Do you use choke to start - and pic - confirm what these screws are please.

I have a KZ650 B - I have been having some problems starting it from cold and actually think that perhaps using the choke is making things worse for me - it is pretty warm here in N Ca most of the time when I am using the bike but it seems not to want to start from cold very well - using the choke does not seem to help much and in fact I get more of a 'wanna start' when it is off.
I would like to know if in fact I am making things worse by choking the bike at start and what is your proceedure to get yours going? I guess I need to overcome my urge to turn the throttle from start as well.

Next: Please confirm what these screws are called and their purpose - I have them set at 1.5 to 2 turns out and she seems to run fine - have I just lucked out on this?





Thanks,

Lee

Those are your air screws. They are your idle mixture adjustment that basically effects mixture from idle to low throttle openings. Being open 1.5-2 turns should be close. The more you open them, the leaner the mixture, more closed richens the mixture. They have some effect on starting, but not that much.

This post should be in the carb section... not the engine. In any case, the starting mixture should be on the rich side of the air/fuel mixture. If your bike is hard to start, the air screws do have an effect as the mixture at startup is a combination of the idle circuit and the choke circuit. Sounds like your choke circuits have obstruction and are not working properly. When you pull up the choke lever, you are not getting MORE gas but only a bit more air as they are fed by small air jets in the venturi. If you only get the air, you in effect, lean the starting mixture which is now relying on only the gas from the pilot circuit. Clean both the pilot and choke circuits and verify their operation and replace the pilot jets would be a way to cure this problem.

quick question, are the air screws the same thing refered to as teh pilot screw limiter? or is that something totally different?

Yes they are the same thing.... sorta. Pilot screws (bottom of carb) allow more or less fuel, air screws (side of carb) allow more or less air. But both accomplish the same basic thing, they are idle mixture screws.

Actually these are carbs from you - rebuilt and restored, and I have probably only put a few hundred miles on the bike since getting them so I am sure there is nothing wrong with the choke system or anything else......right?!


Lee