Trying to bring kz1000 back to life.

[ken]

Well after several years of being parked I'm trying to bring my 1977 KZ1000 back to life, so I hope someone here can lend some advice.

 

I've cleaned the carb, leveled the floats, did a coils mod to increase the spark. Took it out for a ride today and it ran good for about 20 miles. It then started to miss bad. When I go home I pulled the plugs and 3 of the 4 were covered in black soot. Put a new set in , moved the carb needle put 1/2 turn and got the same results. What should I try next?

[hig4s]

on a bike that old that has been sitting it is possible the jets are corroded and are not providing the correct fuel flow. I had that happen to me on an old Honda. even though they didn't look that bad, I replaced the jets (main and pilot) with new ones the same size and it ran great after that.

[Marcarl]

My first thought would be that you got some dirt in the carbs that is\are now plugging the circuits. I'm thinking the dirt was loosened out of the fuel lines between the filter and the carbs. Run some cleaner through her, like seafoam or some other carb cleaner, but don't go cheap on the quanity, in this case, more is better. Use only about a 1\4 tank of fuel, then run it for about 10 minutes, let it sit over night, run it again for about 10 minutes, let it sit for an hour and then take 'er out for fresh fuel, but run most of the old fuel out first.

[ken]

My first thought would be that you got some dirt in the carbs that is\are now plugging the circuits. I'm thinking the dirt was loosened out of the fuel lines between the filter and the carbs. Run some cleaner through her, like seafoam or some other carb cleaner, but don't go cheap on the quanity, in this case, more is better. Use only about a 1\4 tank of fuel, then run it for about 10 minutes, let it sit over night, run it again for about 10 minutes, let it sit for an hour and then take 'er out for fresh fuel, but run most of the old fuel out first.

 

Hey Marcarl,

 

The first thing I did was to dump the old fuel. But i've not run any type of additive yet. Guess I can give it a try.

[MidlifeVenture]

Hows the inside of the tank old bikes are plagued with rust which will constantly clog carbs?

[jlh3rd]

i second the dirty tank theory....

[Yammer Dan]

You know what I'm going to say..

 

Are you ready???

SEA-FOAM IT!!

 

 

 

And rinse tank good. Then check to see if you are going to have to Kreem it.

[mrich12000]

:soapbox:Go to Napa, get 3 cans of CRC Carb cleans, take the carbs off Again,,, remove the carb bottoms, remove the jets including the pilot jets, do this spray some into a metal container(see pics)

swish the jets around blow out with compressed air (Photo air spray if you don't have any comp. air available) spray the carb passages But Don't spray the float bowl seals the CRC swells the seal. Then take out the air jets one at a time. counting the jet placement

blow and reassemble. Then do a carb sync. The valves may need adjusting. Please put on a new fuel filter. hope this helped. did the same to my Ninja 600rr.a few weeks ago.. Mike in Calgary..

[ken]

Hows the inside of the tank old bikes are plagued with rust which will constantly clog carbs?

 

 

Looks new inside.

[warthogcrewchief]

You know what I'm going to say..

 

Are you ready???

 

 

 

SEA-FOAM IT!!

 

 

 

And rinse tank good. Then check to see if you are going to have to Kreem it.

[ken]

:soapbox:Go to Napa, get 3 cans of CRC Carb cleans, take the carbs off Again,,, remove the carb bottoms, remove the jets including the pilot jets, do this spray some into a metal container(see pics)

swish the jets around blow out with compressed air (Photo air spray if you don't have any comp. air available) spray the carb passages But Don't spray the float bowl seals the CRC swells the seal. Then take out the air jets one at a time. counting the jet placement

blow and reassemble. Then do a carb sync. The valves may need adjusting. Please put on a new fuel filter. hope this helped. did the same to my Ninja 600rr.a few weeks ago.. Mike in Calgary..

 

I already cleaned them. So thats done. I made a manometer and when I put it on carb 3&2 #2 wants to such in the fluid. same with 1&4 #1 want to suck in the fluid. I thought it was has simple as turning the air/fuel screw but it would not make a difference.

[KarlS]

When I restored a 79 Honda CX500 that had been setting for 11 years I must of tore apart and cleaned the carbs a dozen times. Run good awhile and then start messing up. Finally took the gas tank that I thought I had cleaned over and over again, had it acid dipped, then used the 3 step POR sealer treatment and had no more problems. Seems was getting "pealing" from inside tank and plugging jets. So fine the tank petcock fuel filter and inline fuel filter wasn't catching it. But I'd find the fine material in the carbs. Just a thought.

[jlh3rd]

i have a 1975 honda 550f...the tank looks perfect when looking inside the filler neck....i installed a new nos petcock with filter last year and was surprised by all the crud and rust i found on the old one.....seems the water likes to collect at that low point and causes problems....so...pull your petcock and check it...

[mrich12000]

Went to CMS for this fishe.

 

What you need to get now is new "o" ring seals and the little washers or the ajuster screws here is the picture. Kawi has the parts still. cheap,carb bowl seals not..

[Yammer Dan]

Looks new inside.

 

 

Pull petcock and check. One that I did I had three in line filters on. And it ran good for a while. Filter closest to tank started getting heavy and discolored a little. Not much but a little. That real fine stuff is hard to see but will screw up a carb quickly. And the tank on this one looked good when you looked into the neck. Finally rusted out in the bottom next to petcock. Sea-Foam will not mess with the seals. That is one reason it is so Great. You can use it over and over on a stubborn carb and it won't hurt anything but the crud. Do a strong Sea-Foam soak.

[KiteSquid]

Replace the fuel lines and fuel filter.

 

 

Do a complete Kreem kit on the fuel tank.

 

 

Disassemble and clean the carbs like listed above.

 

Soak all carb parts in a quart of Camp Fuel. If Camp fuel wont clean it, nothing will.