kz200 snagged from barn-need parts and guidance

Just in case you did not know, here is a pretty great place to get oem parts, at least the still available ones.
www.partzilla.com/catalog/kawasaki/motorcycle/1978/kz200-a1

CMS is a European supplier that sometimes has parts nla in the U.S. This link is to the Canadian model, as I did not see one for the U.S. model.
www.cmsnl.com/kawasaki-kz200a1-1978-cana...tslist/#.XoNVt148KK0

yup Ive got some parts from there.

head gasket, I wanted OEM, I got from ebay. other parts, Z1 enterprises.

hoping to have a 100% operational bike after next weekend.

A new battery and going around and unplugging/cleaning all the electrical connections will save you a ton of problems later on. The electrical system isnt very complicated.

agreed... where we are at today. whats coming: pod and crankcase filters, head gasket/orings, tank grommets.

my son has been fastidiously scrubbing/polishing the chrome with steel wool pads, hes getting excited. Its sort of futile... but itll look much better at least.

still to source:
lower bars
bar end mirrors.
stretch vinyl... well rewrap the seat cover.
tank..maybe. havent decided if we want to grind the rust down and paint.... Anyone have one or know which universal ones fit?

not going for original or show...just. cleaned up and operational. a 42 yr old cared for bike, not a 42 yrs old barn sitter.

Peelz wrote: stretch vinyl... well rewrap the seat cover.
tank..maybe. havent decided if we want to grind the rust down and paint.... Anyone have one or know which universal ones fit?

You can get rolls of marine grade vinyl seat cover material on Amazon. On ebay you can get a fitted (KZ200-specific) seat cover shipped from the UK for about $46. You can also buy universal motorcycle seat covers on ebay for about $16 each. You have options.

I was futzing around with parts several years ago and discovered that the tank from a 1981 GPz/KZ550 fit really well on a KZ400. If you can find a nice tank for a KZ305 or 400 I think it has a pretty good chance of working on your 200.

turn signals are alive. it was a ground connection in the headlight box spaghetti. also, 3 of the 4 bulbs were bad. which, once I got light, made me think I needed a flasher.

nope.

it all works.

good project for the shutdown. no sports/school...

got her all painted... new bars, etc. looks nice. even re wrapped the seat-something well never do again. ill pay someone... ha!

The engine... Oh boy.... should have been simple. we But I did something to it lol

took the head off, cleaned it in solvent bath at work, checked and cleaned valves, no leaks. replaced with new gasket(s) was running previously just blue smoke, and visual oil leak out the left side between head and jug.

just cant get the damned thing to start. Wife was right... "should have just left it" hahahah

I noticed blowback through the carb trying to start... so has to be valve, or timing... checked the latter. its in line on top and bottom....per the manual.


i let the boy do most of the work... My mistake i didnt check him, he couldnt turn the crank, he had let it spin when puttin on the camchain...so valves must have contacted- could he have bent or damaged the intake valve messing around with it? feels like it has good compression.... finger test lol

Noticed in the manual one photo says to mount advancer onto cam with pin to right(rear) which it is.... another photo shows it left with no reference to it.... does he have it upside down?! lol is it that simple??

DO i just have a really tight valve? I checked that too though....

Can anyone help an old man down on his luck? im pretty frustrated....bummed out. thought id have her done over the weekend.....and my free time is waning. ill tear it apart soon just thinking out loud here.

Was the advancer taken apart at any point? You have a 50-50 chance of getting it right randomly.

But look in the spark plug hole and get the pistons to the top. Then the rotor point should be pointing toward the pickup. If its pointing away, you will have to flip it.

But before trying to run, you should comb through the manual and confirm the valve timing every way you can.

the advancer was indeed taken off. is only able to go on one way. could it be too tight? or again, the cam is180 out...?
thats the only incorrect timing possibility... seems illogical, and unlikely being that i used the manual. also, its on the "T" on the crank, and perfect at top of sprocket.

spitting air/fuel back through the carb..really means leak through intake... just gotta figure out why. I am leaning towards he bent the intake valve trying to rotate the engine, when it was not timed correctly.

as far as rotor.... its points ignition. I replaced it in the same orientation i put it on. spark is excellent, visually.

Sorry, I was thinking electronic because of another thread... so "points cam" instead of "rotor".

Can the points cam be installed onto the advancer in two ways? On the other Kz's it can, and the ignition is then 180 degrees out.

I think the points on the 200 are mounted onto the camshaft, rather than the crank (which is how other Kz's are). So being 180 out on the cam is like being 360 out on the crank. So the spark will happen on the exhaust stroke instead of the compression stroke. It will happen late in the exhaust stroke, possibly when the intake is opening which could explain the carb blowback.

hmmm

I really dont think theres a way to put the points(point) on backwards. YOu have to place everything in pins... if the points were in 180 the wire would be a struggle to feed out of that cavity. I put it in how it came out.... plus im assuming it fires on top of both up strokes... just wastes one so its a moot point...

only if the cam was 180... but again, I followed the manual, cam turned with pin for the advancer to the right. I can turn the advancer with light effort. but its not "Free"


Im lost...unless I have a destroyed valve. Hope i have time to look at it soon...

I have looked back at the manual for the 200.

According to the one I have, it shows the ignition is run from the camshaft. That means it only fires once every other rotation of the crank. If the cam-lobe for the points is installed backward, the ignition will fire at the end of the exhaust stroke instead of at the end of the compression stroke.

Here are the instructions for which way to install the points cam onto the advancer unit. They have to tell you specifically because it can on in two different ways. You line up a mark with a notch as shown. If you haven't removed the cam from the advancer then it shouldn't be a problem. But it's unclear if you have taken this apart or not.

It looks like the points themselves should be at the top when the timing plate is installed (in case that can go on multiple ways).

It starts on page 44 of the 1978 Kz200 service manual. It explains how to remove the advancer and how to remove the cam lobe from the advancer.