KAWASAKI GPX600
Andy Catton on servicing and stripping stickers!
Iwant my GPX mild rebuild/resto to have some pace and reflect the sort of timescales dads and grandads might have in between work and other life commitments and represent what can be done at home. Of course, I also have to add ‘what can be done at home by a very amateur person’ (me) and the pitfalls that they might expect as well as the joy in just getting involved and overcoming these problems and tackling new challenges! I have listed all jobs below carried out this month with positives, negatives and points of interest. So let’s see... First up, sticker removal as I wanted my GPX to look standard: I was dreading the stickers and pin striping removal, but four hours of peeling, gentle scraping, washing and polishing and the results were good. The stickers peeled off easier than expected, lifting off using fingers with minimal residue left behind. This residue was cleaned up with GT-85 and cloths. I washed the GPX before and after, and polished each panel with Autoglym Super Resin polish to finish the job. Four hours’ work, no dramas and the bike came up really well... I was very pleased! I had to get the bike insured, too – as it had a current MOT. After reading about Bennetts’ new classic bike policy in last month’s mag, I gave them a call and was well looked after. So, duly covered, I’ve since had some lovely local rides into the Lincolnshire Wolds! Right, time to get the belly-pan off to get on with a mini-service: I thought this would be a doddle as there were just four bolts and nuts. Time for a beer and off it came – however, these horrible aftermarket gold anodised soft nuts were way past their sell-by date and in urgent need of
replacing. Luckily, only one stuck and I had to grind a slot into it with a Dremel, carefully so as not to melt the plastic belly-pan, and then use a big tough slotted screwdriver. It worked, but the bolt partially snapped off inside the nut in the process. Oh well, new nut required… Several new stainless bolts were ordered from an ebay business called Biker Bling. They sent a little kit nicely packaged with bolts, nylon washers and some anti-seize compound. A uniform size, where possible, will be used throughout the rebuild on the bodywork. The belly-pan will go back on with these new bolts fitted. For the oil change I needed a 17mm spanner for bolt removal and a torque wrench set to 20 NM equipped with a 17mm socket for putting the cartridge oil filter and ideally the sump plug back on. I used semi-synthetic Rock Oil 10/40W, a Hi-flo cartridge type oil filter, supplied as a kit with two new O-ring oil seals, rather than a spin-on filter – a first for me – and a new magnetic sump plug and washer. The Motad exhaust downpipes obscure the sump plug so I had to get those off. When I tightened the sump plug I figured I’d leave the belly-pan off for a week to check (easily) for any leaks. This also let me get the engine area cleaner at the same time, or at least this is my excuse for being lazy and removing the exhaust but not replacing the belly-pan ASAP! Problems: firstly, remember to read the workshop or Haynes manual procedure on a newly purchased motorcycle or when dealing with an unfamiliar component. I popped the big seal supplied with the new Hi-flo into the cartridge holder on but did not see the little seal in the kit and nor did I notice a seal upon break-down and so did not fit the new seal which sits internally on the shaft of the cartridge housing. So, I had to repeat the process: lesson learnt. The old oil was not bad looking or filled with anything metallic, which coincided with the sweet-sounding engine. After the oil change the GPX sounds even smoother. Time for the tank to come off to get
to the spark plugs and replace the standard air-filter with a K&N: despite the bad bolts as per the rest of the fairing they still worked and the panels came off easily – I’ll keep them safe until replacements arrive. The fuel tank was also a doddle. This bike’s like a giant Tonka toy where the original Kawasaki bolts are still intact; easy if you are methodical, which makes it a pleasure to work on. Before starting fuel tap removal I disconnected the battery negative terminal and taped up to isolate and make the bike as safe as possible. Here’s where I saw a few small issues. The smaller fuel line under the seat was loose and definitely needed a better clip and the line to the second fuel tap was starting to fray and needed replacing for safety. There was minor corrosion on the engine cylinder head but it was minimal and an initial clean made a vast improvement. Another issue: there was no airbox and I will have to find one or consider cones rather than the dodgy old tights that are in place, although they do seem to let the engine breathe and go nicely: but how strange? So, at the moment no air-filter change yet and some pondering to be done. Okay, so the weird ‘air-filters’ aside, the original fuel tap still works. After talking with Chris at Grumpy 1260, I discovered the inline fuel tap fitted below the original was done by the previous owner as a two-stage system because the tap on the tank had failed in the past and flooded the engine. There was no tool kit with the bike (hey, Andy – breakers always nick them – Bertie!) but my GPZ500S Kawasaki spark plug wrench fits and allows you to pull the spark plugs out with the wrench once the spark plugs are unscrewed. A shorter item would work better because of the restricted access – there look to be a few sets with a multi-sized spark plug tool as part of a general motorcycle tool kit and with handy tool and sandwich boxes, so I’m going to invest in one. I used a spanner to loosen the inner two spark plugs and a socket for the outer two, which were much easier. All the spark plugs looked like they needed replacing. The inner cylinders 2 and 3 are restrictive and hard to reach because of the water hose routing over the top of the engine, electrical junction box and of course the frame itself. Before replacement, I checked the gap on each of the new plugs and I sprayed Holts Easy Start on the plug caps and at the sparking end of the spark plugs. Note the nicely labelled spark plug leads, done by a previous owner. Be careful upon removal and installation with crud falling into the engine around the spark plugs threads which are cast quite deep. I cleaned where possible first before removing the plugs. As an aside I sprayed ACF-50 or similar on any rusty bolts and spread a thin layer with a microfibre cloth on everything metallic after cleaning. I’m sure I’ll do more when I go back in to fit a new fuel line, but it’s been a pleasing start. The end result is that the bike starts easier and runs quieter and feels better than before (despite the tights) which is a big result. Also, with the stickers removed and a good clean and polish of the paintwork she is starting to look transformed. Next up it’s time to sort some replacement tyres, chain and sprockets, fresh coolant and see about stripping and rebuilding the brake calipers. cmm
Thanks to:
Wemoto for all of the goodies used in the service including the oil, oil-filter (and two seals, ahem) and the (as yet) unused air-filter! Pro Green MX: Superb motorcycle cleaner, try it: www.pro-greenmx.co.uk Biker Bling via ebay