hey guys, i have developed a tap or knock or something, its hard to describe, in the top end of my lakota. I think it's probably just that that the vavles need adjusted but i'm not sure. has anyone else had any noises develope? also, im not sure what the valve clearance is supposed to be. if someone more enlightened could describe the proceedure to adjust them I would apprectiate it

sandman75- 96 lakota
99 maruader
86 chevy silverado 4x4

 

My Bayou manual's not handy, but .004 I & E cold is pretty much in the ballpark, as I recall.

Don't panic. Kawasakis make lots of strange klunky sounds; most totally harmless.

Tree Farmer

 

Refer to Kawasaki's website. They have published Adobe formatted specs for all ATV's there. Valve specs may be included.

 

Does it have to get hot before the noise starts?
I have found that in summer riding a Lakota will get a little to hot and make a strange kinda noise between a tap and a knock. I have fixed the problem by installing an oil cooler and running mobil 1 synthetic oil. you can get the cooler from an auto performance shop, it's the smallest one (about 4"x7"). Mount it up frt and tap into the oil lines behind the cylinder of the engine. You can buy a kit from Four Stroke Tech to do this but you'll get the same cooler, some rubber hose and clamps and pay a lot more. I made a nice little bracket out of sheet aluminum to mount one, looks clean. Can send pics if you like.

Check the valve clearance first though!