Tightened mine yesterday for the first time (15000 km). Approx. half were looser than expected. It certainly made the ticking less obvious.

Same here. I just purchased a 2007 z1000 with around 1,980 miles. Some nuts took a half a turn and one took at least 3 turns with the ratchet.

Surprising what you can learn on this forum

Just torqued them again. Well, this time with a torque wrench. My engine was a little warm yesterday so I figured I get them again today. I found out that doing them by feel with a plain ol' ratchet was not the best way to go. The torque wrench added a couple more turns for all of them.

Just got an 03 from my the dealership that I work at and I just noticed a small oil leak from my head gasket. We just became a Kawi dealer so none of the mechanics know that much about Kaw. They say that the manual says nine hours of labor, I don't have to pay for it so I really don't care. I don't think that you have to take the motor out of the frame to replace that gasket. Am I right?

Originally Posted by bbone

Just got an 03 from my the dealership that I work at and I just noticed a small oil leak from my head gasket. We just became a Kawi dealer so none of the mechanics know that much about Kaw. They say that the manual says nine hours of labor, I don't have to pay for it so I really don't care. I don't think that you have to take the motor out of the frame to replace that gasket. Am I right?

As to the header gasket, there is no need to take our the motor, just to remove the tank to make the work easier...but, here people are talking about the bolts for the header of the exhaust pipe. You may wanna check if those are loosen.

WOW i'm sure glad i found this thread...as soon as i read it i checked my header bolts. sure enough 7 were pretty loose and 1 was gone!

went to home depot and picked up some of the non-domed type with some lock washers....replaced em all...we will see how it turns out!