KZ550B 1986 Modell Clutch and fuel leakage problem

Hi,

I've inherited a KZ550B which I've driven for about 500 km without problems except some slow fuel leakage after storing for some days in the garage.

2 weeks ago the KZ was still running fine. I put it into my garage with an almost full fuel level. But when I came back and got it out, the fuel was almost gone, and there was a large flask of fuel and oil on the floor.

There is no apparent origin of leakage. But when I inclined the bike slighly to the left, a brownish liquid did run out of the engine compartement somewhere above the secondary transmission and dripped onto the left exhaust pipe. The fuel lever was on "ON", as recommended by the book, since it is a "automatic vacuum fuel lever". There are only two other possibilites: RES and "PRI", that is for completely emptying the fuel reservoir.

1. Question: what to do about the fuel leakage? Why is there oil mixed with fuel? How to fix the fuel lever problem?

I tried to start the bike but the starter got blocked. When I tried to push the bike to start, I noticed there was something wrong with the clutch. Indeed, the clutch lever was under no tension any more, impossible to DISENGAGE the clutch. The clutch-wire-transmission lever at the clutch itself was also without tension. However, the clutch WAS ENGAGED and pushing the bike would turn the motor which stuttered strangely but would not start.

2. Question: could it be that the motor and clutch compartments got flushed by the fuel leakage, and this somehow affects the clutch mechanism? The maintenance manuel says: if there is too much oil the clutch might not disengage any more.

What should I do about it, checking oil level or get the oil out? This is most strange, nobody touched the bike in the two weeks when it was stored, when I came back I noticed these two problems. Anybody any ideas?

Thanks,
Dierk

PS: maybe the membrane in the fuel lever is broken?

Post edited by: Dierk, at: 2007/08/13 07:53

It would probably yeild more information for you if you broke your questions into sections and put the fuel part in the carburetor section.

To address the fuel part, the vacuum petcock was a device that was added so that owners didn't have to remember to shut their petcock to OFF when parking their motorcycle. Older, gravity fed petcocks, if not shut to the OFF position would allow the needle/seat assembly inside the carburetors to be overwhelmed and gas would leak. Normally, this is from #1 carb since that carburetor is lower when the bike is parked on side stand.

In a vacuum petcock situation, the diaphragm in the petcock doesn't allow gas to flow UNLESS there is engine vacuum applied to the petcock. This only occurs when the engine is running. If gas does flow, the vacuum line from your carburetor to the petcock is not in place or the diaphragm is defective. There are rebuild kits where you can replace the rebuildable components inside the petcock. Check the vacuum line to ensure it is connected.

If your carburetors overflow and most of the tank is gone, you can expect your oil to be fouled. The gas will fill your combustion chambers and wash down the cylinder walls into the crankcase. Change your oil and filter before attempting to start the engine.

As far as you clutch issue. Check the clutch cable to ensure that the cable itself isn't broken. If that doesn't solve the problem, check to ensure that the cable end is seated in the countershaft cover receiver properly. Adjust the cable per your manual. It is unlikely that the fuel leakage and clutch issue are related.

Thank you George, this helped a lot

cu
Dierk