Kawasaki ZX12R smoke.

A vid of a bike I'm considering - any views on the couple of smoke puffs towards the end?


Bike has done 22K

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKMjEwhXU94

I don't think you can judge this bike by such a short video and a puff of what ever. I've owned and ridden a ZXR12, an incredible bike with a motor that's legendary , they can go wrong but have to be really abused and normally it's tyres, brake discs and pads, chains, clutches and other consumables that are the problem not the motor. Let us know what you decide re this bike! and good luck

The bike may not have been run for some time, the carbs / injectors maybe out of balance and lastly the tickover is high, so the fuel injection maybe richening the mixture.

Big K fours have a good reputation for longevity. However in the principle of there will always be another bike, if you are not happy , just walk away.

I went to see the bike today, taking someone who has one.

According to the owner it's not been run since 2016 - he just starts it every now and again to keep the fuel flowing.

My pal observed that the oil sight glass was full whereas it's meant to show 1/2 full - he has a view it's either too rich, too much oil, or the valve stem seals have gone hard due to it not being run.

Unfortunately, it smokes quite a lot on each decent rev, even when allowed to warm up.

I really wanted it to be a good'un as it's in lovely overall condition.

Another downside - I'd be the 9th owner, which just doesn't feel right, but that might just be me.

One other thing - the guy fitted the wavy discs when he bought it as the ones on it were warped - so that's at around 21K - does that sound likely?

it is 10 yrs old ? it has been a summer bike , ridden , not serviced , sold on by each owner , at the end of each year.

not serviced .....cos well i only did 1k miles on it ...it don't need it .

9 owners ......cos it has had 1 owner each year ?

i bet valves clearances need doing . altho' too much oil will not help.

smoke on the overrun , i would suspect rings , smoke on startup valves and guides.

i would have thought the motor is pretty bulletproof , but it's 10 years old , of summer thrashing and lack of oil changes.

what should it be up for at a dealers ?

Plenty of other bikes out there. I’d be slightly concerned about the amount of previous owners too. Why buy a bike you already know has a problem? I’d walk away, it could cost you a LOT of money to sort out.

theoneandonly said:

it is 10 yrs old ? it has been a summer bike , ridden , not serviced , sold on by each owner , at the end of each year.

not serviced .....cos well i only did 1k miles on it ...it don't need it .

9 owners ......cos it has had 1 owner each year ?

i bet valves clearances need doing . altho' too much oil will not help.

smoke on the overrun , i would suspect rings , smoke on startup valves and guides.

i would have thought the motor is pretty bulletproof , but it's 10 years old , of summer thrashing and lack of oil changes.

what should it be up for at a dealers ?

Click to expand...

It's a 2002, so nearly 20 years old.

I've told the seller I'm not going to proceed - even if it was just valve stem seals hardening up (the internet seems to indicate this) then the engine has to come out - not ideal just after purchase.

I'm also struggling with being owner no 9, for no reason other than it just doesn't feel right.