My Egay Bargain Project

[MillaMeter]

Hi,

Just recently picked up this old girl with a spare engine and odds and sods from London for just shy of 300 squid.

She's a 1984 Kawasaki ER250 B1 Scorpion Belt Drive.
https://img404.imageshack.us/img404/9504/201301170442.jpgAccording to howmanyleft there is only 8 B1s in the uk

Anyway...
Bike is in very clean complete condition. Frame had been powder coated, engine casings, wheels, hangers etc.. blah blah blah

The bike was cheap for a reason though.
The engine doesn't run.

Seller said suspected crankshaft gear stripped. He also said that when he tries to turn the engine by hand (on the crank with a ratchet) the engine turns a few times then stops. But the engine turns backwards fine, hmmmmm... sounds like timing to me.

So out came the spanners, tea and fags and got cracking.

First of all I thought I'd have a dig at the cam chain tensioner. All necessary parts were removed to gain access. I was shocked when I managed to undo both tensioner body bolts with my fingers
Turns out the tensioner had been reset... but not released once in the engine. The seller also mentioned to me when collecting the bike that he had replaced and fitted the tensioner internals with brand new genuine kawasaki parts.
Looks like he forgot to release the tensioner

Because the tensioner wasn't released, I thought I'll just double check that it has been assembled correctly. Turns out it hasn't, the washer that goes on the rod before the spring, was infact after the spring thus causing this:

https://imageshack.us/a/img820/2161/201301210469.jpg
https://imageshack.us/a/img715/9359/201301210472.jpg
The washer I had to dig out with a small flat blade. Guess that's bolloxed then

Luckily the seller gave me a spare engine and parts with the sale as the spare engine had a good tensioner and that small washer intact
The tensioner is now rebuilt correctly and is ready and waiting to go back in the engine.

Next was to check the valves, timing and cam.
After ~10 min of wrenching, I managed to set the engine to TDC without jamming it up. Then with much swearing and spanner throwing I lifted the valve cover off. Much to my surprise I instantly saw the problem. Looking at the cam sprocket the 2 lines that are supposed to line up with the valve cover surface wasn't there.

But here, positioned 6 teeth backwards.
https://imageshack.us/a/img545/1258/201301210473.jpg

Next I'll check the valve cover for wear on the rockers.
It turns out that 1 of the rockers has been overtightened causing apart of the rocker to turn blue in colour and get eaten from the cam lobe.
https://imageshack.us/a/img547/2442/201301240492.jpg

3 used rockers from Egay on order and waiting to be delivered.

Moving on...
Going by what I have read on the net, these engines are almost identical to the GPZ305. Research on this bike didn't look good for me. Alot of things go wrong with these bikes and I'm now starting to think I'm going to get the same treatment with this ER.

1. was to check the oil pump gauze??

So oil pump off and oil pump gauze out:
https://imageshack.us/a/img197/6531/201301240487.jpg
Seems to be a lot of metal build up on the mesh. I'm guessing from the rocker maybe?

Managed to clean this up gooood.
https://imageshack.us/a/img694/6761/201301240490.jpg

I think next on the list would be to take the exhaust off and cylinder head to check the valves and pistons for damage. With a rough guess, I wouldn't be surprised if the valves are bent and the pistons are cracked maybe?

Soon as the head is removed and inspected, I'll post an update.

[_Troy_]

Looks like a cracking little bike.

Are you planning on any body work, or are you simply going to get it running and use the bugger?
____________________
Current bike: ZX6R J1
Previous bikes: CLR 125 | GS500 | ZX6R G2 | SV650

[nowhere.elysium]

So, this is effectively a GPz305 before the pin's been pulled, right? Interesting.
____________________
'10 SV650SF, '83 GS650GT (it lives!), Questionable DIY dash project, 3D Printer project, Lasercutter project

[WannaBeDude]

Kinder egss ARE harder to decipher when your an adult - FACT
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Jogging on, destination living.

[stevo as b4]

It looks like a nice litte Kwak project and very clean in the pic too! Id have something like that any day. Im not keen on belt drive as i'd be more worried about a belt snapping at 80mph, than an engine grenading to pieces.

I still would think that will anal detail to maintainence and 1000mile oil changes that a 305 engine could be reliable enough and thrashable to a degree. I would much rarther take my chances with a 250cc 4stroke air cooled twin, than i would with a secondhand RGV250. The thought of a 30mile morning commute on the motorway on an RGV everyday would be enough to stop me ever sleeping again!

[blurredman]

[MillaMeter]

I got to admit, I was a little worried about the belt drive myself, but because these bikes can be converted to chain and sprockets with ease, I'm not really worried anymore.

Plan is to get this little girl up and running and use it as I think it could be a nice little commuter. A lot of care needs to go into these little bikes and must be treated like they're made of cheese. No problem for me really.

My Egay rockers arrived today and don't look too bad. Managed to pick up 3 used rockers from a GPZ305 for £25. So 1 of them will be replacing the damaged 1.

nowhere.elysium:

The GPZ305 is effectively a bored out ER250 with bigger jets and a mini nose fairing. Trouble is, when Mr Kawasaki done this, this weakened the engine and horror stories started to occur. Cams got hungry, cylinder heads wearing out, oil ways blocking up and most famous the oil pump drive gear self destructing (made of nylon)

[MillaMeter]

Small update,

Full engine gasket kit arrived the other day and thought I'd replace some of the gaskets. Inlet manifold o-rings seemed to be in good shape, replaced them anyway. Cam chain tensioner o-ring changed and engine breather gasket changed.

I think this will need to be cleaned out before fitting.
https://imageshack.us/a/img11/6334/201301290504.jpg
https://imageshack.us/a/img839/2132/201301290505.jpg
Looks to me like scrap metal from the munched rocker arm.

Old Breather gasket was like sweated cheese and was a complete giraffe to get off!
https://imageshack.us/a/img27/6852/201301290509.jpg

All put back together now minus the clutch casing. Please ignore the tensioner half hanging out, still got to take the head off yet.
https://imageshack.us/a/img62/489/201301290510.jpg

Engine needs a good bloody clean and degrease but I think I'll do that when the engine is fully built.

More to come...

[GrumpyGuts]

Great thread - moar pics
____________________
My Bikes: Lifan Beat 125cc '11 -> Suzuki B120P '76 -> Suzuki EN 125-2A '08 -> Honda CG 125 '04 -> Honda CB600F Hornet '98 -> Kawasaki ZZR 600 '99 -> Kawasaki GPZ 500S '95 (Current)
Theory test passed - 09/02/2012 >>>> Module 1 passed 24/07/2012 >>>> Module 2 passed 24/10/2012

[MillaMeter]

Just taken the exhaust off today ready to take the head off in the evening. Just out the blue I thought I better take a better look at the camshaft. Turns out the news is bad

https://imageshack.us/a/img191/5500/201301300516.jpg
https://imageshack.us/a/img820/4294/201301300518.jpg

I do believe the gpz305 camshaft is the same. Looking at cmsnl's website the part numbers seem to be exact so I may just go for 1 of them.

[MillaMeter]

Bit more work done in the garage today.

In 1 of my previous posts I mentioned that the previous owner said the crankshaft sprocket could be stripped and would need to be replaced.

Observe: https://youtu.be/dyBLRAPip4Y

Looks ok to me.

Anyway... cylinder head off, barrels off and looking very good indeed.

https://imageshack.us/a/img585/1352/201301300525.jpg
https://imageshack.us/a/img705/8376/201301300519.jpg
https://imageshack.us/a/img33/6389/201301300520.jpg
https://imageshack.us/a/img138/3250/201301300521.jpg
https://imageshack.us/a/img687/9779/201301300524.jpg
https://img820.imageshack.us/img820/1981/201301300522.jpg
https://imageshack.us/a/img687/9744/201301300528.jpg
This valve has 1/5th of the seat black which indicates it's been leaking a lil. I nice relap should sort this. Otherwise a new valve will have to be ordered.
https://imageshack.us/a/img33/4962/201301300527.jpg
Valves are lovely and straight and seal in the valve guides very well indeed.
https://imageshack.us/a/img210/7082/201301300526.jpg

Turns out someone has used black silicone sealer for the base gasket. There was loose silicone everywere, even inside the cam chain guide channel.

Next I will be cleaning the cylinder head up, and relapping the valves in.

More pics to follow as I know you guys love pictures.

[MillaMeter]

Forgot to say, If anyone is going to the Kawasaki Sunday up at the ace this year in April, you should see this little girl up there and running! That is my dead line.

[Xenocide]

Good luck. Looks like a great project!
____________________
KTM LC4 400 | Honda VTR1000

[UnspeedySam]

[Tim..]

Well that engine has a few issues

Good progress, following
____________________
Project builds: My VFR400 nc30 build thread + Honda Britain Rep VFR + What? Another VFR +Project 'cos I want one' + V8 coffee table
www.marshallracing.co.uk
OCD - Helping to bring the standard of my bikes up and make me slowly go mad since 1999

[MillaMeter]

Right, here we go again...

Here we have the cylinder head in a baking try ready for decreasing.

https://imageshack.us/a/img24/664/201301310529.jpg
With the cylinder head cleaned after it's little bath, this is what was left in the tray after cleanup.

https://imageshack.us/a/img21/8639/201301310530.jpg
The small black patches is the bottom of the tray. Everything else is aluminium dust

So with this I thought I'd take a closer look at the barrels and the cylinder head and I seemed to have found where all this aluminium dust has come from.

https://imageshack.us/a/img822/6533/201301310536.jpg
It seems that beacuse the cam chain tensioner wasn't reset correctly, the chain had been slapping side to side in the cam chain channel causing this damage. The damage is not extreme so all parts are still usable.

https://imageshack.us/a/img5/2926/201301310537.jpg
https://imageshack.us/a/img844/5413/201301310538.jpg
https://imageshack.us/a/img838/4923/201301310539.jpg
https://imageshack.us/a/img90/262/201301310541.jpg
https://imageshack.us/a/img51/1702/201301310542.jpg
With the cylinder head cleaned I decided to replace the valve seals with new 1s.

https://imageshack.us/a/img542/9540/201301310543.jpg
Valves got a good lapping!

https://imageshack.us/a/img805/6929/201301310544.jpg
All valves lapped and installed

https://imageshack.us/a/img213/9655/201301310545q1.jpg
https://imageshack.us/a/img837/971/201301310546q1.jpg
New camshaft was ordered and arrived the other day. It's in very good condition and is very usable. Not bad for £12

https://imageshack.us/a/img823/2792/201301310547.jpg
Barrels fitted.

https://imageshack.us/a/img585/7670/201302010553.jpg
Engine set to TDC

https://imageshack.us/a/img21/3042/201302020557.jpg
Cam fitted and timed. Remember that the punch lines must be inline with the cylinder head surface and the slot on the end faces down.

Before fitting the cam, put a small amount of oil in the cam grooves and on the cam

https://imageshack.us/a/img228/2994/201302020560.jpg

https://imageshack.us/a/img17/9852/201302020561.jpg
Cam lubrication bucket also filled with oil.

https://imageshack.us/a/img195/3808/201302020564.jpg
https://imageshack.us/a/img28/3092/201302020565.jpg
https://imageshack.us/a/img213/4682/201302020563.jpg
https://imageshack.us/a/img801/5164/201302020556.jpg
https://imageshack.us/a/img338/8169/201302020555.jpg

Thats it for now, next will be some more cleaning and replacing gaskets.

Hope you likey

[stevo as b4]

Nice work on that head so far!
I take it that the pistons and rings were all ok, and so was the existing cam chain?

The other thing is with your nice clear pics, im beginning to see what stinkwheel means about some of the Crap design features of these engines. I Know other Jap engines are very similar in their top end designs and how the camshaft is run in plain bearings in the head etc.

But surely FFS at the design stage in the factory they could have so easily incorportated a large ball bearing into the casting at either end of the cam shaft, and just used the centre plain bearings and end float control thrust section. Also why couldn't they have used a replaceable shell in the centre section bearing, unless you can't accurately combine ball bearing and plain bearings to the tolerances required on the same shaft? I don't see why when everything is new that that would be the case though?

Even replaceable shells on all of the bearing housings would have been as massive improvement over how they let it leave the drawing board. And at least then if oil supply ever does fail to the head then the worst case scenario is a new cam, shells and followers, and the more expensive head casting would be spared and re-usable every time.

[MillaMeter]

[Xenocide]

I might have missed this but are you not doing bottom end bearings with all that ally floating about?
____________________
KTM LC4 400 | Honda VTR1000

[Ed Case]

Great project and good work. Isn't it amazing how some-one can take such pains to keep a bike's looks yet rides and ignores the engines basic needs...what a turd !.

[Ed Case]

Great project and good work. Isn't it amazing how some-one can take such pains to keep a bike's looks yet rides and ignores the engines basic needs...what a turd !.

[MillaMeter]

Haven't updated in a while as I was waiting for a cam shaft bung to arrive from Holland Kawasaki.

In the mean time I took the cam chain guide out and didn't look good. Luckily I had a spare in the other engine which was usable.

Comparison:
https://imageshack.us/a/img715/6119/201302030568.jpg
https://imageshack.us/a/img33/5492/201302030569.jpg
Top is the bolloxed 1, note how much rubber has been eaten from the chain and how it's managed to deform it.

Anyway, the bung arrived and fitted, head was torqued up and tappets adjusted. Carbs balanced, fresh oil, oil filter all the usual bollox.

And I gotta say I'm very happy with the results.

See for yourself!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ8uWegCHUk

[blurredman]

That's an extremely nice looking, and sounding bike!!

I bet you're pleased. You should have given it a bit of a rev on the video though, as nice as it sounded idling.
____________________
CBT: 12/06/10, Theory: 22/09/10, Module 1: 09/11/10, Module 2: 19/01/11
Past: 1991 Honda CG125BR-J, 1992 (1980) Honda XL125S, 1996 Kawasaki GPZ500S, 1979 MZ TS150.
Current: 1973 MZ ES250/2 - 18k, 1979 Suzuki TS185ER - 10k, 1981 Honda CX500B - 91k, 1987 MZ ETZ250 (295cc) - 40k, 1989 MZ ETZ251 - 50k.

[mintex]

Nice one bud, sounds nice and runs well

[GrumpyGuts]

Very good effort - looks fantastic! As mentioned you should have revved the nuts off it!
____________________
My Bikes: Lifan Beat 125cc '11 -> Suzuki B120P '76 -> Suzuki EN 125-2A '08 -> Honda CG 125 '04 -> Honda CB600F Hornet '98 -> Kawasaki ZZR 600 '99 -> Kawasaki GPZ 500S '95 (Current)
Theory test passed - 09/02/2012 >>>> Module 1 passed 24/07/2012 >>>> Module 2 passed 24/10/2012