1980 KZ550 Problems

I am having some problems with my kz550 recently. I rebuilt the carbs, put them back on, and had one great day of riding. The next day I came out and tried to start it and it was a hard start. Progressively through the day the idle didn't hold and it seemed to be loosing power. Now I have tried everything, even spraying ether and I can barely get it to fire. Could it be valve adjustment, ignition?

First welcome to station WKZR, your home for all things KZ... great to have you here. The price of listenership is as it has always been... pics, pics, pics. :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

Second and just a wild guess here... did you install a new high quality Inline Gas Filter right after the Petcock?



If no, there may not be any new faults and you may simply have stuff/junk in you carb(s) from the fuel tank and it’s time to re-clean carb(s) AND add said Filter.

If yes, then you may have a new fault and here is a procedure I just posted today in another thread... sorry for the repetition:

"... here's my 2 cents worth.

Carb settings are the very last things you set and the typical troubleshooting sequence is:
1) Valve gap check and or adjustment.
2) Spark Plug check and or replacement and re-gapping.
3) High Voltage wire check and or replacement.
4) Coil(s) check and or replacement.
5) Coil(s) (+) Battery Voltage at input terminal check and or implement WG Coil Re-powering mod.
5) Ignition Timing check and or adjustment.
6) Gas Cap breather check.
7) Fuel Petcock Internal Filter check, cleaning and or replacement.
Addition of good quality inline fuel filter between petcock and carb fuel hose.
9) Carb Holder air leak test and or replacement.
10) Carb Intake Hose air leak test and or replacement.

Now, preceded by a thorough carb cleaning including all air and fuel passageways plus the use of appropriately sized jets for your air intake filtering and exhaust gas handling setup, in the Carbs themselves:
1) Carb Fuel Intake Needle Valve check and or replace.
2) Carb Float Service Level adjustment with clear plastic hose tool.
3) Carb Sync adjustment using static method using the appropriate diameter wire or drill bit.
4) Carb Sync adjustment using dynamic method using Vacuum gauges or Vacuum tool, if available, is superior.
5) Carb Air/Fuel Ratio setting using the appropriate number of turns out from light seating method.
6) Carb Air/Fuel Ratio setting using the Gunson Colortune spark plug replacement tool, if available, is superior."

By the way and as you will learn in time, this is all borrowed from your manual and lots of smart members' observations over the years.

Best of success.
Bill

PS
Time to add your year, model and location to your signatue to get the best responses... and its considered real friendly too.
Bill

Thanks Bill.

I'll run through the list today.




Matthew



1980 KZ550
Santa Fe, NM

Welcome Mathew!

to make a motor run you need fuel, compression, ignition and timing. Since starting fluid isn't working I would first check that you have spark, then check for compression. If it was running before i would say that the timing should be good enough to make it run. From what you described i would lean toward a spark issue. If it was a valve issue i don't think it would go south in one day of riding. If you can get it started check that all 4 exhaust pipes are getting hot.

Hope this helps! Let us know what you find.

Ok...So I started to move through the bike and found out I have very weak spark at the plugs. I am thinking that even if I had weak spark, I still have spark. Would that be enough to light up starter fluid? I have new points and condensers and will replace them, but if that is not the case new coils are in order. I will probably get dynatek DC1-1, but if anyone else has any suggestions, please let me know!


Matthew
Santa Fe, NM
1980 KZ550