I have Klean Strip Odorless Mineral Spirits, should I dip them and scrub all the oils off the camshafts, covers, buckets, engine cover? I didn't want to just go ahead and mess something up.

they should be thouroughly covered in clean oil before installing.

I clean everything with break clean. Or mineral spirits. But coat everything with oil as you assemble it. Or use assembly lube. Its a black grease available at auto parts stores

Thanks for answering all my questions on here. I don't have anyone else to ask for guidance lol

I see no problem using it for cleaning.
However, try drying any traces of it (with a lint-free rag) from the parts before you apply clean oil or grease during installation.

The idea is to provide some cushion between the metal parts during start up while the oil pump develops some pressure and the forced oil supply reaches all corners.

We love questions !!!

i've heard its standard kawi procedure for valve jobs is to apply moly grease on the bucket sides, but if you do that it gets all nasty and foggy for awhile on the sight glass window. so i just make sure its nice and oiled up. i have an old trigger oiler can that is really handy. as far as cleaning, if they are really that nasty, maybe figure out why the oil has degraded so badly before cleaning it up. if its just really old oil, i guess it doesn't matter but if its degrading because its mixing with gas or something... would be good to know about it, you know.

I used to use assembly lube. I like it. But old engine builders told me its better or just as good to use motor oil. And crank the engine or prime the oil system some how before starting. You could easily pump oil into the head at the oil line.

i've heard its standard kawi procedure for valve jobs is to apply moly grease on the bucket sides, but if you do that it gets all nasty and foggy for awhile on the sight glass window. so i just make sure its nice and oiled up. i have an old trigger oiler can that is really handy. as far as cleaning, if they are really that nasty, maybe figure out why the oil has degraded so badly before cleaning it up. if its just really old oil, i guess it doesn't matter but if its degrading because its mixing with gas or something... would be good to know about it, you know.

It is not dirty at all I just figured since my cams have been sitting out for a week they should be cleaned before hand. Also should I oil the engine cover rubber gasket? It has popped out of its position on the engine

alex.s Motofool Racer x Whelp, I didn't keep track of which camshaft is which.
Cam A.- It says IN on the paint mark and EX in two seperate spots on the sprocket
Cam B. - It says EX on the paint mark and IN in two seperate spots on the sprocket

both cams and sprockets are the same but they are offset for the intake vs exhaust. the mark indicates which cam it is. white mark on "IN" means its the intake cam. white mark on "EX" means its the exhaust cam. you then use those lines on that sprocket to line up with the top case of the head. the chain tries to move it and throw it off so if you stick your finger in where the chain tensioner goes you can push on the chain and see where the cams and chain would be when its assembled.

i think i said this wrong... the cams themselves are different but its the same sprockets for both

both cams and sprockets are the same but they are offset for the intake vs exhaust. the mark indicates which cam it is. white mark on "IN" means its the intake cam. white mark on "EX" means its the exhaust cam. you then use those lines on that sprocket to line up with the top case of the head. the chain tries to move it and throw it off so if you stick your finger in where the chain tensioner goes you can push on the chain and see where the cams and chain would be when its assembled.

i think i said this wrong... the cams themselves are different but its the same sprockets for both

It's the lobe placement that is different correct? And the ex and in are upside down when the marks come together. Is that right?

Yep! Here you go:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y5/cuongnutz/Ninja%20250/valve%20job/P1040477.jpg

I like to take a lot of pictures when I work on stuff.

The cams themselves are different (lift/duration) but the sprockets are the same as Alex.s mentioned.

To be sure. Measure each cam, just measure one lobe on each cam. The intake has 1mm more lift.

It's the lobe placement that is different correct? And the ex and in are upside down when the marks come together. Is that right?

The sprocket marked with paint on IN goes toward the rear tire and the line must coincide with the rear edge of the cast aluminum head.

The sprocket marked with paint on EX goes toward the front tire and the line must coincide with the frontal edge of the cast aluminum head.

Chain must be tight between sprockets.

Very important: The covers of the cam shafts (half-bearings) are not interchangeable.

There is also a picture in the service manual that shows the direction of the lobes at TDC. You can use this as well.

I always clean everything and reassemble with molybdenum lube.

Yep! Here you go:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y5/cuongnutz/Ninja%20250/valve%20job/P1040477.jpg

I like to take a lot of pictures when I work on stuff.

The cams themselves are different (lift/duration) but the sprockets are the same as Alex.s mentioned.

Would you happen to have a picture f the right coil? Idk if the red wire goes on bottom or the green wire?

IIRC the red wire goes on the bottom, but i'm pretty sure polarity doesn't make a difference

I think I may have crushed the spark plug gasket. Is there any way to check it without removing the coolant, coil, and engine support to remove the cover again?

I think I may have crushed the spark plug gasket. Is there any way to check it without removing the coolant, coil, and engine support to remove the cover again?

What makes you think it is damaged? Are you leaking oil into your spark plug hole and it's leaking out of the weep hole under the exhaust manifold?

You might but there is no going around removing the coolant tube if you kept the other stuff in place. Cannot confirm this since I have not tried but I think you may be able to lift the cover off enough to see so after you removed the coolant tube.

Well... only one was bent but that is just more down time for my bike

Well... only one was bent but that is just more down time for my bike

What was bent?

I think the spark plug cover gasket.

What was bent?

The spark plug cover gasket. The bike runs and everything is fine except for that little oil leak I had going on.

Oh you guys have to see my carb syncing rig I made. I couldn't find glass bottles with large openings or small corks so I have 2" corks sitting on top the bottles with insane amounts of glue to seal it. I don't think it's going to work lol

I was able to get help from my neighbor, turns out he built his own rock crawler from the frame up. He knew his way around my bike very well. I am in return making him a cheesecake, he said he loves cheesecake

.............I was able to get help from my neighbor, turns out he built his own rock crawler from the frame up. He knew his way around my bike very well. I am in return making him a cheesecake, he said he loves cheesecake

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Am I wrong by assuming that he fixed the oil leak from the gasket in order to earn that cheesecake?

You can find additional ideas for your vacuum balancing device here:
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=941302

He made sure my engine was timed right and helped me find the leak. One of his rides was in an off-road magazine where they went from like Florida to NC then back through Tennessee. It was him and maybe 5 other guys plus the owner of the magazine. Maybe one day I'll know as much about engines as he does....one day...