Run Ronnie Run....

Well.... after searching the archives for something... I still cannot figure out my 78 kz650.
History: Hasnt run in about 5 years and was sold to me as a parts bike. Owner put oil in him and would kick start it once every other week to gets the juices flowing but other than that I dont really know much. I have been fixing him up with parts from my wrecked 78 650.
After countless hours of working on him I finally got it running....kinda. It fires with the choke up and will run at about 3500 rpm and will climb easily when given gas. Then it just loses all power after about 3 minutes and stalls and wont start back up. It also smokes like crazy somewhere out of the exhaust near the baffles on cylinder 3 and 4. When it stalled I looked under the bike and saw what looked like oil bubbling out of the baffle.
Also it is hesitant to start. I have given it a tune up and changed all fluids. Installed a Dyna S and checked for correct timing. Taken apart and cleaned the Carb and installed petcock kit and checked it. Rewired a lot of the electrical system and all checks out good. Checked for spark and installed new battery. The only thing left which at this point I am dreading is going to buy a compression test and perform... but any ideas will help to find the problem of this one.

well if has run for 3 mins at 3500rpm with the choke on, depending what the weather is like, its most likely warm enough to ease off the choke because shes running rich and flooding. If its this simple your laughing.

heh.... I do wish.... Found out that (as much as I hate doing this) when it dies it will crank back up with the help of a squirt of starting fluid soo.... I dont know where to go next.

One thing I don't see mentioned here much is the fuel distribution tubes between the carbs. Take the carbs off the rack and check the them, they will get gunk and crud built up in them, restricting fuel flow. When I first got my bike I could barely get a toothpick though them. And any hardware should have o-rings to replace the original ones. If you don't want to go that route some of the guys here have wrapped the ends of the pipes with teflon tape with the original rings on them, they say that works too.
Ride safe

Heh, this bike is as stubborn as a mule.... but I finally got the fuel thing figured out.... Vacuum problem on the petcock (doh).
But now my bike is shooting... and yes... shooting oil out of the crankcase breather hole. I have pods and so I have some cheap filter on the breather but thats where all the oil/smoke was coming from which I didnt realize until I finally got it running for a couple more minutes. But it was like a movie driving down the road.. followed by a thick trail of white smoke...and not to mention the hazard of a slick wheel....
so back to th drawing board

You sure you don't have too much oil in it? How long is the tube off the breather?

Well... here is the deal. My bike is haunted or cursed or just hates me.
But... I dont believe that there is too much oil in it... the crankcase breather was off my old bike and is the shape of a sideways "L" about 1" vertical and 1" horizontal.
The crankcase breather isnt shooting that much oil out anymore...(maybe I had too much in to begin. the oil window is clouded from sitting over the years)...but the main thing that concerns me is that there is a ton of white smoke coming from cylinder 4.
When I turn the bike on it takes about 30seconds and then smoke starts pouring out and if revved up it gets real bad. Also it randomly makes a clattering sound from cylinder 4 as well which sporadically goes on and off for about 5 seconds each time. I have read some archives about blowby....but I dont really know what it is at this point.
Any replies would be greatly appreciated for I dont really know much about this situation

do a full engine diagnosis, we cant tell you whats wrong just buy "it clatters and smokes"

pull a plug, use a small flashlight and look in the cylinders, turn the engine over so you can see with the piston at the top and bottom, and do a compression check.

what kind of oil are you running?

and bikes are usually female

Post edited by: themachine, at: 2007/11/22 01:26

Compression: #1: 130 #2 120 #3 140 #4 130
This is on a cold engine.... havent really tried to "warm" it up yet for the sake of not to cause further damage until I know whats wrong.
I am running regular 10-30 Pennzoil oil.
Sorry... wish I could explain further what is wrong....but... I will check it out tomorrow and try to provide further details.


My bike is an "it".

I would also warm it a little and then change oil and filter. Put in 3.5-3.7 quarts oil. 10-30wt seems a little thin, minimum for these bikes is usually 10-40wt. Most of us (unless you live in cold country) use 20-50wt. Let us know...

Post edited by: Bluemeanie, at: 2007/11/22 09:09

Make sure it's Motorcycle Specific. Your clutch plates will thank you for it.

That's good compression cold. Try it next with a warm engine, all plugs out, battery hooked up to charger or fully charged, and throttle wide open. Then do the same after adding a little oil in the spark plug hole. This will be your wet test.

brianpclarke wrote:

The crankcase breather isnt shooting that much oil out anymore...(maybe I had too much in to begin. the oil window is clouded from sitting over the years)...

Sounds likely. I'd change the oil and filter. Use something motorcycle specific in 10w40 or higher. I use Valvoline 4 Stroke Motorcycle oil. It's available at AutoZone, and it's only a little more expensive than their cheapest automotive oil. And, as CoreyClough said, your clutch will thank you.

brianpclarke wrote:

but the main thing that concerns me is that there is a ton of white smoke coming from cylinder 4.

Where is this smoke coming from? The only place I would be able to identify smoke coming from a specific cylinder would be at the header/head interface. If this is the case, I'd check to see if your exhaust is mounted properly and tightly to the head. Make sure the collars are not on backwards, and make sure all the nuts are snug. I recently removed and re-installed my exhaust, and I had white smoke coming out at first. I took a ride, got the engine (and exhaust) hot, let it cool, and then re-tightened the exhaust nuts. Smoke disappeared. If you do this and still have smoke, I'd remove the exhaust and check to see if you have all the copper exhaust gaskets.

brianpclarke wrote:

Also it randomly makes a clattering sound from cylinder 4 as well which sporadically goes on and off for about 5 seconds each time.

How are you identifying the clattering as coming from cyl 4? If my engine were making noises, I doubt if I'd be able to pinpoint the cylinder.