{"id":31398,"date":"2021-10-21T19:29:33","date_gmt":"2021-10-21T10:29:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/?p=31398"},"modified":"2026-09-24T13:45:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T04:45:31","slug":"zx12r-inspection-deco-mainte-head-cover-gasket-replacement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/20211021\/everyday-events\/zx12r-inspection-deco-mainte-head-cover-gasket-replacement","title":{"rendered":"ZX12R Inspection, Deco-mainte, Head cover gasket replacement, and more"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I’ve tucked it away so far back I almost forgot about it\u2014the ZX12R.

There are several bikes that are starting to look a bit sketchy.
I’m not sure what’s going on, but the work just doesn’t seem to end.
Everyone says they just want an oil change and inspection, but I can’t really do that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alright, let’s get moving (‘\u03c9’)\u30ce <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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I always save photos when things look sketchy.
Later on, when laying things out, I end up wasting time wondering, “Wait, was this on top or bottom?”
I’m not sure if this orientation is correct, but I can at least draw a line at what’s worked fine up until now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Since we’re draining the coolant anyway, I went ahead and replaced it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Since the throttle cable has to come off anyway, I cleaned and lubricated it while I was at it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Oh, that’s right! The starter cable was indeed broken. (It hasn’t arrived yet.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It’s ridiculously low-slung. I really wish it wouldn’t be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It’s magnesium, I see. Is that a recycling mark? Pretty cool. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But once you remove this many parts, I realized the serviceability is actually pretty good.
Removing the head cover is way easier than on the oil-cooled bikes. (Though the ZX12R is definitely superior overall.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Plus, liquid gasket sealant is applied all the way around, so I wondered if Kawasaki recommends it.
Not just at the cam plug location.
Liquid gasket sealant and pad grease are the two big names in preventive application, I’d say.

I don’t think applying liquid gasket sealant really extends the gasket’s lifespan much when it comes to oil leaks from gaskets\u2014it’s basically a matter of gasket deterioration.
I think preventing overheating is far more effective. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now, we’ve made it through the head cover gasket replacement and a few other bits (‘\u03c9’)\u30ce <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve tucked it away so far back I almost forgot about it\u2014the ZX12R. There are several bikes that are starting to look a bit sketchy. I’m not sure what’s going on, but the work just doesn’t seem to end. Everyone says they just want an oil change and inspection, but I can’t really do that. Alright, let’s get moving (‘\u03c9’)\u30ce<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31386,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pochipp_cv_data":"","swell_btn_cv_data":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1924],"tags":[123,382,122,104],"class_list":["post-31398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-everyday-events","tag-deco-mainte","tag-head-cover-gasket-replacement","tag-vehicle-inspection","tag-zx12r"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decoboco.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}