1980 KZ1000 A4 MKII Barn Find

Glad to see you tried that ultimate compound because based on the photos and description of your bike I thought it was just what the doctor ordered. Your bike is looking great. It's not often that you find a product that actually lives up to what it claims. This one being one of the exceptions.

Yeah, it was really good stuff. It worked well but wasn't so aggressive that the paint could be easily damaged. There were some nasty stains and streaks from gas that took several applications to remove but they eventually came off and those areas look great now. It took off years of crud all over...it was just what the dr ordered for sure. Thanks again!

Does anybody know if the fuel pipes are available for the carbs? The Kaw parts diagrams don't show them but they pull right out of the carb bodies....you'd think they'd be available somewhere. Mine are a little beat up from pulling them to clean them and I'd like to replace them if possible....just can't find them....not even a part number. These are different carbs, but here's a picture of what they look like:

Wow! No effin way! That looks like a night and day transformation!
In my efforts to find a bassani pipe for my bike, Mike let me know about his! But this is a website in which they make them from stainless steel ANY pipe you want and they claim that it is an exact copy. A guy from the zrxoa forum reccomended this to me and I will post it separate for everyone to see. Nothing short of awesome if correct.
He got back to me with a price for the Bassani copy...something like 614 plus shipping whatever that would cost. Wow! For that price it beats the heck out of anything on the market currently.

So let me say that again. They claim to have the jigs for many bikes, stock or aftermarket exhaust made. And if they don't you could send an exhaust to them and they will copy it. I checked about the big bore Kaws and they have all the ones we'd be interested in listed.

pfme.co.za/ Too bad there isn't a place here stateside that does all that and more. It would be great to have someone make perfect copies of exhausts and sidecovers, tanks and wheels.

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationNo eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationThanks for the tip....I love finding new places to buy cool stuff! :woohoo:

Speaking of new exhausts....I noticed these recently on eBay...these pipes are made in California and they look to be Yoshi copies....really look nice for the price:

Finally got to try the carbs last night....they're fixed! It was the fuel pipe inlets in the float bowls....the choke circuit works great now. :woohoo:

Now to the next little issue:

There's a faint "ticking" sound coming from the engine area when the RPM's are brought up past idle. It sounds kind of like a valve ticking but the clearances are all great. When I listen closely, it sounds like it might be coming from under the fuel tank...might be the clean air stuff but I can't find any leaky hoses. I don't remember that stuff being that loud.

I'm thinking it might be an exhaust leak so I dropped the exhaust last night and will be inspecting everything and reinstalling it with new gaskets. This gives me a great chance to clean the exhaust manifolds, collars and the hidden parts of the exhaust.

I just realized I never updated this thread regarding the ticking noise. I like to document things in case anybody else ever has the same problem....hopefully it can help them out.

Slight "ticking" sound that increases with engine RPM: I had checked valve clearance, exhaust system, and pollution system...couldn't find anything. I even tried riding it with a portable fuel tank so I could hear it more accurately. Funny thing was, I couldn't get the noise to happen anymore. :S I put the tank back on and it started again...what is going on?? Well, turns out it's the vacuum operated petcock! I've never heard one ticking like that but this one did. It doesn't leak and it works perfectly, but it sure ticks alot! Strange, but there it is.

Would fit a new vac hose to petcock.

The noise might also be a spark jumping through old cracked plug wire that's pushed by the tank closer to a metal part when the tank is installed.

Good Fortune!