strange vacuum reading

Not to offer hope where there is none, but you can balance your carbs at a higher rpm and this should even out the pulses from the engine and MAYBE make gauges with no baffles able to do the job. Ride the bike until warm, use your biggest fan to keep the engine cool and try balancing at about 3000 rpm. Make sure to operate the throttle very slowly/smoothly - especically when you throttle down, so nothing is sucked into the engine.

Hope this works and is not just providing false hope. Without baffles there will be more fluctuation, but it will smooth out at higher rpm.

fixer5000 wrote:

dustinleavitt wrote:

what can I use to make my current gauge work?

the aquarium valve as ron suggested above would work fine. another idea is a pneumatic flow control valve from an industrial supplier...thats what i used on a 4 gauge setup i made... they swung wildly without any kind of damper in the lines....steve

I re-read your question.
Is that 0 to +10 PSI.
If so, you've got a leaky intake valve.

-Duck

it was bouncing around in that range but that was with the bike barely idling. does anyone know why this thing won't start?

work ive done to this point, new intake manifolds, new rubber deals to the air box, new stator, messed with air screws, idle screw, new plug wires, plugs, new starter brushes etc.

dustinleavitt wrote:

does anyone know why this thing won't start?

When was the last time the valve clearances were checked?

it was bouncing around in that range but that was with the bike barely idling. does anyone know why this thing won't start?

work ive done to this point, new intake manifolds, new rubber deals to the air box, new stator, messed with air screws, idle screw, new plug wires, plugs, new starter brushes etc. 1993 kz1000 p-12

1)vacuum. if needle ticked in opposite direction on that one carb, you most likely have a leaky valve. if it just ticked more in the same direction, I'd worry about the other problems. You might want to check compression as a general check on state of things.

2)not starting. as in 'this is a new problem' or as in 'it's just as hard to start as it was when I got it idling'?

3)Is it a 93 police bike? has it ever run right since you got it?

where are you and the bike?

i have a 87 police model purchased in non-running condition
just got around to cleaning carbs and may see what she does later today

hmm I had my valve clearance checked about 2500 miles back.

the bike has really had starting problems since I moved from bakersfield california to rexburg idaho. but its gotten worse just recently.

I also bought mine in non running condition took me about 20 minutes to figure out plugs were fouled and plug wires were shot. since then It has ran pretty well, except for the hard starting. the thing screams down the freeway, heck last night I went riding and it was 29 degrees out just so i could go down the freeway passing every car I came up to.

is there any way to check to see if the choke is working? and do these carburators have some way to tickle them like brit bikes do by chance?

well it turns out the air screw rubber seals are discentegrated, i am assuming this is the problem now to find a place locally that has o rings that small.