oil filter.
Preferably the 'socket' type that goes over the top of the filter. Fit it in place before you start, rather than try and wiggle it into place when the downpipes are hot (they will be). A ratchet/bar plus extension that fit into the filter tool, and you're about there.

3. Have something handy to catch the old oil in.
I use an old 5 litre plastic oil container with the side cut out. This is big enough to catch all the oil that comes out, and also has a handy spout on it for transferring the oil into another container ready for dumping.

4. Have plenty of newspaper to spread out to catch spillages. No matter how careful you are, you're going to spill oil, so have some newspaper ready, and some rags to wipe your hands with.

5. If it applies, send the missus out for a couple of hours. You don't want her fussing around worrying about her patio while you're trying to grab the oil container that you just carelessly kicked from under the flow of oil from the engine. Better to have her out of the way so you have a chance of cleaning it up before she gets back...



Right - sidestand or mainstand? Some people prefer to do it with the bike on the sidestand - so it's leant over, helping the oil tip out - but I don't. With the bike on the sidestand, you've got to crawl underneath it to get to the drain bolt. And if the bike rolls forward while you're undoing the drain bolt...
So I start off with the engine on the mainstand, moving it onto the sidestand once most of the oil is out so the remainder runs out.


Next, warm the engine up. This matters, because you want the oil nice and thin and runny so it comes straight out of the drain hole, not thick and sticky, so it stays stuck to the inside of the engine and in the oilways. After all, you're hardly replacing the oil if a whole load of it stays behind in the engine.

About 5 minutes of warming up normally does it for me.
While that's going on, spread the newspaper out on the floor under the bike.
And get your container under the drain hole. Don't worry too much about positioning it too precisely - chances are wherever you put it it'll be wrong (that's why you have all that newspaper). Get it roughly where it wants to be, and position it properly once you've got a nice flow of oil to guide you.

Also, if you've got some, stick on a pair of latex gloves - sorry - forgot to mention them earlier. There may be far worse things in the world, but the smell of old engine oil on your hands isn't pleasant. And takes some getting rid of.


Right.
5 minutes is up, your engine is warm. Cut the engine, take the keys out and put them right out of the way (you don't want there to be any chance at all of anyone accidentally starting the engine without any oil in it, and it CAN happen - I've seen it done).

And now it's time to let the oil out.
Get the ring end of the spanner on the bolt, and loosen it. Once you've done that, it should turn fairly freely, so you can do the rest by hand.

A few things to observe while you're doing this, though.

1 - The drain bolt will be hot to the touch (like the rest of the engine). This is where the 17mm socket comes in - pop it over the bolt and use that to undo the thing by hand.

2 - The oil inside is very hot - hot enough to scald if you get it on your hand.
When you come to the end of the thread on the drain bolt, it'll pop out, with a torrent of that hot oil behind it. So when you come to that last bit of the thread, be sure to be undoing it in a way that your hands are above, not below or in the path of, the oil when it comes out. I undo it with fingertips, very carefully and from above.

3 - DO NOT fall for the temptation to try and catch the drain bolt. There's no surer way of making sure you end up with scalded hands - let it go its own sweet way; you can find it later.

4 - I also leave the oil filler cap on until I get past this bit, as it tends to slow the flow of oil a bit.

5 - At this point you'll probably find that the container you're draining into was in the wrong place, so you'll need to be quick off the mark to reposition it. That's Sod's Law, that is, and it's why you spread all that newspaper out. You did, didn't you?

So after a time the oil flow will slow down. You can now breathe again. When it slows to a few drips, I put the bike on the sidestand to tip it so the last of the oil can get out.
You need to find the drain bolt - if you're really lucky, it will be under a couple of litres of oil at this point, having dropped straight in the container as it left the engine (hint - garden trowel - but I didn't tell you) - and then screw it back in, just a few turns.

Oh, and take off the old oil filter at this point if you're doing it. If you did as I suggested and put the tool over the filter before you warmed the bike up, you'll just need to pop the extension onto the wrench, and feed it between the downpipes onto the socket. If not, watch your hands on the hot downpipes.
And be ready to catch the oil that'll be inside it when it comes off.

Now put the bike on the sidestand, whip the drain screw out (again) and let the last few dribbles of oil make their way out (good time for a cup of tea/coffee).


When there's absolutely no more oil coming out, it's put it back together time.Put the bike up on the centre stand. We don't want bikes falling on people when they're putting them back together.

Smear a bit of engine oil on the new oil filter and screw it back in place. Recommended torque is 17Nm.

Now put the drain bolt back in and do it up. The manual says torque it to 43nM, but I can't work out how you're supposed to get a torque wrench in there. If you can't either, then do it up tight, and check for leaks afterwards.

And fill the engine up. According to the manual, it's 2.5 without a filter change, 2.7 with. But I never get that much in. I just fill it up until it's between the two marks on the sight glass down on the bottom right-hand side of the engine. Then I start the bike up and give it a few minutes running time (check for leaks from oil filter and drain bolt) before a couple of minutes standing and a top up if needed.
And that's that. Now tidy everything up and you're done.


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