Motorcycle Repair: 86 KAWASAKI waterpump, crankshaft bearings, head gasket

Question
ihad the bike tuned up plugs ect. anyway the bike over heats and shuts off, i pulled the themostat and replaced it, checked the bike out good. started her up and she runs fine till she gets hot and shuts off. now i can by pass the fan switch and cool off the radiator, but that dosnt solve my problem. she dosnt move the water.
so i need to know what am i looking at time wise and what tools am i  gona need. basicly i cant afford to put more money into her. so i have to do it myself.
what do i need to expect.please answer as soon as you can.
thanks

Answer
Geo.... MrHonda is having problems determining what particular model of 86 Kawasaki you are referring to...

If the fan switch was working properly, it would seem that it would keep the bike cool. You state that you bypassed it and that it cools the radiator. Does this keep the temp gauge down in the normal range? If the bike still cuts out you have to determine if the heat is affecting the carburetion, boiling the fuel or if there is an electrical malfunction that is heat related.

You mention that it isn't "moving the water" so I guess the next move would be to replace the water pump or at least pull it off and check the impeller condition and drive. If there isn't anything obviously wrong with the pump and the fan and radiator are both okay, then it would seem that an engine problem is to blame.. probably blown head gasket. Get the cooling system pressure checked to determine if there is a loss of coolant pressure due to bad head gasket.
Head gasket failures usually are indicated by steam out the exhaust pipe or coolant showing up in the oil, creating a gooey brown mess in the crankcases. If this occurs, the crankshaft bearings will be failing soon.

Not knowing what model you have and your level of expertise and tool availability, it is difficult to give more advise on this non-Honda question.

Go here: http://www.powersportspro.com/partsfish/login.asp
and find your model and look at the parts involved in the water pump replacement. You can judge from the prices of the parts whether its worth attempting a fix or not.

Buy a repair manual for this model, to help guide you in this repair.

Bill Silver