Setting float levels

What a PITA! :blink:

Whether it's the KZ750 or the ZR1100, I hate setting the float levels!

I haven't yet found a way to set the levels without having to fill the bowls, check the levels, drain the bowls, remove the floats, bend the tang, reinstall the floats and bowls, fill the bowls, check the levels, etc... ad infinitum!

I guess it wouldn't be so bad if I could just get them right the first time or two, but I don't have that knack yet

It just makes me crazy! Thanks for letting me vent.

Scozz

Post edited by: scozzmo, at: 2005/10/11 10:50

I used to do that - and it is the "correct" way according to documentation.

But I don't do it that way anymore....

I think it was from steell that I originally learned ho to do this:

Take of the carbs, remove the float bowls. Turn the carbs upside down. Set a metric ruler ON THE GASKET and look across the "bottom" of the floats (which are now the top because it is upside-down).

On my bike, it is 25mm from the gasket to the bottom of the floats (again, while upside-down in a resting position). Your bike will/may be different, I don't know, but it is a great method!

Edit: Oh yeah - somebody (I think WiredGeorge) warned in an old post that although the above method may be handy, sometimes floats can become misshapen and the above method *may* no longer be accurate. The only *correct* way is how you're doing it now....

Post edited by: biquetoast, at: 2005/10/11 11:15

Have you tried draining one float bowl into another to set the height. just tape the other ones up so no fuel flows out the other floats. Dump the gas from in the float bowl back into the tank

I realize that most carbs are not set up like those on my 1300 but they have a seperate drain that I can connect a clear tube to and then open the drain. I just turn the tube up against the carb and I can see the level. I shouldn't be too dificult to fab up something that will fit in the place of the drain screw and connect a piece of tube that will do the same thing. I'll play with the drains on my 750 and see what I can come up with.
KZCSI

Biq~, My brother-in-law is making a guage for me that will show the Min-Max limits when I fit it over the floats. I did use the straight-edge metric ruler last night and managed to set all floats to 17mm as indicated in the book. My B-in-law is making the guage for me because... well... he's bored and anal-retentive to the Nth degree:laugh:

Snake, I can't quite visualize the method you're talking about.

KZCSI, Fortunately for me, the carbs on my KZ and ZR have the drain pipes like you are describing so it's easy enough to attach the pipe gauge.

Thanks for all of the advice and support guys. I just needed to vent. I should have the carbs buttoned up tonight.

Scozz

I'm getting to be an old salt at setting floats, too, but I'm getting awfully tired of it. My '84 ZN1100 also has the drain with opening screw so I can measure actual level with the clear tube held up to the side of the carb, but I'm not so sure that's any better than just measuring the float height above the gasket, see 2nd paragraph below.

I made myself a dual-use ruler on a strip of thick note card. One end measures actual gas level in the clear tube held up to the side of the carb (marked 3mm to 6mm) and the other end measures float level above the gasket surface (marked 18mm to 24 mm).

I have been having a great deal of trouble getting my carbs dialed in; after overhauling them (twice!), they still run rich no matter what I do (it used to run ok, before the rust in the tank!). I keep lowering the floats to lean out the low end, but I'm way out of spec and it's still rich. I thought I'd measure the actual fuel level with the clear tube, and #3 and #4 carb gas level was about 2mm below 1&2, so I "equalized" them all to the same gas level. But next time I checked the spark plugs, #3 and #4 were extremely black, while #1 and #2 were only lightly black (meaning, apparently: #3 and #4 gas level wasn't as low as the clear tube said they were). After "equalizing" the floats, again (for plug blackness this time), they are back to being about equal again, as measured upside down from the gasket surface.

As of now: float level is way below spec, I think I need to re-jet to lean it out. Where can I get pilot jets? Mine doesn't use the Kawasaki pilot jets with holes in the sides.

Pictures from last weekend. I thought that these might be helpful to someone else.

Here's the gauge that my brother in law made. A straight-edge ruler would suffice, but like I said, my b-in-law is anal-retentive and spent a lot of time on his computer creating this gauge in autocad I think that I was fortunate because the gauge put the fuel level well within specs

home.cfl.rr.com/scottandj9/sf/temp/gauge.jpg

I had a devil of a time trying to find some way to keep the carb rack level while trying to set the floats. Then I spotted the vise and everything came together. I only had to shim the back with some rubber strips to get the rack level. And I only snugged the vise against the bowls to keep it steady. No fuss, no muss, no damage.

home.cfl.rr.com/scottandj9/sf/temp/level.jpg

My fuel gauge wasn't working when I got the ZR. My brother in law took the gauge apart and found a broken connection. The same thing had happened to his next door neighbor's '86 Ninja 1000. The fix was simple, you can see the new solder fix in the picture.

home.cfl.rr.com/scottandj9/sf/temp/repair.jpg

Scozz

Post edited by: scozzmo, at: 2005/10/22 11:44

Post edited by: scozzmo, at: 2005/10/22 11:45