Reflecting upon the weekend

I had some time this past weekend to diddle with a few things on my 550a. I finally got the carbs all synchronized and man did that ever make a difference in how it runs. It ran good before but it's still like night and day different once you break-out the sync's and learn how fat your fingers are and possibly that you may need a new eyeglass prescription

So there's that and then there was this little diddy:
BEFORE:


AFTER:


When this kz550a was given to me it was missing a few little bits including the front, side reflectors. Last week I bought a pair of these LED lighted reflectors for grins and decided to hook them up. They are a "scootch" bigger than the stock ones but they contain LED lights for parking/running and slightly brighter for signals.
In the end I am happy to have the 'ol bike a wee bit closer to stock appearance and the added functionality of side marker lights is a bonus IMHO.

Clean little machine. Yeah it will run well without sync but it runs a lot better when done, The scary noises at idle should be enough to get a guy motivated to do it. If not, he can stay in the slow lane. :whistle:
Good job. :woohoo:
Steve

Yes, very nice and classic...

Darn that is nice.....had the opportunity to buy one for $500 a while back.

There aren't enough E's in CLEEEEEEEN to describe that bike! Very nice! Ed

I need to go check it out since W/M's just a few mile's from me.

Thanks guys. This kz was pretty dang clean when my son gave it to me. I don't know where it came from (probably Austin area). I haven't done much really beyond OCD cleaning and a little tuning. Most of the efforts so far have been simply to become more familiar with it's current state and happily, it seems everything I look into, I find the bike was taken care of which is like a sigh of relief. The more I look, the more reassured I get.

Carb synchronization, after all was said and done, was much like valve shim adjustment - scary/nervous that I'd F-up something but once you're in the trench and actually doing it, it's pretty darn straight forward and fun. Well, I find it fun. Maybe not as fun as twisting it through Lakeshore Dr and N.Valley Mills around the lake here on a sunny afternoon but kinda' Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenance fun; if you know what I mean?

The big fours aren't as finicky when it comes to the carbs being in sync. Yeah they can stumble and knock a little but the smaller ones can make some scary noises. :ohmy: The 550 was doing that with the primary chain and clutch rattles. No wonder the PO was convinced it wasn't worth fixing. Cleaned the carbs, checked the cam chain adjuster and put it on my carb stix. Way off. Dialed them in and it purred like a fat kitten. Bossie was popping out of the pipe and rough idle after I raised the needles and still ran like a scaulded cat. I waited until I got my new air screws and "nipples" on. :lol: Way off. Evened them out, now she's back to the purring/wild cat she always was. :woohoo:
Steve