1977 KZ 1000 b1 LTD running rough

OK so I adjusted the valves.....it is running better but I still have some very light popping backfiring out of left pipe and the number one cylinder. Is cold warm at best....I t has spark and is getting gas
.....what's next?

put a half a can of seafoam in the tank and do 100 miles...
then do it again......then re-do your compression test....
that bike has low miles and a lot of time sitting....stretch it s legs for a while and see what develops........

Where do I get seafoam?
One other thing. I couldn't get all the spark pug wires out of the coils.. .any tips.
Also the blinkers are very very slow. They get faster with engine reved but left blinker is still slow.

davelKZ1000 wrote:

Where do I get seafoam?
One other thing. I couldn't get all the spark pug wires out of the coils.. .any tips.
Also the blinkers are very very slow. They get faster with engine reved but left blinker is still slow.

NAPA

I had read to put it in the oil too. What do you think?
When I changed the oil there was a lot of black sludge on the drain plug. I actually changed the oil twice to flush it out.

i started my kz this morning and let it idle with a bucket sitting behind the left pipe for 5 minutes and this is what happened

davelKZ1000 wrote:

i started my kz this morning and let it idle with a bucket sitting behind the left pipe for 5 minutes and this is what happened

Looks like the oil ring might be stuck. That's not bad compression for an engine thats been sitting so I would assume compression rings may be ok. If that cyl. has a valve seal that's real bad it will leak like that, I had a valve guide pop out on that same cyl. and it lost oil like that but i doubt that's your problem. If u don't have 12v to the flasher and sometimes even when u do it will flash slowly. Spark is good since u have all cylinders firings even with the oil in the chamber. Like roy said just ride it and see if it will loosen up. Rings can break when a motor that's been sitting is fired up if the cylinder is dry. Compression on yours tells me they may not be. That popping is lean misfires and unburned fuel in the exhaust. It idles off choke so you must be close, maybe it will loosen up. If the carb is leaking on number one it will wash out the carbon in the muffler and look like oil. I would make sure it is not leaking. And one more tip, BOOM:woohoo:

Frustrating isn't it? I'm dealing with a similar problem on my 650, have good spark, good compression, cleaned the carbs and could not find an issue, checked for vacuum leak, but my plug is pretty dry instead of oil shooting out the tailpipe :blink:

I dont really know what sort of advice to give you, maybe just ride it on 3 cylinders for a while - but that kind-of freaks me out... You might want to put a new battery in if you have not, it might cure your electrical issues and they are not too much money - cant hurt anyway. If compression is okay, and spark is okay, and its getting fuel it must just not be getting the right combo of fuel/air to fire up...and if the other cylinders are good then I would suspect the spark is okay because you have already switched wires with the same result, correct? Maybe pull the carbs again and really look over #1 with a fine-tooth-comb, I've read that some people on here had to clean their carbs like 4 or 5 times before they got them flowing properly... thats what I'm going to try at least. Good Luck!

sft1662 wrote:

Frustrating isn't it? I'm dealing with a similar problem on my 650, have good spark, good compression, cleaned the carbs and could not find an issue, checked for vacuum leak, but my plug is pretty dry instead of oil shooting out the tailpipe :blink:

I dont really know what sort of advice to give you, maybe just ride it on 3 cylinders for a while - but that kind-of freaks me out... You might want to put a new battery in if you have not, it might cure your electrical issues and they are not too much money - cant hurt anyway. If compression is okay, and spark is okay, and its getting fuel it must just not be getting the right combo of fuel/air to fire up...and if the other cylinders are good then I would suspect the spark is okay because you have already switched wires with the same result, correct? Maybe pull the carbs again and really look over #1 with a fine-tooth-comb, I've read that some people on here had to clean their carbs like 4 or 5 times before they got them flowing properly... thats what I'm going to try at least. Good Luck!

Yes it is very frustrating....on a good note my turn signal problem was just corrosion. In the light housing

nads.com wrote:

davelKZ1000 wrote:

i started my kz this morning and let it idle with a bucket sitting behind the left pipe for 5 minutes and this is what happened

Looks like the oil ring might be stuck. That's not bad compression for an engine thats been sitting so I would assume compression rings may be ok. If that cyl. has a valve seal that's real bad it will leak like that, I had a valve guide pop out on that same cyl. and it lost oil like that but i doubt that's your problem. If u don't have 12v to the flasher and sometimes even when u do it will flash slowly. Spark is good since u have all cylinders firings even with the oil in the chamber. Like roy said just ride it and see if it will loosen up. Rings can break when a motor that's been sitting is fired up if the cylinder is dry. Compression on yours tells me they may not be. That popping is lean misfires and unburned fuel in the exhaust. It idles off choke so you must be close, maybe it will loosen up. If the carb is leaking on number one it will wash out the carbon in the muffler and look like oil. I would make sure it is not leaking. And one more tip, BOOM:woohoo:

What do you mean by make sure the carbs not leaking? Leaking air? Fuel? Where?

In order for the bike to run properly, ALL fittings from air filter to exhaust must be COMPLETELY air tight. There are no exceptions, air tight. Cant jsut have stuff sitting on there. Everything must be tightly clamped or sealed.

When cleaning carbs, remove ALL rubber bits and tear down carbs COMPLETELY. Do not leave any part of the carburetor assembled.

Taper the small straw that comes with spray carb cleaner and force it into the jet openings. Then connect to spray can and open fire. Watch where the carb cleaner flows thru to/which openings it comes out of in the carb bore. Compare to other bores...
Make sure pilot jet blows carb cleaner thru all small holes in the bore/venturi.
If a small hole doesnt flow on one but all the others, theres your problem. Poke a very tiny piece of hard wire in there (like from a steel brush), just once, then spray again. You dont want to ream out those openings and make them larger, just unclog!

GL!

keith1 wrote:

put a half a can of seafoam in the tank and do 100 miles...
then do it again......then re-do your compression test....
that bike has low miles and a lot of time sitting....stretch it s legs for a while and see what develops........

put the whole can in there and go for a long hard ride,make sure to take a phone with ya!