Last Tuesday I rolled my Ninja 600 outta the garage hearing this nasty clicking sound from the engine. Felt like tiny hammers beating inside. Panicked for a hot minute thinking my baby’s heart was dying. Called up my usual mechanic who dropped a bombshell – he said it’d cost me $1800 for a full teardown. Almost choked on my coffee right there.
See here’s the thing: my budget was tighter than a lug nut after Thanksgiving dinner. Wifey’s hospital bills just hit our mailbox. So I grabbed my toolbox and did what any desperate man would do – YouTube university at midnight with cold pizza. Found this dude whispering about Kawasaki secrets while dismantling an identical engine.
The Shocking Discovery
Sweating buckets in the garage Saturday morning, I yanked off the tank cover. Saw the spark plugs looking crustier than burnt toast. Swapped those out first thing. Then I spotted it – the real trouble hiding under the valve cover. Bucket shims were sitting crooked like drunken sailors, two were flat-out missing. Turns out Ninjas get shim-shy around 15k miles. Never saw that mentioned in the manual!
- Measured valve gaps with feeler gauges (three were wider than LA freeways)
- Fished out dead shims using magnet-tipped pick tools
- Replaced with thicker ones from an $18 kit off Amazon
- Torqued every bolt clockwise singing “Born to be Wild” off-key
The Secret Sauce
Here’s what mechanics never tell you: Ninjas need extra lube love on cam lobes during reassembly. I slathered on this high-zinc oil like it’s sunscreen at Miami Beach. Slid everything back smoother than butter. Fired her up holding my breath – purred like a damn kitten. Total cost? $37 and six hours of knuckle grease. That clicking demon? Gone forever.
Still remember the neighbor’s face when I revved that fixed engine. Priceless. Next weekend I’m buying pizza with all that saved cash while wifey rolls her eyes. Moral of the story? Sometimes that scary engine noise just wants a little hug. And thicker shims.