® Whose Article is This?

The article you are about to read seems to be a popular one, if the number of times it has been copied elsewhere is any indication. At one time there were over 10 sites that had it duplicated word for word. The piece came out of two things. First, this is the same tool we built at Motorcycle Mechanics Institute when I worked there as an instructor. Second, the incident described is real and happend at my then workplace, Eastside Performance Motorcycles, in Mesa, Arizona. The machine was a ZX11, one that had just had a big bore kit put in it by another mechanic. I got the idea of lowering the pressure and rotating the crankshaft from something Smokey Yunick had said, many years ago. It worked. We replaced the bad cylinder sleeve in that engine and pulled the oil pan and retrieved the piston circlip. Made me a hero that day in the shop. Those of you wishing to use the article, why don't you just link to it instead? At least ask before taking it and putting it on your site. How do you think it feels to see your work claimed by others?

  Some of the current offenders (these folks never asked, they just lifted it word for word)

  • KZ650 website (though they screw it up at the end and are clueless to the fact that the tool pictured does not work the way they describe.)
  • And this site stole my drawing and include verbiage that makes me suspect they know little about actually doing a leakdown test.


The real deal
Building and Using a Cylinder Leakdown Tester

Last updated July 2023
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