my kz 550 ltd is here

after almost a year finally got tank painted

the beast has started but just cant get it to stay started and idle.

Hang in there. I just finished my 900 project after 2 1/2 years....don't lose patience. Had the same carb trouble with mine, until I realized that when I cleaned the carbs, I'd backed the idle knob all the way out. Will it stay running on choke?

for a min but not mych longer as soon as i give it some gas it dies

ok so i started it again and it idled as long as i played with the choke to keep it going give it a little gas and it dies

after idling for a min or two at 2k rpm the exhaust was so hot that it burn my effin finger i was not happy

only thing i can figure is the mixture isnt right can someone please let me know if my guess is right if you need more info let me know

and would not having an airbox cover cause some of this problem.

A few thoughts....

If it will idle with the choke on, but not off, you probably are having trouble with your pilot fuel circuit. Looks like you have Mukuni (sp?) carbs, but I'm not familiar with the later year models.

If you haven't pulled carbs to clean them, you might want to. Uhhhh, maybe not want to, but need to. You could try adjusting your air screw a little to compensate for the lack of airbox cover, but I couldn't advise you since I'm not familiar with that type of carb.

You might want to touch base with Patton. He has a link to a Mukuni cleaning guide.

Good luck

ditchdriver wrote: ....and would not having an airbox cover cause some of this problem.

Yes. Any airbox mod or missing parts will effect the mixture. I would clean teh carbs as suggested but not change anything in them or try to adjust or tune them until you have corrected the airbox issues. Otherwise you are trying to tune the bike to compensate for an unknown variable that needs to be corrected anyway. Ed

actually i had a shop in town go through the carbs and clean them up since i bought the bike after had set for a couple of years.

so i will wait until my air box cover comes in the mail before i try it again to see if that fixes the issue.

(link) they are actually the TK 22 carbs

more pic of final paint just waiting for the airbox cover so i can dial it in and get it running

ok so i finally found a cover back in the middle of nowhere and got it installed.

still the same problem it just doesn't want to idle without the choke on. i reset the mixture screws 1 3/8 turn like my manual says and still the same problem. i had some extra (brand new) spark plugs from the PO and it seemed to help alittle bit but not much.

After i finally got it started and started to mess with the choke i got it to idle and as it warmed up alittle with full choke the idle goes down i can open the choke alittle and bring it back to about 2k

after about 5 min of idleing like this i give it alittle throttle and it wants to sputter out i give it alot of throttle up to like 6or 7k and it reves up and then dies.

is this customary if they haven't been started in about 5 years if so how can i help it back to life. if not what have i done wrong and where do i need to look first.

I bet your getting excited ride that 550!
I'm thinking that with the carbs cleaned at a shop, that either you have Vacuum leaks between the carbs and cylinder head. Or that you installed them with out a new In-line fuel filter/ fresh clean tank/ fuel. Clean carbs means you have to have the rest, clean tank, new fuel filter, and be sure when you install that the intake manifolds are in good condition and well sealed to the cylinder head. got some carb or brake cleaner in a spray can? Spray around the area between the carbs and head and if the RPM changes, you got leaks.

i do have a feul filter brand new inline and the tank is clean (too my knowledge)
i will try the cab cleaner tomorrow and see if that makes a difference maybe they arent tight enough