Looking for some info

How's it going. Just found this site!! Had a 1977 kz 650 in high school in 1980, my buddy still has the bike. Later on i had a 1973 Z1 that got away from me when my 1st child was born 12 years ago ( should have kept it for sure) But now i am back and just purchased A 1978 KZ 1000 that has been rebuilt frame up by a guy my buddy knows. Bike is clean as new with couple mods done to it. Extended swing arm,V&H pipe but basically stock. Motor is a little rough on the take offs and low end but seems tight powered up. Checked the plugs and they are black,too rich i think? Starts right up, idles fine just seems to want to hesitate and stall. Any help greatly appriciated.

If the bike has been sitting awhile, I would bet the carbs are the issue. Almost every bike that I get, I pull the carbs off right away and clean them. Carbs are almost always the problem on all old bikes. Dump a can of sea foam in the tank, and if after that tank it still runs bad, pull the carbs and go through um...

ocsurfer32 wrote:

But now i am back and just purchased A 1978 KZ 1000 that has been rebuilt frame up by a guy my buddy knows. Bike is clean as new with couple mods done to it. Extended swing arm,V&H pipe but basically stock. Motor is a little rough on the take offs and low end but seems tight powered up. Checked the plugs and they are black,too rich i think? Starts right up, idles fine just seems to want to hesitate and stall. Any help greatly appriciated.

That pipe and the extended swing arm would indicate to me that the PO probably did some carb mods to the jets. Does it have pods or what? I'd pull the carbs, then check the bowls for gunk. If gunky then clean them, it's time consuming but not hard.

Check the main and pilot jet size, post what you find along with what carbs it has on it now. If your willing to check it too, see what notch the needle valve clip is in.

Word to the wise, watch taking the twisties too aggressive on the right handers with the V&H as they tend to drag. Didn't say how much over your arm is but check the chain and sprockets for wear before really riding this bike hard, chain breaks on over extended arms are not going to end well for the rider most times than not.

You also might want to upgrade the ignition system and check the valve clearances and compression. My 78 gave me fits for a couple of years until I found out my compression was low.

Don's right, just because he did a lot to the outside doesn't mean he checked the compression or valves first to see if those needed addressed. Start with the carbs then perform a compression and/or leak down test.