Paging Mark Olson!! Paging Mark Olson!!

Might '82 Kawasaki has a sight gauge on the right side to check the
oil level in the crankcase. The sight gauge has become a bit opaque
over the decades it's now difficult to view the oil level.

My question is: how difficult is it to change the sight gauge and
would it be worth the trouble?

I can see how the right side crankcase cover would have to be removed
and that could lead to sheared-off crankcase screws and all sorts of
trouble.

So tell me please, in your estimation, should I try to change it and
accept the risk of complications?

TIA

Biker Dude

 

<Beep> Mark Olson is off on an urgent appointment with some beer....

Removing the cover really isn't hard, as long as you've got an impact
driver (if it's held on with crosshead screws). I've never, ever *heard*
of anyone shearing off a screw on one. Mangling the head slots through
not using an impact drive - oh yes. Done it myself.

Nor have never heard of anyone needing to *replace* one of those little
oil level windows before, but they're only held in with a thick circular
O-ring, so it can't be hard. They should just push out. There's no oil
pressure behind them.

Remove cover, give window a good clean on the inside, replace cover.
Should do it.

Cheap and easy solution; clean the outside of the window as well as you
can, and when checking the oil level get up close and personal and use a
mini-Maglite.

 

If you don't have an impact driver, you can use the phillips
screwdriver that comes in the standard tool kit as a crude substitute.

Don't use the plastic handle. Just put the tip of the screwdriver in
the head of the screw and hit the end of it sharply several times with
whatever kind of hammer you have.

This will help loosen up the screws.

BTW, I wouldn't pay much attention to "The Older Gentleman".

Neil Murray not a motorcycle mechanic, he's a misanthropic itinerant
*journalist* who gets his kicks from screwing with people. He used to
work for a trade paper that dealt with trucking in the UK. But his
current area of "expertise" is dried fruits and nuts and fruit juice.

 

On a 28 year-old bike whose cover may not have been removed for a decade
or more, this is not good advice.

 

KrustyUS's probably does, because his mechanical knowledge doesn't even
extend to removing a spark plug.....

 

Oh STF you idiot...what you describe is the PERFECT way to munge up
perfectly good screws. That is assuming some moron like your
incompetant self hasn't already munged them up in the past.

sheesh for a self proclaimed expert at everything you sure are a
stupid ****.

 

Mine does and my other one did up until the mid 80's when the kit went
MIA...

 

You are assuming he actually owns a motorcycle.

 

Haven't tried it myself but a guy I knew would point a plumber's propane
torch toward such screws for a minute or so, then point an aerosol spray
at it, I seem to remember the aerosol was nitrogen, maybe that's wrong,
which would quickly cool the surrounding metal. I'm guessing this is
one way to "break corrosion loose", as you put it. I think he was doing
it on a brake caliper fixture which may not have been the same situation
as an aluminum engine case. Is this a good technique in general or is
it risky depending on the metal involved? (eg., aren't many carb bodies
made from a zinc compound, not aluminum?)

(The same guy would try to turn a Phillips screw only once. If that
didn't work first crack, he would immediately get out his impact driver,
and if that didn't work right away he'd then try some kind of thread
loosener chemical or apply heat. His other advice was to discard any
Phillips driver tip that had any gouges and always use the biggest size
that would fit the screw. Whenever I've used an impact driver, it
seemed the most fruitful technique involved a good solid whack, not a
bunch of little taps like I've seen people do, also a good heavy hammer,
at least 32 oz. seems to be easier to hitting hard without hitting one's
hand. This makes me wonder if anybody makes an impact driver with a
hand guard, the kind some big cold chisels come with.)

 

<Puzzled> It would be easier just to replace the screw, surely? I mean,
this presupposes that you've got the screw out in the first place, hence
the holding it in a vice, sorry, *vise*.

I've m,anaged to shift stuck screws by mashing the head and recutting a
slot, as you describe. Or by using a sharp cold chisel to cut an extra
slot in one side of the head, and then I've placed a screwdriver blade
in that and hit the end of the screwdriver with a hammer, to knock the
screw round.

 

My 400 Four does, actually. And that's now 32 years old...

 

Yes

 

Heat and cold are both really useful tools, yes. I tend to apply heat to
a lot of fasteners on old bikes before even attempting to undo them.
Also on things like 1970s bleed nipples on brake calipers. I've never
found it necessary on a clutch cover screw, though.

He sounds like a good wrench. I tend to do the same.

Yes, again, good.

And again yes. The spring inside the driver is a tough'un, and you need
a bloody good wallop.

Heh. I wish they did because I've hammered my own hand more than once.
I've never seen such a shield, and I'm sure there'd be a market for it
)

 

I still have the OEM Japanese tool kits from several motorcycles. I
always carry
quality tools with me when I ride though.

But the phillips screwdriver and the little t-handle that was also
included in the OEM tool kit works just fine for breaking tight
phillips screws loose, with the assistance of a few sharp blows with a
hammer.

I have owned exactly *one* impact driver. I sold it at a swap meet in
1969, and never bought another one, because they are *so* unnecessary.

 

Tell us about motorcycle riding on Corsica or Sardinia. Tell us about
trends in agricultural commodities.

Tell us *anything*, besides the same old boring shit about how stupid
"KrustyUS" is...

 

I'm pretty sure I've never ridden a bike in Sardinia, and the last time
I rode in Corsica was, IIRC, a quarter of a century ago.

I think you've been taking some rather odd meds.

 

Like changing brake fluid is....

 

Yeah, it sounds neat.

Ah. I forgot - you've never seen the interior of my garage. One day, I
must post a picture.

Actually, it was done a couple of years ago, when Classic Bike asked all
its contributors to do something for an 'our garages' feature. I'm
trying to think where the picture is now. Must be on one of the other
Macs.

I set up the camera on a tripod with the widest ens I've got,
illuminated the back of the garage with a lamp, used a time exposure and
popped off the flash to illuminate some other bits... it worked a treat.

Mind you, it's got more cluttered since then. I keep *all* fasteners
that aren't mullered, in lot of tins and glass jars. I'm never lost for
a bolt, nut, screw of anything similar.

That's a nice way of putting it. And, er, correct, as well.

 

Why? Everybody who's anybody has been to those shite holes. Lousy
food, crappy weather and too many fat stupid american tourists...like
you. BTW gael everybody know you are krusty US and that you are an
incompetant pervert who gives degenerates a bad name.

 

nice...though I find the Honda OEM spanners to be a little soft for my
taste. Pretty resistant to corrosion for that matter...the kit on my
GL1000 is spotless in spite of having spent it's entire existance on
the wet side of Washington.