ZZR1100 balancer shaft

Took the Zed in for some tyres & a few other bits doing, the chap told
me the carbs need balancing by ear! I thought it had a slightly noisy
cam chain tensioner, he reckons it isn't that but more than likely a
balancer shaft that needs adjustment as they get left.

I haven't heard of this before, is he right?

Yes, he's right and this thread is full of people talking bollocks.

If you look at the lower right side of the engine, just below where the
crankshaft is you'll see the end of a slotted shaft, locked in place by a small
lever. This is the balancer shaft.

This shaft's housing is excentric and turning it you can remove the play in the
gears that drive the balancer.

references 13618 and 13234. I suggest to replace the oil seal 92049, it has the
nasty habit of leaking oil when disturbed. Difficult to source except OEM. Its
dimensions are 27x19x5.

I don't have the adjust procedure at hand but it's something like warm the
engine, run it at some speed, unlock the shaft, turn it to some initial position
and turn it back a bit until the noise is gone, lock it again.

If you need it I can chase the manteinance manual and email you a pic of the
relevant page.

I've never heard of *anyone* being able to balance a four's carbs by
ear. Sorry.

I think Nige meant that the bloke could tell by ear that the carbs
needed balancing, not that he could do the job by ear. I have no idea
if that's possible, just my interpretation.

That's how I read it, too.

As for the engine balancer shaft, it's gear driven and needs no
adjustment whatsoever.

I hate to shatter your illusions, but I think your ace mechanic is a
prat.