Proper petcock operation when starting

Forgive me if this is a dumb question. I am new. My 1978 KZ1000A was given to me by the family of a friend who passed away, and the bike had now owner's manual.

The petcock has reserve, pri (for prime?) and on. What is considered off? and what is the appropriate way to start the bike? in the prime position then switch to on or start in on?

Thanks.

There is no off.

The PRI is for priming the carbs only if it has been sitting for a long time or you ran out of gas.

Leave it in the "ON" position. It uses vacuum to control the release of gas to the carbs. If the petcock is bad it will flood fuel into the carbs even when the bike is not running. You should check for this as it has sat for a long time now.

Post edited by: KZ_Rage, at: 2006/05/24 21:11

Welcome.

Your petcock is a vacuum type, and has no off position. Gas will not flow in the ON or RES positions if the engine is NOT running. So if you want to remove your tank, put it in either of these two positions.

In the PRI (prime) pos., gas will flow freely.

When starting, I will usually move the petcock to Prime if the bike has been sitting a few days. This will fill the carbs. Then switch it to ON after a few moments. You can just leave it in the ON position if you have just rode her recently, or if you ride everyday. If you have trouble starting her, try switching to Prime.

After a while you'll get a feel for when you need to use the Prime pos.


Hey Rage, you slipped that in! :lol:

Post edited by: rstnick, at: 2006/05/24 21:14

Thanks! is there a source for buying copies of orginal Kawasaki owners manuals?

The KZ1000 Factory Service Manual is one of the very best Kawasaki manuals. It is FAR better than the Clymer manual for the same bike which covers 73-80 900 and 1000 models but the Clymer manual is OK and it does work well for a beginner mechanic because of its good pictures. A Haynes manual for the same range of bike manuals exists but it is written by a British person I think and a bit harder to decipher and the pictures are not great but would work in a pinch.

The best source for a Kaw service manual is eBay. They do come up for sale and there is a section for manuals in the parts section I think on eBay motors.