Splitting then cases

[Porter]

I have a 01' 200 and know I'm going to split the cases this winter.Who has split the cases on their own bench and how difficult was it?I've done my son's RM several times over the last 4 years,but something tells me this will be more difficult because of the type of bonding agent used to seal the factory build.Thanks.

 

[r6demon]

I did mine last night and after removing everything as the manual states it was stillo a pain in the butt. ended up CAREFULLY prising the cases apart but I would not recommend this to anyone unless you are VERY careful. Might be better to get a shop to split it for you?

 

[70 marlin]

I have done it many times! If you plan on riding two-strokes. Dig deep in to the pocket and pick up a case press. I've used mine many times on many different types of Japanese bikes. It’s a fairly simple jig. Basically a T bar puller with some long bolts cut down to 6mm. You press on the fly wheel side of the crank gently. Case spits fairly easy. You'll need an arbor press the push the half’s back together. Also you'll need a three jaw puller to remove the bearings from the crank. To replace the rod and main bearing I sent that part of the job out as my arbor is not up to the job. But it looks to be an easy procedure.

 

[r6demon]

another tip for rebuilding is to heat the CLEANED cases in the oven and put the crank in the freezer. allows the bits to slide together easier!

 

[lankytim]

I second r6demon's advice to "bake your cases" (until golden brown ;) ) while your crank and bearings are in the freezer. The bearings will literally drop in to the housings. Like I posted once before, make sure you buy genuine Kawasaki crank ball bearings if you are replacing them - I once had a match on aftermarket part numbers but the genuines have a bevelled inner race, and you won't be able to get the cases back together unless the bearings, cases and the crank all hug each other nice and snug. Maybe I am just a dumb cheapskate, but my local Kawasaki shop almost did the same thing with the non-genuine bearings...

 

[lankytim]

P.S. you might like to accidentally splash a bit of Motul 800 on the outside of your cases before you put them in the oven - your missus/mum/sister might complain, but the next dish you cook in the oven will have that authentic (synthetic?) two-stroke flavour that we all love.

 

[r6demon]

Love the Tip lankytim! Yum two stroke!

 

[70 marlin]

I my self am not a big fan of kawi's OEM bearing's. Koyo bearing's are the lowest quality bearing I have ever seen! I my self would much rather go to my friendly power transmission dealer and buy SKF or Fafnir bearing's for the crank main bearing's. All you need are the IBI numbers off the race. The main "big end” rod bearing you’re stuck with OEM roller bearing assemble. I my self have never tried the bake & freeze method but have heard that many that have with good success.