1976 KZ900 26mm Carb Rebuild

Hi Everyone, 

Wondering if anyone can suggest an online guide or best manual to guide me through fully restoring 26mm carbs I have for my KZ650. I started opening them and they look pretty rough and looks like I will have to dismantle them fully. See photos of the years of grunge! 

Thanks! 

Stephen 

Here  members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/i.../vm_carb_rebuild.pdf

Yes those are going to be a challenge. They will need to be taken completely apart and soak in chemdip. The carb with the bowl off is missing the emulsion tube and main jet. Check the choke tube for cracks. The bore that tube goes into in the bowl has a non removable jet that needs to be cleaned. I highly recommend getting the choke plungers rebuilt. 

gsarchive.bwringer.com/bikecliff/images/vm_carb_rebuild.pdf

Did you remove the needle jets and main jets?  Hope so, otherwise you are missing parts.

I've got an O-ring kit for those carbs.  Don't waste your money on "carb kits" unless you are missing all the jets.

Post a picture of the front (airbox side) of those. I don’t recognize the spring loaded slide arm mechanism

wrote:

Post a picture of the front (airbox side) of those. I don’t recognize the spring loaded slide arm mechanism

Matt, no missing parts like emulsion tube, main jet or spring loaded slide arm mechanism.

 

wrote:

Post a picture of the front (airbox side) of those. I don’t recognize the spring loaded slide arm mechanism

They are z1000 VM26 carbs.
1 or 2 years only with smoothbore style slide lifters.

wrote:

Hi Everyone, 

Wondering if anyone can suggest an online guide or best manual to guide me through fully restoring 26mm carbs I have for my KZ650. I started opening them and they look pretty rough and looks like I will have to dismantle them fully. See photos of the years of grunge! 

Thanks! 

Stephen 

If all the brass is undamaged and just needs a clean then all you will need is new gaskets, 'O' rings, float valves ,choke plunger seals and possibly fuel tees .
If any brass needs replacing then only use genuine Mikuni or Keyster parts.
It is common on carbs with the fuel mixture screws underneath for the screw tips to be badly worn or broken off so they may need replacing also.
Again preferably use only Mikuni items but in the case of the fuel mix screws there are quality replacements available individually for these.
As for online guides or manuals there really isn't anything specific aimed at restoring these but they are so simple to dismantle and rebuild a guide isn't needed.
If you post the jet sizes, jet needle and slide cutaway numbers the exact model these carbs came off can be identified and the recommended float heights and stock settings can be supplied.
 

Yes, I dismantled the one partially, but you guys already figured that out haha! I don’t think I am missing any parts so far. Will have to the check for that fuel mixture screw and the other specifications after work today. These carbs came off a 76 KZ900 my dad is working on, who knows if they are original though. 

wrote:

wrote:

Post a picture of the front (airbox side) of those. I don’t recognize the spring loaded slide arm mechanism

They are z1000 VM26 carbs.
1 or 2 years only with smoothbore style slide lifters.

Thank you, do the also use the jet block like the true smoothbores?

wrote:

wrote:

wrote:

Post a picture of the front (airbox side) of those. I don’t recognize the spring loaded slide arm mechanism

They are z1000 VM26 carbs.
1 or 2 years only with smoothbore style slide lifters.

Thank you, do the also use the jet block like the true smoothbores?

No. They are the same as other stock VM's.
It's just the lifters and some other parts such as the back plate where the cable bracket attaches etc that differ.

wrote:

wrote:

wrote:

Post a picture of the front (airbox side) of those. I don’t recognize the spring loaded slide arm mechanism

They are z1000 VM26 carbs.
1 or 2 years only with smoothbore style slide lifters.

Thank you, do the also use the jet block like the true smoothbores?

No jet block.  They are common VM26's, but with a couple of small detail changes.  These carbs have the plastic handle choke lever, so that dates them as on the early side of that family of carbs.  I'm surprised they don't have the joining plate across the top caps.  Maybe it's been removed already?  

wrote:

Yes, I dismantled the one partially, but you guys already figured that out haha! I don’t think I am missing any parts so far. Will have to the check for that fuel mixture screw and the other specifications after work today. These carbs came off a 76 KZ900 my dad is working on, who knows if they are original though. 
 

We could use your help. Another member in compiling a list of VM26/28 carbs. Knowing the specs on your would be a big benefit. Look on the rear flange where they bolt to the bracket, please post that number. Also please document the jet sizes, the slide cutout size, the needle jet/needle size. Thank you.