2004 zx10r Project Part 2. Letting the good times roll. Valve Clearance Check and spark plug change

With the ZX10r on the bench and partly stripped it's time to delve inside the engine to check the valve clearances and change the spark plugs. Will the zx10r start to fight back or will it be as reliable as a Japanese, ermmm, bike??

[@geostel]

It's one of the best sport bikes ever made! It's THE legend, like an F40

[@mattc8797]

Cheers Dave, you've made my sunday alot better. It's always great to see you in the workshop. You have a natural talent for tutorials, thank you. Looking forward to seeing the big 10 on track/test ride. 🤙🏼✊🏼💨💨

[@carlmayer691]

He surely does have a talent for doing these tutorials, nobody does it better.

[@Suck_Squeeze_Bang_Blow]

Always watching and saving these. Great Vlogger is DH. Just enough detail.

[@TheOriginalCoda]

Wavy, your videos always end up disappointing me - when they end I always want MORE! 😁

[@obsession_engineering]

Thanks for the positive vibes, I just need more hours in each day to add more details :)

[@carlmayer691]

GREAT video tutorials Dave !!!! You know decades ago Kawasaki would employ women to hand port their heads. Not sure which US magazine it was, IIRC it was Cycle magazine. They did a manufacturers review, test of the 4 brands, when they took a peek at the Kawasaki, they found that they "cheated' by porting the heads. Then they found that Kawasaki employs women to hand port their cylinder heads. Big deal back then as no other manufacturer did this. I guess at some latter point they turned to machine porting. Anyway Useless FYI . Really enjoy your videos Dave !!!

[@obsession_engineering]

That's great info, I do like a good story about the factories. I wonder if all the bikes were ported or just the press bikes???

[@stevesanelli90]

Very thorough description Dave! So important to state what pain to be expected doing a service whether on your own or from the dealership. Loving the Motul plugging since you’re the rep!😉✅ Which Motul radiator fluid will you be filling up with?😎

[@troywee4774]

excellent! enjoying this mate. thanks.

[@mattjones3795]

I think your growing fond of the crash bungs. You will have them in Union Jack colors next 😁

[@obsession_engineering]

😂

[@evanson1963]

hi I've got the same model had it for twelve years now and couldn't get anybody to do this check for me so I've attempted it myself and found one of the retaining washers on top of a valve had cracked and was about to drop a valve ,it's done 23,000 miles ! Apparently this is a well known fault on 2004 to 2006 models I had to swap all of them for stronger ones off a 2008 to 2012 models £160 ! Managed to do it with out taking the engine out or the head off ! There's a video on you tube on how to do it ! YOU NEED TO CHECK THESE IF YOU HAVE THESE EARLIER MODELS !SOME HAVE CRACKED AFTER JUST 14,000 MILES !

[@obsession_engineering]

That is definitely worth knowing! I'll have to get into mine and check

[@MrPADDYOT]

Bit of a faff to change the plugs on them! Looking forward to the next vid already.

[@stekwack]

I hope your going to do a road test on this zx10r when your finished Dave, had a look on ebay and there is actually 2 of my old zx10r's currently for sale my last one is up for £2000 more than I got trading it in for the gsxr 😪. I still think these are one of the most beautiful Japanese bikes made just a very purposeful and aggressive design, only thing I never liked was the wide and flat tail unit and the swing arm looks cheap and a afterthough on the chain run side.

[@obsession_engineering]

They're definitely going up in price, but almost everything is! The seat is very mid 2000's, the rest still looks good today!

[@paulf2898]

mines got a terrible leak from the cam cover,looks a hard job to put a new gasket on

[@obsession_engineering]

They are a fiddle. Airbox out and top engine mounts off. Easier with the radiator out too. May as well do valve clearances and plugs while you're there

[@0x7FFFFFFFFFFF]

Dave I'm losing my mind trying to remove that big brown connector at the bottom right of the throttle body, any tips? There are ridges on the side and a ridge on the top, I don't have enough hands to grip those while pushing in the tab. Electrical connectors feel like magic voodoo trinkets to me..

[@obsession_engineering]

Only 1 tab holds it all together. But over time the connectors stick. The biggest tab will need pushing while you wiggle the halves... It can be awkward but will come apart...

[@nickrider5220]

Suzuki's tend to be nicer to work on, better access to do your servicing. The zx12r makes the 10r look easy though 🤨🤬!!

[@esealakran888]

I've had a 2000 Ninja ZX10R & I currently own a 2005 Ninja ZX10R, I'd say the ZX12R has its own gripes for maintenance, as you nearly have to disassemble the bike just to get to the battery...lol

[@leegoodman5460]

How much would that cost for such a service. Mines a 2005 and doest idle right .and throwing up the fi warning light

[@unclemel3607]

not many of these old girls left my 05 still pumps hard,do yourself a favour and find some nissin callipers of a zx6 the originals are not much good

[@obsession_engineering]

This already has the later 06 calipers which were much better than the 04 items, although you are right, the nissin's are even better

[@TeamLazers]

Nice video. How many miles on the bike??

[@obsession_engineering]

8500

[@karlvanboxel561]

It seems like kawa positioned those frame rails very high rather than spread out quite diff than most I’m used to ( straight IS gd!) I remember reading the test on these bit of a Nutters bike lol in the same vein as a Srad 750 lol with a shed load more grunt u gotta minta there mate can I pick ya brains for a tick I have some ovality and taper in my main brg bores on my fz750 ( remember them lol) cases ( no shells ) have 3 sets cases all the same how to remedy ? Do I get them line bored and fit precision sleeves and have them laser welded in and bored/ honed to suit std yam shells? Second hand cases r likely to be the same so don’t c that as an option have u seen this sorta thing b4. Thanks for the great vids go easy on that mental quaka what’s the steering head angle ? About 3 degrees ? Lol 😂😂

[@obsession_engineering]

For jobs like your fz bottom end I'd contact a good machine shop (SEP at Kegworth for example), they'd probably bore them and then get inserts made. Sounds like a faff but may be the only option

[@MJT-DA]

6:57 thats what sh-