TOPIC:

blink543 wrote: How many jets does each carb have?

Carb parts. main jet. pilot jet. The main jet is screwed into a bleeder pipe which has an o-ring. And of course there's a float & float needle valve. Also, there might be a pilot adjusting screw w a nylon cap on the underside of the carb body, but maybe not. Once the bowls are removed, it should be pretty obvious whether or not the plastic caps are there. Kawasaki.com.

Model identification. KZ650.Info or jarlef z650 . Kawasaki.com.

If you have a manual no matter what it is, do you have the capacity to understand what it is telling you? When I first started wrenching on my 350 Honda 40+ years ago, I didn't understand what and why they were leading me down this path when all I wanted to know is one thing. Naturally I wanted to get the bike going and was impatient and didn't want to spend money on things I didn't need. I was 18. My mother suggested her new husband come over to help. (Engineer) He was more confused and knew less that I did. I found everyone had a suggestion but in the end, it was me, my money and my bike. Lot's of bad advice, scraped knuckles, yelling curses and broken parts later, it was on the road. In this case it turned out to be bad diaphragms in the carbs ($200). I didn't need to pull the head (as they said), and all that went with that. I made every mistake (just about) you CAN make on that poor little bike. I dropped a valve because I bent one and kept running it "to see if it would clear"(so they said) and guess what? It was me, my money and my bike alone. My fault for listing to jerks with a opinion . After three years and I don't know how much money, the bike was running and looking like new. There wasn't one part my hands hadn't touched. I sold it to a Honda dealer in exchange for a king and queen seat cover meant for a 750 to put on my Z1. $150. That bike sat in their show room on display.
The manual was a Climer. $10. Shop manual for the bike, $40. Cost in time, money, aggravation and grief, priceless.
Good thing about it all, I didn't make nearly as many mistakes with my new Z! as I did on the Honda. This year will make it 40 since I bought it new.
Steve

martin_csr wrote:

blink543 wrote: How many jets does each carb have?

Preliminary stuff. not necessarily critical or anything, but could be handy to know .There is some variance in the VM24 carburetors from year to year, even within a model year, especially for the 77 & maybe the 78 650s. I don't think your carbs have an accelerator pump --- easily recognized by the #2 float bowl being different from the others. Kawasaki.com.

You've listed the bike as the 1978 650B. There was a B2 & B2A for 78, so you may need to figure out one it is, since the carburetors might have slight differences. but maybe not. KZ650.Info or jarlef z650 . Kawasaki.com.

Carb parts. main jet. pilot jet. The main jet is screwed into a bleeder pipe which has an o-ring. And of course there's a float & float needle valve. Also, there might be a pilot adjusting screw w a nylon cap on the underside of the carb body, but maybe not. Once the bowls are removed, it should be pretty obvious whether or not the plastic cap is there. Kawasaki.com.

I was already familiar with the carburetor parts from referencing the diagrams beforehand, and I had removed the float bowls a couple of times already before doing a complete cleaning. I did not bother using the manual --- I'd go nuts going back n forth to check every little thing. The disassembly & reassembly is fairly straight forward: part A has to be removed before B. and B before C. and so on & so forth. and vice versa.

1979 KZ650 carburetors w/ accelerator pump. The 78 carbs will be similar, but probably not identical.

thanks. if i wanted to soak my carbs what would u suggest? they say certain solutions eat at rubber o rings and stuff.....or should i just try to keep them together and clear up the junk inside by hand?

That mostly depends on how bad they are. If they are really clogged and corroded, then the best way to insure that they get perfectly clean is to completely disassemble them and put all the metal bits in an ultrasonic cleaner with commercial grade cleaning fluid.
If they are in pretty decent shape, you can use a spray can or two of carb cleaner with the little straw attached. Run a really small stainless wire through all of the tiny passageways and jets, spray the carb cleaner through them all, being careful to insure that it comes out ALL the places it should. Blow everything out with compressed air and reassemble. WEAR SAFETY GOGGLES! Carb cleaner can do permanent damage to your eyeballs.

Either way, if all those orings and such are not almost new and in perfect order, they should be removed and replaced anyway.

TexasKZ wrote: That mostly depends on how bad they are. If they are really clogged and corroded, then the best way to insure that they get perfectly clean is to completely disassemble them and put all the metal bits in an ultrasonic cleaner with commercial grade cleaning fluid.
If they are in pretty decent shape, you can use a spray can or two of carb cleaner with the little straw attached. Run a really small stainless wire through all of the tiny passageways and jets, spray the carb cleaner through them all, being careful to insure that it comes out ALL the places it should. Blow everything out with compressed air and reassemble. WEAR SAFETY GOGGLES! Carb cleaner can do permanent damage to your eyeballs.

Either way, if all those orings and such are not almost new and in perfect order, they should be removed and replaced anyway.

what kind of commercial cleaner? name please?

The thing runs. If you chose to clean them take pics and post them as you go. Did you read my carb thread? Normally you don't have to take them completely apart.
Steve

swest wrote: The thing runs. If you chose to clean them take pics and post them as you go. Did you read my carb thread? Normally you don't have to take them completely apart.
Steve

yeah i did read it. im thinking of opening them up because it isnt running like it should. like i said its hesitating. somethings gotta be blocked. i can rip the throttle wide open and it takes seconds for the engine to ramp up and match the throttle position. And the idle screw wont stay in place...probably because i lubed it with grease. probably shouldnt have done that. i dont think it was meant to be greased at all.

Bad diaphragms. They cost a lot of money. No cleaning will fix them.
Steve

I just noticed I saw flame come out of the pipe when I revved it so it's backfiring

cjaldous wrote: +infinity 650ed

If you go here: www.zedrider.co.uk/service--owners-manuals.html
You can find this: www.dropbox.com/s/ielbey7s4nwqc96/Z650%2...Service%20Manual.pdf

That's the 650B Kawasaki Service manual. From your front brake location, I think you have a B2?
There are going to be some inconsequential changes from the B1. (someone else please confirm?)
Also, the parts diagram on that zedrider page, or here: jarlef.no/Kawasaki/Series/Z/650/z650files.htm are so useful when searching for parts.

A outstanding website for info ......... and no diaphragms on these Steve.


The reason Clymer and Haynes manuals aren't good enough is because they transcribe and interpret from the original manual or other sources. There are going to be more mistakes, transcription errors, and hand-waving in an aftermarket manuals. They try and simplify things that are already simple, and end up leaving out important information (ie like that there's an acceptable valve clearance range and not a single correct number.)

Sorry for all of this to sound like you're being beaten up, but the manual is really helpful, and it really is the right "tool" for the bike.

If I remember correctly by a pic he finally provided, he has CV carbs. I'll check again.
Steve

You're right they aren't CV carbs. My mistake.
Steve