New KZ owner!

Hi, new member, I’m usually more of a forum stalker, I can usually find what I’m looking for by reading prior posts, but I figured I’d say Hi.
I recently bought my dream bike, its a ‘77 KZ1000 LTD. It appears to be mostly stock, with the exception of aftermarket air cleaners, and a Vance & Hines 4 into 1.
It runs fairly well, it’s running a bit rich, it only likes to be off choke when your moving, when coming to a stop it needs a bit of choke to keep from stalling. I looked at the plugs, they are pretty black, but no thick build up. I’m going to switch to non-ethanol, & see if that helps any. There’s a brown liquid on the bottom of the carbs, it does seem oily, however, from reading posts on here I believe it may be the float bowls. The previous owner said he went through the carbs, and they were in good shape. He seemed like he was pretty capable, but you never know. He did tell me when I bought it that it was running rich, and that he felt like the carbs needed to be synchronized.
I’m definitely open to any ideas, suggestions and advice. I’m a fair mechanic, but most of my experience is with cars, so I’m definitely here to learn.

Welcome to the forum! Your KZ1000 is a great bike to own. If the PO dismantled the carbs then they definitely need to be properly synchronized. It would be helpful to know if the internals are still stock, or whether anything has been changed.

How about a photo of your bike?

I believe the carb guts are stock, but I don’t know for sure. I’m wondering if it needs to be re-jetted to account for the aftermarket air cleaner pods and exhaust. I’m trying to work through the simple stuff first, .

Welcome to the best forum. I might be showing my bias, but so be it. I’m not sure feathering the choke will hide a bad sync, but as HMR mentioned it needs to be done. As do all other maintenance and adjustments. Without having all things correct from A to Z it’s hard to tell what a problem at K might be...

Here’s a manual, and you need to search evilbay to find a 1977 Kz1000 LTD B1 supplement manual.
www.kzrider.com/modules/ServiceManuals/K...Service%20Manual.pdf

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationHere’s the supplement manual you need.

Thanks! I’m finding a great deal of good info already in the forums, I don’t think you are too far off in your statement that this is the best forum. I actually have a copy of the supplement manual, the P.O. had that as well as a chiltons manual. I do think the P.O. had some knowledge and skills, I don’t think he mucked anything up too bad, I just think it needs some fine tuning that he either didn’t have the skills or patience for.

Cabinetmaker wrote: it’s running a bit rich, it only likes to be off choke when your moving, when coming to a stop it needs a bit of choke to keep from stalling.

If you need to add choke, that is generally a sign that it's running lean, not rich. The choke circuit on these carbs adds fuel.

When pod filters and pipe are installed, that often requires the use of larger jets. It's possible that whoever installed those did not bother to rejet the carbs, which would tend to make it run lean.

I also recommend removing the carbs and inspecting and cleaning them. Compare the jets you have to the original factory size and see where you are.

Also, there are air corrector jets that have been discussed here that many say help with the low speed response when using pod filters.

DOHC, you make some good points, which is why I’ve been a bit confused as to what is going on. I figured the pods would increase air flow, thus causing a lean condition. However, that’s not what I’m seeing on the plugs when I pull them. I suspect that the P.O. was running choked, to make up for the extra air coming in, and that’s what’s causing the rich running evidence that I’m seeing on the plugs. Like I said, the P.O. went through the carbs, and said they were clean, but we didn’t talk about if it still has original jets. I have found an in readable wealth of information in the forums on the subject (almost too much, I need to spend some time digesting) but I think I have a plan of attack. I am really excited about dialing this bike in, and glad I found this forum. Thanks to all for the comments!

Nice looking bike. Obviously your choice but I would highly recommend you take a weekend and go through sections B and C of the manual I linked you to. It can save you time in trying to diagnose problems. Float levels will cause fits trying to tune a bike if they are not correct. Aslo by doing the adjustments recommended above it gets you familiar with the bike, parts names and what they do.

As DOHC mentioned air correctors jets are great for fixing lean conditions caused by installing pod filters. Read this post

www.kzrider.com/forum/23-for-sale/611992...lide-mikunis?start=0

Also you need to know what circuit is rich. The pilot, jet needle, or the main...

Mikaw, Thanks for the manual, that is going to be very helpful, and I didn’t have one of those. The PO had the supplement, but not the actual manual. That’s pretty much my plan, as you suggest, to make sure everything else is where its supposed to be , and start from the beginning. I really don’t think there’s any major issues. Like most older stuff, I suspect it’s a bunch of little issues adding up. I’m also planning to check the valve adjustment, & I won’t know until I do how they are, but do you or anyone else know how hard it will be to find shims for the valves if I need them? Thanks again for your help and advice, much appreciated.

Your sooty plugs may be caused by low voltage to your coils. You can check that easily with a voltmeter.

Here is an easy mod to bring your coil primary voltage up.

www.wgcarbs.com/index.php/using-joomla/e...-categories/89-COILS

Do check primary coil voltage as HRM suggests it can cause your sooty(rich) plug read.

As for shims. You will have to check them, if they are out of spec then the only way to change lash is to find out what size sim is currently in that valve bucket and look at the chart in the manual. It will tell you what shim size to use to correct lash. Then you can hunt evilbay for the shim recommended from the chart. Only use OEM Kawasaki shims. Also check with your local Kawasaki dealer. If you get the right service guy they might be willing to swap shims with you.... Rick H turned me on to that lead. I got cozy with the parts guy and asked him, he said sure, they have draws full that no longer get used. But they don’t sell them but will trade you for the size you need. One for one.

When you pull the shim off the top of the bucket the shim size will be on the bottom, it’s that way so the size isn’t rubbed off by the cam lobe. DO NOT rotate the engine without a shim in place.

This is the tool used to replace the shim.