That's not good
What happened with oil pump?
Sorry for your loss

 

Sorry to hear about your blown motor.
Your master mechanic is saying at the 7:11 video mark that the connecting rod bearing got loose. in addition, at the 8:10 mark he says these motors are known for oil pump to fail?

That's a first for me. Connecting rod bearing don't get loose, they fail when they run out of oil. And it's been 12 years since Kawasaki introduced the ZX14, if there ever was an oil pump design flaw, most likely it was addressed by now.

 

I think what all these blown motor stories fail to include is the types of 'service' these machines have been required to perform. In normal service, the oil pumps don't flex, hence no action from KHI in the 12-year (so far) run of these machines. The 12R, from which it sprouted, had some known issues such as the weak clutch basket that were corrected on the descendants, 14 and 14R. ZX-11s were known for blowing the 3rd conrod due to oil starvation, and many band-aids were applied. The ZZR 12 has 2 oil pumps and no starvation issues.

As much as we'd like to think out machines are bulletproof, they're not. It was postulated on one of the other forums that the ZX-14 was designed as a "drag bike" and that any other use was misdirected or somehow misinformed. Mine has never been dragraced since it's been in my hands, and I've gotten plenty of other use out of it, which it has been perfectly happy to perform. It has not been babied, just well maintained. Some folks' expectations may be a little overestimated, which is a nice way of saying some people could phuck up an anvil with a rubber mallet.

 

At one point in the vid, the "previous owner" is mentioned as someone who "didn't know what they were doing." This raises the possibility of unknown maintenance and/or abuse at the hands of someone that may or may not be aware of how to keep a bike in top shape. A small drop on the side with the engine running can lead to oil starvation and rod/main bearing failure days or weeks later, apparently out of nowhere and for no good reason. It doesn't even take any abuse or misuse by the current owner to trigger disaster. Happened to a friend of mine 2 months after a small drop. He tore the motor down, discerned the actual cause and went out and bought another ZX-14.

 

At one point in the vid, the "previous owner" is mentioned as someone who "didn't know what they were doing." This raises the possibility of unknown maintenance and/or abuse at the hands of someone that may or may not be aware of how to keep a bike in top shape.

Spot on. :dblthumb2:

 

I would try to locate a low mileage motor and maybe let omar pull the covers inspect the rockers / cams, set the valves run a compression check leak down test. Check the existing oil for metal flakes. Reseal it install it and run it,

 

The stock oilpump covers are known to flex and cause pressure lose .

https://store.schnitzracing.com/ape-oil-pump-cover-kawasaki-zx14-06-18/

 

oh wow

 

That's how my 2016 14R went at 3880kms. Was doing wot pulls on the highway and spun 2 rod bearings because of the oil pump cover. After a long battle with Kawasaki, they covered it and I had the dealership install a APE billet oil pump cover.

 

Do you think the cover is something we all should do?
I do the wot passing on the hwy all the time. Love the feeling.
I don't drag race or do track days

just looked it up. $52?
to prevent engine damage

 

I had the plate installed plus keep my oil just above the full line on the sight glass. That plate is what should come stock in the bike imo. Don't understand how Kawasaki wont issue a recall. I have emailed the warranty department about it and they said not enough bikes have failed. I'm being paranoid as fuck, but I think my motor is going again, iiunno though. Runs fine, no issues, but there is a lot of engine noise. Dealership assures me its just the new valves seating in and its normal. But when I first bought the bike it was so quite. No "kawi tick", no valve train noise. Just the sound of the air being sucked in and the whining noise from the gears. But now there is ALOT of noise. I don't know if its bad voodoo from having the motor fail on me the first time and im just being paranoid or if there is a issue. Really love the bike but im thinking about trading it in either for a new ZX14R or a H2 SX SE.