You could pay a dealership $120-200 to check or adjust your valve clearances, but riding this elegantly-designed machine is barely half the fun of owning it! A paid mechanic may clean everything as he goes, but he's certainly not going to put the love and Q-tips into it that you would.
Remove the Seat and Fuel Tank
Pulling the fuel tank off is like undressing your favorite lady (or guy) friend: daunting before and thrilling the first time; and it's nearly as simple! Just loosen two bolts and pull off four hoses (or five if you still have the charcoal canister hose). |
Because these two bolts thread directly into a non-removable portion in the frame, Kawasaki made the bolts of soft metal to protect those threads in the frame. Translated: they're easily stripped, so take your time. |
Shopping List:
~standard-issue W650 toolkit
~torque-wrench (30-$70)
~basic metric socket set (20-$50)
~metric feeler gauge (5-$12)
~Three-bond 1211 gasket sealer
(or the identical Kawabond stuff)
~3 clean rags
~many Q-tips
~KHI W650 Service Manual
Wish List:
(not necessary, but these things will certainly make the job more pleasant)
~Honda or Plexus Spray cleaner/polish
~a second metric feeler gauge made by a different manufacturer
~a .01 - .25mm micrometer
~that one day America will again be the Good Guy (Hey, it's a wish list.)
~needle-nose pliers
~Dick Cheney gets a virile and muscular cellmate
~a big-ol flathead screwdriver
~assembly lube (aka "ass-lube", which will hopefully land on Cheney's list someday too .)
~3 more clean rags
~a U.S. President with a 3-digit IQ
~many more q-tips
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Because the W650 has a diaphragm-operated petcock (heh heh--get your mind out of the gutter), you don't have to drain the tank beforehand or worry about spillage!
It's still a good idea to run your tank down to empty before removing it, both to make it easier to handle the tank, and on the off-chance your diaphragm-petcock is not working properly. Strangely a massive fuel dump becomes more likely if your landlord or an EPA-agent are standing in front of your garage
If the hoses are sticky coming off, use a light twisting motion to break them free of the nozzles. To make it easier the next time, use a Q-tip to dab a tiny amount of vaseline inside the hose, which will make for a better seal and keep your hoses supple longer.
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Left side:
The hoses slide off easily and smoothly for me because I smeared a little vaseline on the inside of the hoses with a Q-tip before reinstalling them last time.
The hoses all have small, wire hose-clips, but these are easily removed with the pliers in the toolkit or even your bare fingers. Now just grab the tank by the knee-pads (one of the few advantages of the '00 model) and pull the tank back toward the battery, and voila! ( Ahem...Scroll down, please.) |
Right side:
The little golden bolt is the plug of the line that used to lead to the
ugly charcoal canister. |
