www.zxrworld.co.uk

Not quite as good no, Haynes have a more step by step approach where as the kwak ones are for mechanics who already have experience.

The Haynes manuals are like a dummies guide (no disrespect intended)
It did strike me as strange that they never did a manual for the ZXR400 when I first tried to get one. Clymer don't publish one either (the ZXR400 was never officially imported to USA)

But the Kawasaki manual is brilliant ok you need a little basic know how but everything you need to strip and build a ZXR400 is in there.
Torque settings and great pictures plus wear limits etc etc etc.

I wonder that for those of you lacking in the basics could you combine the Kawasaki manual with the general motorcyle mechanics manual that Haynes publish. It takes you through he basics of any bike/engine then refer to the Kawasaki one for the detail.

Ones of the reasons im doing the workshop (although slowly) is to give a basic idea of how to do things. I think what some people struggle with is applying the ideas to all bikes. Obviously you can bleed brakes, change the calipers pretty much the same way on any bike, but i dont think people see this and they think its completely different.

But theres nothing like a dedicated manual, where everything looks the same, which gives you reassurance that your doing things right if it looks how it does in the pictures.

no a haynes manual tell you step by step how to adjust the cams and reseal your forks.

what about the zxr750 manual haynes do? can't be too different from the 400 can it? apart from the engine internals and settings etc.

so you think the procedure will be the same ? well mi mate at work has a zxr 750 so i will have to see if he has the a manual. Thank you good idea

The heads look similar in that the cams are actuated by a lever between the cam and the shim. This means that changing shims isnt a cam out job. This is different on the ZX7R as the cams directly actuate the valve, meaning that you have to take the cams out to change the shims.
i think...

If you have no luck sourcing how to check the valve clearance the best way is to look at the camshaft ends - you will se a cut out on each one.

With the pick-up cover of rotate the engine until these are pointing away from each other at 180 degrees - they should line up with the cylinder head surface where the rocker cover sits (front & Back). You should also see that the ignition timing on the rotor is also lined up with it's mark and as another visual check the inlet and outlet cams will be sitting lobe front & lobe back at 180 degrees. Your camshaft sprockets will also have marks and the exhaust one should be pointing parellel with the front surface.

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On this set-up you can check the clearance of inlet 1 Exhaust 2 IN 3 EX 3 EX 4.

Rotate the engine another 360 Degrees so that the notches are now facing each other as well as the cam lobes and you can check EX 1 IN 2 IN 3 EX 3 IN 4
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CHECK NEW POST FOR VALVE CHECK SEQUENCE!
Just make sure that the valve you are checking that the lobe is on it's rise and not fall stroke or is fully pointing up If you can't follow the above procedure.

Hope I have explained it well enough for you.

I'm a bit rusty on valve checks , so if some one could check that I've remembered it well, cheers. I will also consult my Kwak workshop manual when I have a moment to dig it out

RobB wrote:But theres nothing like a dedicated manual, where everything looks the same, which gives you reassurance that your doing things right if it looks how it does in the pictures.

which is never the case for most of the haynes manuals I've got!

deviant wrote:

RobB wrote:But theres nothing like a dedicated manual, where everything looks the same, which gives you reassurance that your doing things right if it looks how it does in the pictures.

which is never the case for most of the haynes manuals I've got!

lol true, the manual ive got for my 7R covers the ZX9 too so theres a mix. some times i look at a manual and think 'why did they even bother'. For example, to synchronise the carbs on the 7, they didnt even include a proper picture of where the vacuum points are, just a picture tellng you 'typical placement of vacuum points'.

masterofinsanity wrote:what about the zxr750 manual haynes do? can't be too different from the 400 can it? apart from the engine internals and settings etc.

if you attualy compaire the 2 engines the 400 just looks like a smaller version apart from that there prity much the same!

i genraly just use the manual for torque settings and the exploded diagrams

I knew I was a bit rusty on this

With No.1 Cylinder at Top Dead Centre you can check the following valve clearances:

In 1 , Ex 1 , Ex 2 , In 3

With No.4 Cylinder at Top Dead Centre:

In 2 , EX 3, In 4 , Ex 4

The explenation I gave is still good as this sets the pistons too TDC.
(The 'T' mark on the rotor)
You can remove the spark plug from 1 & 4 and with a long screwdriver confirm that the piston crown is sitting at the top of the cylinder.