ER5 Engine Swap / Build

[fastbob]

Ok, I've taken delivery of my £50 " Bargain " ER5 engine . I haven't decided exactly what I'm going to do with it yet . It mostly depends on if I can determine whether the gearbox works or not . ER5s have a peculiarity that means they will not change from first to second unless they are in drive mode and moving . The seller apparently didn't know this and sold it dirt cheap in the belief that it was knackered. My assistant Bob has examined the engine and has given his approval to proceed . Either that or some other moggy has pissed on it .

[Mr Fro]

Don't think it's just the ER5, I've not had a Kwak that'll go straight to second.

Shame it's short as you could have made a go-kart or something.

[Ricky]

Made my kwak ninja 250 a bitch to bump start

[fastbob]

Don't think it's just the ER5, I've not had a Kwak that'll go straight to second.

Shame it's short as you could have made a go-kart or something.

 

I seem to recall that my old Z1000 ST would go into second because many's the time I had to scoot it down the drive to start it .

[Mr Fro]

Made my kwak ninja 250 a bitch to bump start

 

You try doing it with a 636: run, puff, run, puff, jump on, dump clutch, skiiiiid... Shit.

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

Nah - Bob's just thinking how much cat food you could have bought for the price of a chunk of metal.

If you're doing a take it bits, put it back together, hide the bits left over thread - then lots of piccies please. I love engine builds.

[fastbob]

Nah - Bob's just thinking how much cat food you could have bought for the price of a chunk of metal.

If you're doing a take it bits, put it back together, hide the bits left over thread - then lots of piccies please. I love engine builds.

 

63 tins worth to be precise.

[Guest]

Cat order of priorities: Me, Me, Me, Me, stick person who supplies food......

[Hoggs]

Made my kwak ninja 250 a bitch to bump start

Don't think it's just the ER5, I've not had a Kwak that'll go straight to second.

Shame it's short as you could have made a go-kart or something.

 

Both of these My ninja won't go into 2nd when stationary either

[fastbob]

We'll I've spun the clutch by hand while trying to shift gears but it isn't looking good . Next job will be to scrape off 19 years worth of chain lube so I can get into the shift mechanism. Never mind its just a bit of fun , I've got all winter to build an engine out of the best ( least worse ) of the two . The one I've bought has a good primary chain in it which is worth way more than £ 50 alone .

[JRH]

My GPX would only go into second gear when the rear wheel was moving, so rather than turning the clutch have you tried turning the drive cog.

[fastbob]

My GPX would only go into second gear when the rear wheel was moving, so rather than turning the clutch have you tried turning the drive cog.

 

I see what you mean. I have all the plates out and I'm spinning the inner hub which is slowly rotating the rear sprocket in first . So far I haven't been able to get any other gears but this is by no means conclusive.

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

What does Bob think? After all, he's clearly the key played in this process.

[fastbob]

What does Bob think? After all, he's clearly the key played in this process.

 

Bob's lost interest , I borrowed a Haynes manual from the library and every time I try to read it he comes and sits on it .

[fastbob]

A quick update, despite the crusty exterior everything internal is absolutely mint so far . I've had the sump off and there were no metal particles at all and surprisingly little sludge . From here I can see most of the gearbox and again it looks mint , no chipped teeth or worn dogs . The external shifter mechanism is in good order so I am beginning to suspect that the fault lies in the grooves in the selector drum . I seem to be able to get neutral and SECOND rather than neutral and FIRST as I initially thought. So next job is going to be to split the cases and do some inspecting and measuring . The good news is that there are loads of selector drums and whole gearboxes on eBay for very little money.

[Mickly]

The good news is that there are loads of selector drums and whole gearboxes on eBay for very little money.

Don’t you wonder why that is ??

Not coz it’s a common problem and they’re all bolloxed is it .....

[fastbob]

The good news is that there are loads of selector drums and whole gearboxes on eBay for very little money.

Don’t you wonder why that is ??

Not coz it’s a common problem and they’re all bolloxed is it .....

No I don't think so , if they are described as in good working order then I am fully protected by eBay,s returns policy anyway. Might not come to that, it could just be a bent selector fork . And failing that I've still got a good gearbox in my other engine . If I can sort this issue out I've got all winter to carry on working on this spare engine. I fancy a rebore and new pistons and maybe new valve springs . Meanwhile the bike is still rideable , its just got a lot of vibration due to the very slack primary chain . Why did Kawasaki favour primary chains anyway ? Everything is close enough together to be gear driven so it doesn't make a lot of sense to me . ( you not off to this rally then ? )

[Mickly]

The good news is that there are loads of selector drums and whole gearboxes on eBay for very little money.

Don’t you wonder why that is ??

Not coz it’s a common problem and they’re all bolloxed is it .....

No I don't think so , if they are described as in good working order then I am fully protected by eBay,s returns policy anyway. Might not come to that, it could just be a bent selector fork . And failing that I've still got a good gearbox in my other engine . If I can sort this issue out I've got all winter to carry on working on this spare engine. I fancy a rebore and new pistons and maybe new valve springs . Meanwhile the bike is still rideable , its just got a lot of vibration due to the very slack primary chain . Why did Kawasaki favour primary chains anyway ? Everything is close enough together to be gear driven so it doesn't make a lot of sense to me . ( you not off to this rally then ? )

 

Did consider going to the rally but step son is just out of hospital following a major op, Missus is a nervous wreck and I need to be on hand in case he needs her or needs a lift anywhere - was in A&E with him for 5 hours last Sunday as his catheter got blocked and started bleeding

[fastbob]

Don’t you wonder why that is ??

Not coz it’s a common problem and they’re all bolloxed is it .....

No I don't think so , if they are described as in good working order then I am fully protected by eBay,s returns policy anyway. Might not come to that, it could just be a bent selector fork . And failing that I've still got a good gearbox in my other engine . If I can sort this issue out I've got all winter to carry on working on this spare engine. I fancy a rebore and new pistons and maybe new valve springs . Meanwhile the bike is still rideable , its just got a lot of vibration due to the very slack primary chain . Why did Kawasaki favour primary chains anyway ? Everything is close enough together to be gear driven so it doesn't make a lot of sense to me . ( you not off to this rally then ? )

 

Did consider going to the rally but step son is just out of hospital following a major op, Missus is a nervous wreck and I need to be on hand in case he needs her or needs a lift anywhere - was in A&E with him for 5 hours last Sunday as his catheter got blocked and started bleeding

 

We'll I wish him a speedy recovery.

[fastbob]

Nah - Bob's just thinking how much cat food you could have bought for the price of a chunk of metal.

If you're doing a take it bits, put it back together, hide the bits left over thread - then lots of piccies please. I love engine builds.

 

I've put some pictures in my latest update .

[fastbob]

Ok so having spent most of Saturday attending the rally I've been making up for lost time today . I've done everything necessary before splitting the crankcase right down to the last few bolts . But before I took the plunge I decided to have another play around with the gearbox . Now that I have got the starter motor chain off and all the clutch plates out I can spin the gearbox more freely . And lo and behold it it now goes up and down through the f*****g gears ! Not only that I can actually see it happening ! So my original assumption that the seller had mistakenly determined that the gear box was knackered may yet prove to be correct after all ! Happy days I'm going to sit and look at it for a while but I'm fairly sure that I'm about to bolt it all up again , flip it over and concentrate on the top end instead .

[fastbob]

So everything is going good , I've got a working gear box after all , tight primary chain, and the cam chain is also good . Cam lobes aren't pitted and everything rotates quietly and smoothly. At this stage I can find nothing to suggest that this bike was scrapped due to engine issues. The final job will be the barrels and pistons . I will probably go for a light hone and new rings as a matter of course. I may also lap the valves and even replace the springs if necessary. I'm not going to start this until I have a gasket set so in the meantime I have been tidying up the exterior.

[fastbob]

I made my own alternator gasket this evening, took a while but I have to say I'm quite chuffed with myself . Now all I have to buy is a cylinder base gasket and a head gasket instead of a full set . If anyone wants to know how its done , let me know . I couldn't find a cornflakes packet so I had to use gasket paper instead.

[fastbob]

Just doing a bit more smartening up . Why the red filler cap ? Nostalgia, my first ever bike , a CB 175 , had one . It also had a red starter motor so I might paint that as well.

[fastbob]

Ok. I bit the bullet and pulled the head and barrels off . Not too bad , a bit of carbon , no scoring just a very shiny set of bores , no broken rings , no detectable play in the big ends and no internal rust . Happy days ! A light hone and new rings and away we go , a perfectly sound engine for £50 . EDIT : I must have not been looking too hard when I originally wrote this . There was a broken ring and there was also a stuck top ring . The second rings were hammered into a T section shape which suggests that these were of a low standard and not genuine Kawasaki parts. So perhaps this engine was a smoker and down on power. Anyway I've now got new genuine rings in freshly honed bores so I have every expectation that this engine will be a good runner.

Edited September 15, 2018 by fastbob