Klankety, Klank!?!

Hey all, this place is awesome :laugh:

Gotta ? - I have an 81' KZ1000CSR. When i start it, it klanks in the bottom end, just above the shifter nob it seems.:S It only does this if I let the idle down to about 1K while cold. Once its warmed up, it will sit at 1K and you really dont hear it. It PULLS FANTASTIC through all the gears and sounds great at speed. If its in first and I start to get too slow the klanking becomes very pronounced! Rebuilt carbs/good compression/manual tensioner set good/good gas.

Just started happening all of a sudden, before it was fine. Exhaust is completely invisible. bout 40K kms. burns just a little bit a oil (20w50 Castrol).

Any ideas guys?

Cheers, and thanks.

Tek9ine.

If not already done, would adjust cam-chain tension, as noise might be result of loose cam-chain. Carb synch also reduces cam-chain noise at idle rpm.

At lower than usual idle rpm, the typical large 4-cylinder KZ often sounds like it's digesting nails.

Good Luck!

Edit -- See on re-reading that the cam chain tension has indeed already been adjusted.

Well i decided to get a better feel for whats going on with the bike, so I took it out for a ride around the block (where I am, thats about 10mins). On the way back around the bike started to shudder a little and the headlight went dim... uh oh! Battery was completely dead. i tried to keep it up to speed (had to stay over 3k rpm) but eventually I had to stop and off she went. Pushing a 550lb. bike for 15mins is not really fun.
Time to check the Alternator/Rectifier/Regulator.

The noise is deffinately still there and very klanky if i let the idle get below about 1200 rpm. Any higher than that and she sounds good. But it seems as if there is some additional load on the engine now...? hmm? It really wants to stall when it starts making the sound.

I dont get it :S One day it was just sitting there purring, then the idle just started to drop out of nowhere and the klanking started to ring out - then she died.

PS. It takes about 4 twists of the idle and the choke all the way out to get it started now too. once it runs for bout 1min It starts to idle higher and I can cut back the Idle/choke. Is this normal/ok? Or should I not really have to play with the idle/throttle just to get it to run?

I start mine on full choke when cold with very little throttle, then back off to ½ choke after a minute or two then ride off and push it all the way while riding off in first gear.

TeK9iNe wrote:

...noise is deffinately still there and very klanky if i let the idle get below about 1200 rpm. Any higher than that and she sounds good. But it seems as if there is some additional load on the engine now...? hmm? It really wants to stall when it starts making the sound. I dont get it :S One day it was just sitting there purring, then the idle just started to drop out of nowhere and the klanking started to ring out - then she died. PS. It takes about 4 twists of the idle and the choke all the way out to get it started now too. once it runs for bout 1min It starts to idle higher and I can cut back the Idle/choke. Is this normal/ok? Or should I not really have to play with the idle/throttle just to get it to run?

very klanky if i let the idle get below about 1200 rpm. Any higher than that and she sounds good. -- is this with the bike standing still and transmission in neutral?

Thanks oldcoldankles. This makes me feel better, and seems to be exactly what I should do.

Any ideas about my klanking? Anyone?

Oh yes! I sit on the bike and hold it upright while idling in neutral. It sounds pretty good (I can still hear a little bit of the sound, but its very faint). If I drop the idel below 1200 it gets MUCH louder and klanky. Under throttle, the response is good and sound seems to go away :huh:

Any particular reason why you ask this?

Try using a wooden stick as a stethoscope to pinpoint the problem.

TeK9iNe wrote:

Oh yes! I sit on the bike and hold it upright while idling in neutral. It sounds pretty good (I can still hear a little bit of the sound, but its very faint). If I drop the idel below 1200 it gets MUCH louder and klanky. Under throttle, the response is good and sound seems to go away :huh:

Any particular reason why you ask this?

Any particular reason why you ask this? YES, thought noise might possibly result from kinking drivechain.

Noticed inquiry in other thread regarding possibility of loose bolts inside stator. Perhaps that will bear fruit.

Good Luck

LOL. Awesome, thank you very much. Loose bolts inside stator looks promising...

This will deffinately be the first place i start as the noise is coming right from the stator/just behind that area.

Cheers! Let you know what happens...

OK so I had a short while to check the bike. As per the norm lately I tried to fire it up and it just seemed to die more as it started to get warmer right away. Sort of klanking and putting. Then I think to myself... I grab the #1 header - OWWW! - ok. #2 ouchie...ok. #3 ... COLD! #4 barely warm?! I immediately yank the plugs and sure enough, lots of soot and #3 and #4 are wettish (gas)! I thought I had this all set up right?! I cranked the air screws out an extra turn from normal (now at 2 1/4 turns) and with a click of the starter it roars to life! Clean and free revving with no smoke aand the klanking is almost completely impossible to hear at idle of almost 1000 rpm.

Now here's something thats driving me nuts - I cant tell by ear (or tach) if the rpm is rising or falling when I'm individually tuning each carb air screw! What can I do about this? I want to be as close as possible to 14.7:1 at all three stages - starting with idle!

Sounds like you need to syncronize the carbs. You need a manometer to do it right.