New Here...New KZ Owner

swest wrote: Welcome Very nice. Sync the carbs and check the valves.
Steve.

Wildman1024 wrote:

swest wrote: Welcome Very nice. Sync the carbs and check the valves.
Steve.

Will do. Are all the sync ports on the intakes supposed to face down? I think 2 are facing up on here.

650ed wrote:

Wildman1024 wrote:

swest wrote: Welcome Very nice. Sync the carbs and check the valves.
Steve.

Will do. Are all the sync ports on the intakes supposed to face down? I think 2 are facing up on here.

Here's the diagram. Ed

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wrenchmonkey wrote: Welcome Wildman!

Super nice looking KZ550a man. Looks so good in that red.
I went through this in February - all of your questions - with my 550a too. Lots of fun since and I've managed to learn a few things too :laugh:

That rattling sound at idle which usually goes away once the engine is warmed up?
The sound it seems is coming from the primary chain inside the engine.
Cleaning, confirming and synchronizing the carbs was mentioned to you for this reason.
Once the carbs are synchronized, that sound will be nearly gone. Mine still rattles a little bit at bone-cold, choke on, start but nothing like it used to and I reckon, I could probably give the old carb sync another whirl (my second attempt) and probably do better! Getting the carbs cleaned and adjusted helped mainly for me to know what their baseline state is so if someone asks...

Look closer at your bike's oil leak and identify exactly where it's coming from.
There are a few common places which in my humble opinion is a good reason to see an oil leak:
Maintenance was being done on the bike! :laugh:

Common oil leak spots:
The cam plugs -
Those black rubber, half-moon shaped pieces - between the valve cover and cylinder head.

The valve cover itself -
what looks like the top of the bike's engine, has to be unbolted occasionally to check valve clearances. If the gasket gets old and brittle it could leak from this gasket.

The tachometer cable connection to the engine. -
Not really a maintenance issue except you have to check this gear when you deal with the exhaust camshaft for shimming the valves when needed. However, this little spot where the cable connects to an internal gear can sometimes be weepy.

Anyway. Great motorcycle. I enjoy the heck out of mine. Show us some pictures of yours at home when you can and if you can or wish to, edit your profile, put your bike in your signature and your location in too. This helps folks here to answer your questions about something technical. They see you have an '81 550a and can visualize the issue at hand more accurately. The location city/state, just helps to know where in the world you are and if you are close to another member. Cool if you can ride over to antoher member's garage or meet up for an ale or burger joint/event.