1982 440 ltd

[troutfish]

i recently purchesed a 1982 440 ltd belt drive it sat in storage since 1997 they said it ran when put in storage but when i got it home charged the battery and tried to turn it over the starter engages but wont turn the motor over i took the side covers off and everything looks really clean and brand new shiney metal and i can't get it to turn over by hand either it's siezed anyone have any ideas i've been told it could be all kinds of different stuff i'd really appreciate any info if anyone has any more questions i'll do my best to answer then i don't know much about bikes i'm just starting to get into them and this is my 1st project

[seruzawa]

Pistons are most likely seized to the cylinders. You can't leave an engine in storage that long without periodically squirting oil in the cylinders and rotating the engine. You have dissimilar metals (aluminum and steel) in contact which creates electrolysis which bonds the two metals together like welding.

You need to squirt a bunch of penetrating oil in there. Let it soak overnight and squirt in some more. Then try turning the engine by means of the crankshaft nut that holds the rotor on. Don't use the starter motor because you will just burn it up.

If it won't turn then the head has to be removed and the pistons then banged a bit with a hammer to get them broken loose. If they won't break loose then you can try some heat, but clean the oil off first. Get it hot with some mapp gas and bang on it again. If it still won't come loose then you will have to break the pistons into pieces. I have seen that done before on an engine that wasn't used for 15 years.

If the pistons come loose fairly easily then you may get away with just checking the compression. If not you need to inspect the pistons, rings and cylinders directly. A light hone may be required on the cylinders. Or if the cylinders are really bad then a bore job and new pistons and rings as well.

Hope you got the bike really cheap. A set of pistons, rings, pins and clips are around $300 for the bike.

[troutfish]

well i got it cheap i traded a front and rear bumper cover from one of my old race cars i haven't had for 2 years so as far as i'm concerned it might as well been cheap i sprayed a ton of penetrating oil in the cylinders so hopfully it works if not looks like i'm rebuilding my 1st bike motor i got it for a project and thats what it's definatly looking like it's gonna be. are these bikes hard to work on? i'm finding alot of parts pretty cheap for them and alot of good feedback about the 440 ltd besides it's not alot of cc's but a good learner bike is there anything i should know about it or expect before i start ripping into it if i need too

[seruzawa]

Originally Posted by troutfish

well i got it cheap i traded a front and rear bumper cover from one of my old race cars i haven't had for 2 years so as far as i'm concerned it might as well been cheap i sprayed a ton of penetrating oil in the cylinders so hopfully it works if not looks like i'm rebuilding my 1st bike motor i got it for a project and thats what it's definatly looking like it's gonna be. are these bikes hard to work on? i'm finding alot of parts pretty cheap for them and alot of good feedback about the 440 ltd besides it's not alot of cc's but a good learner bike is there anything i should know about it or expect before i start ripping into it if i need too

A bike engine is easier than a car engine because it weighs less. You'll need a manual though. One nice thing about Kawasakis is that you can pull the heads on most of them without removing the engine from the frame. Shouldn't be a problem if you have done cars. You may or may not need special tools. If you can find a Clymer manual they usually are pretty good.