ZX14R Gen 2 2012 model
Hello everyone from New Zealand, I am new to this Forum.
I am currently checking the Tappet clearances on my ZX14R, it has just clicked over 24,000 km and I had to pull the cams to re shim 2 exhaust valves that were tight on #1 Cylinder.
While inspecting the two cams for cleanliness before reinstalling, I found the #4 outer intake cam lobe has gone through the hardening and has scored the bucket as well.(it was within spec for clearance)
I have removed the cam and will ask the local Kawasaki dealer to get a new intake cam and a bucket and will take a support person with me while he gives me the bill??
I will re install with Moly coat lube and set all the clearances and hope for the best.
In my many years of servicing cars in the automotive industry I have seen many 4 cylinder 6 cylinder and V8 camshafts like this only much worse but I have never seen a cam and Bucket failure like this.
Maybe it missed the hardening process on one cam lobe or it momentarily starved of oil when it was new??
It made no noise while running.
Any Ideas from you good people would be appreciated.

With the bright sun, it's a little hard to judge the severity of the wear but the cam lobe does look pretty severe especially for only 15,000 miles. I think I was able to detect some minor wear on my cam lobes at about 25,000 miles . I had some unusual wear in my camshaft caps.

Hi Rook, and thank you for your Tutorial on setting the Tappets on the ZX14 engines, I must admit as qualified Automotive Mechanic I was reluctant to spend 12 hours on my Knees "Rummaging Around" under the Monocoque frame of this bike and was going to pay someone much younger than I to do the job for me.
However the job is not nearly as Daunting as it looks and anyone with a little patience and a few basic tools this job is easily within their reach.
When I found the damaged or worn inlet cam lobe (Next to the Sprocket on the right side outer) my Heart sank!
The Bucket is scored but the tappet clearance was 0.006" inch as all the other inlet clearances were, so it hadn't started to wear down yet.
The Bike has been well looked after by the previous owner and has had all the oil and filter changes done at the intervals stated in the manual using top quality oil.
The rest of the top end looks excellent with no other wear or damage and only two tight exhaust tappets at 0.008" inch.
I think the Camshaft is most likely "Nitrided" from the Factory which is a well proven heat treatment process and I can't see any reason why the hardened surface has "Let Go" on only one cam lobe. It certainly was not making any noises while the engine was running.
I guess I was just "Unlucky" and now I have an expensive problem to fix and I don't think any less of the Bike or the quality, It's still the best road bike I have ever ridden on the open road and I intend to replace the worn parts and keep the bike.
I would be keen to hear your thoughts on the Hardening Process or whatever Kawasaki use.

I can't see any reason why the hardened surface has "Let Go" on only one cam lobe....I would be keen to hear your thoughts on the Hardening Process or whatever Kawasaki use.

Sorry, I have no knowledge of the hardened finish on the cams but I have a couple other thoughts.

This crossed my mind a couple times yesterday and the only thing that came to mind was that the cam had been machined improperly. If all the other clearances are fine and you even have a couple that are tight but show no cam or lifter wear, what else could it be? Perhaps inadequate oiling? I don't know how the cams are lubricated. ..,or else maybe the lifter was defective, maybe it fit too tightly in the head and was causing resistance until it wore in?

A new lifter won't cost much. A new camshaft would be pretty costly I'm sure. What do you think about installing both the factory lifter and camshaft as it was? If the parts have already worn in, putting a new lifter in there probably will just cause additional wear. You're the mechanic so your choice but from what I understand, I thoink I would reassemble it as is and check it again in xthousand kilometers (however many you think) for progressive wear. If the wear continues, then you know it's not just wear in but in fact, progressive wear. Up to you, those buckets are mighty thin but if that is just scoring, it should hold a few thousand kilometers if it's made it this long...in my non-mechanic opinion.

There have been quite a few ZRX 1100 and 1200 cams to look like that and pitted. We do not have a bucket over shim so it is cam and sometimes rocker arm.
If we see thye cam that way but rocker arm is good we keep on going. It is up to the individual on ehat to do but somebody may have a cheap used good condition cam and bucket laying around cheap.

Thank you for your thoughts, they help me to explore as many avenues that are out there by getting people to help with their experience.
I first suspected the oiling of the camshaft from the oil gallery in the cylinder head, and there is one single oil feed on the right hand side of the head when you are sitting on the bike facing forward.
The first cam bearing cap that you find right next to the camshaft sprockets is a one piece cap that spans the first inlet cam bearing journal and the first exhaust cam bearing journal it also has the small cam chain guide between the two sprockets that sits over the cam chain.
This one piece bearing cap is how the entire 16 cam lobes and buckets get all of their oil it has machined oil galleries to connect this drilling in the cylinder head to both the inlet cam and the exhaust cam.
Both camshafts have 4 cross drilled holes in the very first bearing journal then the oil now fills up the hollow cam shafts and runs along under pressure to the far ends of both cams and it exits through the holes in the bearing journals along the length of the cam shafts.
At each bearing position machined into the cylinder head there is a machined slot in the bottom half of the cam bearings in the cylinder head that allow oil to leak out and lubricate the buckets and cam lobes.
So if everything is working normally then each bucket has a very good feed of oil that builds up until it overflows and drains back through the cylinder head drains and back to the sump.
The very first bucket and cam lobe to get the oil is the inlet cam bucket on the far right rear side right next to the drive sprocket (#4 Cylinder). . .and this is the cam lobe that failed!
The last cam lobe and bucket to get the oil is the exhaust far left outer (#1 Cylinder) and that cam lobe and bucket is unmarked and looks brand new!
Did the very first time this engine fired up on the assembly line have some machining swarf in that oil gallery and damage the lobe , well I can only speculate???
I think after studying the oil pathway in the head I can't find anything wrong with this system.
I think it only leaves the cam lobe in question. Something went wrong and I don't know what?
Maybe this one will have to sit in the "X Files Folder"
The problem for me is I really like the Bike and I want to keep it.
So I think I will check out some prices and take a deep breath, talk to the local Kawasaki Dealer and hand over the credit card!

Well, seems I missed this one. My guess is a tight valve. Looks like oil loss = no gap. Back in the Honda CB450cc days, the loophole was hearing the rocker arm chatter, turn the screw until you stop hearing the rocker stop making noise. But what happened was the cams and rockers wouldn't have the gap of .0015, or under .002" and to get it that close running... no way.

If say it was a heat treating problem, then the one next to it has to burn too. Has to be heat treated glowing red is the whole cam getting that hot to harden it. It may show .006" clearance, but I'm thinking at one time is was out of spec. There is no oil channel flow clogging, or the bucket would have seized. Had to be at a point of no gap to have that tiny lube.

I took the Camshaft to Kelford Cams here in Christchurch NZ, they have been grinding Cams for 60 years and more recently manufacturing performance cams. The two Guys that know as much as anyone about Cams said that at some time in its brief life (24000 Kms)it must have monetarily starved of oil. He said the camshaft is case hardened and there is not enough Stock on the base circle to regrind the lobe and the base circle to restore lift, it would have to be welded then reground and they said this type of repair on a hardened steel Cam is not successful long term.
Kawasaki dealer says new intake Cam is $1500 NZD (1 of our dollars buys about 0.65 of your US dollars)
1 Bucket is $75 dollars and about 6 weeks from Japan due to the world freight problems. He said the Camshaft part number is for models from 2012 to 2016 only, there was a Camshaft change at 2016 but not sure what the change is.
Incidentally the Guys at Kelford Cams pointed out that the one intake Lobe that failed actually has Base Circle oiling, both intake lobes on #4 cylinder have the extra oiling holes as in the photo and no other lobes on either Camshafts have these two extra base circle oiling holes drilled?? I wonder what the thinking was by the designers on that. These two intake Lobes are the most oiled Lobes and Buckets in the engine and one still failed. The bike has had oil and filter changes every 6000 kms with Motul Ester based semi synthetic oil and it's never been raced or overheated or ridden hard. This is the first time the Tappet cover has been off since new, all the intake clearances are within Limits with two Exhaust tappets were 0.001" below specification.
I must have just gotten very unlucky, and very poor as a consequence !

My guess would be pressure bleed off, or let's set the pressure off via two extra holes at the top end? Never seen any holes drilled for the cam lobes? You'd think formula would take care of a bleed off, or it says, you may have the gear diameters set to formula, but only way out is bleed?

Even heard a story about an engine finishing Daytona with zero oil in the crankcase. So much for believing that story. Or, so much for zero clearance, the part still needs a tiny bit of splash no matter what oil.

I wonder what the thinking was by the designers on that. These two intake Lobes are the most oiled Lobes and Buckets in the engine and one still failed.

Maybe that's why...for some reason those cams are likely to be starved of oil so they were designed with extra oil ports.

or someone liked using cheap oil without the correct lube supplements that protect the came lobe metal from wear under high metal to metal loads

Dosent matter, regrind or new used good cam

The bike has had oil and filter changes every 6000km and used Motul Semi Synthetic oil.
Don't know if this oil has Zinc additive or at what concentration, (ZDDP Additive) I know that some oil companies have slowly removed or lowered the total amount of ZDDP due to exhaust Cat damage and Emissions.
Can't seem to find any good data on Motul oil at what levels this additive is in there (if at all)
But this additive helps maintain the boundary layer of lubrication to stop metal to metal contact under very high pressure loads such as a Cam lobe and a tappet.
I guess it's always a trade off between a very slippery lubricant and a wet clutch, and damage to exhaust Cat and thus higher emissions.
Here's another theory, the intake cam lobe #4 cylinder that failed is the highest cam lobe in the engine when the bike is on the side stand, could the oil drain away a little more when the bike is left for a few weeks without running??
Either way a new inlet cam and bucket is coming from Kawasaki. I think I will use Motul 7100 Full synthetic and see how it goes.

Like they said, at one time, that gap tightened up, no lube at said touch points. That [material] rub off is equal at both touch points. Not sure but I think they add an incline off of the cam lobe profile to spin the bucket, rather than the bucket holds steady and wear a groove at those two points, equally wearing out cam and shim.

Point is the rubbing of both hands and which palm stayed cold, or was the friction [heat] equal? So at the next point of sheering off of material equally, [no lube] it once again shows the lubing of the other cam lobe, showing no oil flow loss at one time or they'd fall like dominos and look the same. No line bore oiling loss and that sign of no damage to the cam and towers, or the clamping of the cam so as to bore that line for the cam to sit in the head.

Look how polished off the good lobe looks. That's the oil I want to use. Nothing wrong with the oil. If the clutch slips, wait a couple of hundred miles to let it breakdown a little from the sheering of the gears anshit. I used full syn, it slipped, waited for awhile, no slip.

That's good advice, and very good as you pointed out that the bucket must spin as the Cam Lobe wipes across the face of the bucket.
And the manufacturer ensures this by grinding the lobes with a very slight taper and the bucket has a crowned top to make it spin, Slightly offsetting the lobe from the tappet centerline achieves the same outcome.
Whatever was the cause be it a softer than specification cam lobe that may have had a thinner nitride coating?
Or a small void or foreign metal inclusion in the cam lobe after grinding and prior to heat treatment, or perhaps after assembly this lobe and bucket was not lubricated prior to the cam cover being installed and thus momentarily ran dry during the first start up when the bike was new?
I will try the full Motul Synthetic with a new cam and bucket and see how it goes and if the clutch slips, I will wait for a while before i think about changing it.

I would be keen to hear anyone's thoughts on using Motul 7100 synthetic oil in their bikes?

All I can do is talk about a few bikes that came thru my hands recently. I got one running after 29yrs sitting. 20k miles on it, Leak was 4% equally at each corner. Ran Motul and used a motul sticker when changing oils. These are Honda's offer to the police, and have a reputation of lasting for over 200k miles.

Now I'll bring this up and can't say that it is fact, but more junk science: but you tell me. Both bikes lived in the same county, give a take a few counties either way. So one was a water cooled V-4 carbureted, the other was another Honda sitting 10yrs, with coolant and FI. The FI bike was 100% leak at both cylinders of this V-Twin.

The V-4's oil pan was dropped and inspected. Never saw such a clean pan, not a spec of any break-in debris whatsoever. And double the years sitting, with I believe there being zip about any ring seized in the grooves. I have the leak video of all equal leakdown numbers.

For the twin's leak, found a frozen valve open is one, found the rings locked at the rear, and with the front having the open intake, I still soaked the cylinders down with one brand after another to soften the rings up. Leaked it again, maybe 40% at the rear, forgot the other, or thinking 20% pops in the head. Oh, and the original 54 miles on the speedo, with the OEM tires still with the rubber stubs.

Can I associate both the clean pan and the unstuck rings to Motul? Well, the mileage reputation alone is any oil will do. The other is ring seizure to me says larger rings as opposed to, update the rings of today; are a lot thinner, and say the proportion to ring growth to ring groove gap still stuck the rings and valve with that unknown oil?

I sort of mess with a mixing of oils to stop any oil thread saying who has what to throw in. But I did buy Motul and added that along with 50w and whatever else is around to top it off.

So lets say what it's not:

Can't be the heat treating. It's all about thermodynamics on that stick and no way can I think it's 1 bump out of how many being treated at the same time and that production run?

Can't be the oil if the bumps look shiny and worn but still look new, and still within spec.

Can't be any other answer but CB450 steel to steal Blue.

Got my Bike up and running with a new Intake camshaft and bucket, thanks to Rook on the Excellent Tutorial with Tappets, This is the First Big Bore Bike I have done the Tappets on (Have done many Cars before and a few KTM bikes ) and the job is reasonably straight forward. I used Pro X Shims and although I had to pull the Cams twice to get them all within Spec (a couple of half shim sizes would have helped), I don't see any problems for someone with a few basic tools. I do recommend getting your Torque Wrenches calibrated at least once a year as I used to work in Calibration and have seen a lot of Top Brands of Torque wrenches Way off Specification, as its important when tightening the Cam shaft Bearing caps to walk them down evenly by hand with a Ratchet then Torque them in 3 steps. I liked Rooks idea of using something to fit into the Cam chain Tensioner hole to load the tensioner by hand when Turning the crankshaft to the next position for tappet checking.
I also recommend a Second Check by someone else when doing the Camshaft timing as there are no second chances if you get this wrong and also a check on the Cam chain tensioner assembly has Popped out and applying pressure to the cam chain tensioner Guide. (I actually got my wife to do this second check for me, she's a Nurse....) I showed her from the Manual how the Cam Timing works and she checked it against the Timing Marks and said it looks correct to her.
I always have Rotated engines through 2 revolutions after setting Cam Timing and check for Repeatability of all the Marks Lining up and the Cam chain is tensioned correctly on the Slack side.
I assembled both Cams with Moly and Zinc Tappet Lube and ran it for 20 minutes at 2000 rpm then dropped the oil and filter and replaced with Motul 7100 and a new filter. I didn't want to risk riding it with all that Moly and Zinc Lube in the oil in case the Clutch didn't like it, I also never squeezed the Clutch in when I did the first start up.

Bike is Running Great and feels very Crisp when opening the Taps.
Oh one more thing I should have done! If you ever do this job yourself or Pay a Bike Shop to do it for you, then while the throttle bodies are removed, install 4 lengths of Vacuum hose to each of the throttle Vacuum ports and leave enough Vacuum line permanently installed to hook up Vacuum gauges to do Throttle body synchronization.
Leave the 4 hoses blanked off at the ends and cable Tie them somewhere not too hard to get to next time you need to Sync the throttles.
I had my throttle bodies installed and Fuel tank on when I came up with the idea, (I should have done this)

If you ever do have the Misfortune of having to replace a Camshaft in a Bike or a Car always measure the camshaft bearing Journals and measure the installed bearing Caps without the Camshaft in the Cylinder Head to check that they all have sufficient clearance as per the Spec. I measured the New Camshaft and all the bearing Journals were only 0.0002" different ( 2 tenths of a Thousands of an inch) I did the installed cam bearing caps and the clearances with the new cam were right in the middle of the book Spec. I also check the oil pressure at 90°C temp and 4000 rpm and it was 52 psi, the Spec is 35 to 50 psi at 4000 rpm and Temp 90°C.

Thanks again to Rook for your Tutorial

* Last updated by: Detroit60 on 8/1/2022 @ 8:19 PM *

Glad it helped Detroit60! You have offered a lot yourself.