first bike ever, 77 kz650

been wanting a bike since i was a little kid, now that im a 31 year old kid i finally got around to getting one.

bike does not run, so i need some tips on what i need to do in order to get ready to crank it up.

i used to be a mechanic (transmissions, front/rear differentials, transfer cases) but ive never worked on a motorcycle.

bike seems to be complete (missing any kind of air filter), and so far off the top of my head these are the things i think i need to do before i bother buying a new battery and trying to crank it.

dumping the gas tank and maybe sloshing around a little fresh gas in it , clean it out a bit maybe? new plugs, fresh oil, and i dont know jack about carbs but im sure they need some work, should i leave them alone and see if it will crank the way they are or should i pop them off and try to clean them a little without taking them apart?

sorry for all the dumb questions, any help is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

Sea Foam, has been recommended many times around here for a quick cleaning of internals without removing anything. Might be worth a try, before you tear into it.

Seafoam is a great dump in cleaner. Sometimes though there's no substitute for tearing the carbs down for a cleaning and rebuild. Last time I tried skipping that step I ended up with napalm shooting from my #3 carb...but that's another story.

Great bike you picked up (of course I'm rather partial to the 77...), once you get her running you'll find out she's damn near bulletproof.

I belong to another forum that's 650 specific, forums.kz650.info/ , a great resource for any 650 owner. Not that you won't find tons of knowledge over here though either. Welcome aboard!!!

southside76 wrote:

bike does not run, so i need some tips on what i need to do in order to get ready to crank it up.

Sort of depends on how long it's been sitting.

Flushing the fuel system would be mandatory. Oil and filter would be a good move.

How long has the bike been setting?? If it was a long time and that tank is pretty rusty you might want to put nuts in it and shake it around to clean the rust out but then you also would want to line it with Kreem or a similar product afterward. Only other thing I can think of would be to take a business card and run it between the points a few times to make sure there isn't any oil or soot in between them. Good luck with the bike. I think your really going to like the 650 its a great motorcycle.

thanks for the advice. not sure how long its been sitting, but there is some light rust in the tank (the gas i poured out looked very clean), i have thought about getting it lined. need to look into it.

my two cents,,,,
if the gas smelled really bad then I would at the least pull the bowls off the carbs and clean them.
A new battery and fresh oil,and plugs try to fire it up, best case is it will run worse it wont you havent lost anything.
if it does start you will be able to see what needs the most work and make a list of all things needed.
If it dosent then pulling the carbs and a through cleaning, followed by new points, if it still has them,check the valves and voltage to the coils. make sure you have fire to the plugs, also run a compression check, all this is good for a base line

f the gas smelled really bad then I would at the least pull the bowls off the carbs and clean them.
A new battery and fresh oil,and plugs try to fire it up, best case is it will run worse it wont you havent lost anything.
if it does start you will be able to see what needs the most work and make a list of all things needed.
If it dosent then pulling the carbs and a through cleaning, followed by new points, if it still has them,check the valves and voltage to the coils. make sure you have fire to the plugs, also run a compression check, all this is good for a base line

Oh ya, definitely new spark plugs. If there is just a little rust in there then maybe just leave it alone for now and you can always tackle that job after you've got it running.

If the tank has any rust in it at all make sure you put an inline fuel filter on before running any fuel into the carbs. Cheap way to keep crap outta the carbs and the bike happy.

fresh fuel add some fuel injection cleaner,,,check points, air filters, spark plugs, change oil, sea foam or marvel mystery oil few squirts in cylinders, check eletrical connections, check carbs open throttle and look, turn bike over without plugs in, oil up cables, check drive chain, check tires(air press and wear) check brakes and fluid, lights, remember its an old bike expect something, congratulations good luck and have fun.....my first bike was an S2 350 three cylinder two stroke kawasaki

My first bike ever was a '78 KZ650, and I loved it to death. Take good care of it - I had to sell mine when I moved a year ago, but I wish I still had it.

Southside76, you HAVE to get a new battery. Your doing good with cleaning the tank, but while your doing that take the petcock apart, clean the screens etc and make sure it flows.
If you dont want to take the carbs apart right away, at the bottom of each carb is a drain screw. Crack each one open and see if any gas comes out of it. If NO gas comes out of ANY carb you might be lucky and the previous owner drained the carbs before letting it sit. If gas comes out of any but not all your going to have to take the carbs off. If gas comes out of ALL of them, you might be able to get it started. Keep an eye on how that gas looks too, if its brown, carbs are gonna have to come off for cleaning anyway. If each carb has some gas coming out, close the drains, open the petcock and start cranking.
By the way, you said no air filter at all? Does it have an airbox or has it been removed. Im thinking if you do get it to start its only going to run while its choked.