A 3 month old battery loses its charge with 15 miles

Thank you.

The mounting bracket c-c on my bike for the R/R is 55mm.

The c-c of the mounting holes of the SH775 is 70mm according to this:

 

So I don’t think I can use it. The mounting bracket on the bike won’t accommodate 70mm 🙁.

 

So I reckon I’ll need to buy the original RR, which I can get unused from Corby Kawasaki in the UK. 

 

Sigh. It’s never cheap or easy repairing these lovely bikes!

Good news though. I removed the stator cover and trimmed back the output wires and they are ready for soldering to replacement yellow wires. 

getting there…

Cheers

You should use heat resistant sleeve inside the stator cover so the wiring doesn’t become brittle from the heat (Amazon)

Great suggestion, thank you. I’ll use heat shrink over the soldering then pop on the heat resistant sleeve. 

I’m prepping the mating surfaces of the stator cover for a replacement gasket. The current one is a mess.

 

The cover is done but the engine side is proving almost impossible to scrape successfully without compromising the metal, which I assume is aluminium.

the old gasket looks less like a paper one, more like a rubber one, and it’s welded onto the metal.

any suggestions please as to how to soften or dissolve the gasket to help me remove it?

Very many thanks.

I use one of these, on the thicker part of the gasket it works best if ,you move it sideways as you push forward (kind off like a diagonal) which cuts into the gasket. You can then go back over the scrape off the remains. Brake cleaner can sometimes soften whatever is holding it on

I use one of these 3M Roloc stiple disc's to remove old hardened gaskets. The yellow one is for aluminum, you still need to be gentle but they work well. It was $16 a few years ago, seems a bit steep but after it only takes a few minutes to do the job it's worth it.

Thanks. Is the steel blade not a risk to the metal underneath the gasket?

so far I’ve been using WD40 and a modified razor blade (one edge wrapped in masking tape - safety first 😊) but it is taking an age! 2 hours and I reckon I’ve made about 5% progress. 

any solvent solution appreciated! Would carb cleaner help more than WD40 perhaps? I have that.

Jimbo68 wrote:

Thanks. Is the steel blade not a risk to the metal underneath the gasket?

so far I’ve been using WD40 and a modified razor blade (one edge wrapped in masking tape - safety first 😊) but it is taking an age! 2 hours and I reckon I’ve made about 5% progress. 

any solvent solution appreciated! Would carb cleaner help more than WD40 perhaps? I have that.

The blade is similar to what you are using now just more controllable with a handle - If you keep the blade angle shallow you should be fine (I did the whole of my engine with one of these) I used brake cleaner to soften things a bit. For the last stubborn bits I steepen the angle and "pull" the blade towards me which reduces the risk of gouging. 

   Vintage bikes = tightly-compressed vintage gaskets that have been baked a few thousand times & aged to perfection. Said gaskets were impermeable by design, and none of the 'majikal' mystery potions sold as 'gasket removers'  have had much if any effect in our experience. 

   A small, 1" wood chisel of the kind used to cut a hinge pocket into a door can work well.  Even smaller ones used for fine carving are useful for tight quarters.  We keep one of each aside exclusively for gasket scraping.  They each offer two angles of attack, and the large handles are comfortable & offer good control.  The handles can be gently tapped with a small wood mallet to force the blade through really stubborn gasket material at an angle that won't damage the mating surface.

  Take your time, and you'll develop a 'feel' for holding the blade at the right angle so as not to dig into the mating surface.

  The tool steel edges last almost indefinitely without sharpening when used only on soft gaskets.  Buy quality to get good steel with a fine, robust factory edge.

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

My favorite tool is a small flat blade screw driver. Don,t try to clean the entire gasket off, just a 2" section. After that decide if its time for a break or if you want to do another 2 inches.

It took the patience of St Monica but I think I’ve finished!!

These were my eventual tools of choice, along with WD40:

 

Thanks for the advice to drag the blade backwards. That was most helpful.

i’d be really grateful if someone with a lot of experience doing this gasket removal to examine the surfaces of my mating faces in the pictures below and tell me if you think I have done enough?
 

 

Many thanks again.

Engine looks good, looks like there are still a couple of lumps on the cover - is this area wet or dry on your motor?