[SOLVED!] 1978 KZ650 Won't Start

Hi all-

I've been reading through a lot of threads trying to pick up the knowledge I need to fix my new (old) bike. I'm entirely new to working on bikes, but I'm working with a couple of friends with a bit more knowledge. My apologies in advance for all the mistakes and mixed up terms

I just got my '78 KZ650, and it seems to be in pretty good shape. My friends and I spent today working on it. We replaced the oil and oil filter, emptied the gas tank and cleaned it, took off the carburetors and cleaned them.

We refilled the gas tank and added some Heet (since there was a bit of water left from the cleaning) and some carb cleaner for good measure. One of the carbs overflowed as soon as we let fuel flow into the carbs. We traced it to a misshapen hole in a float jet stem (right term? the bolt with a hole in it where the float pushes a pin). We replaced that and that carb stopped overflowing, but another one started. We haven't had a chance to figure out why that one is overflowing.

We then tried to get the bike to start. It would turn over when we jumped it from a friend's bike, but we didn't hear it fire. We tried spraying carb cleaner into the carbs (we had the air filters off.) Still didn't fire. We checked for spark on the spark plugs and seemed to be getting spark. We tried the kickstart and got it to backfire once or twice.

Eventually we decided to push-start it. It sounded like it fired once or twice each time, but never really started running.

Another thing that we noticed when we went to push-start it was that the clutch doesn't seem to fully engage even with the handle pulled all the way in. We tried adjusting the cable at the handle, but it was always much harder to push the bike in first with the clutch held in than to push the bike in neutral.

So I guess my questions, which might be rather hard to answer given the limited information I can provide, are these:

-What else should we try as far as getting the bike to start?

-Does it sound like the clutch just needs to be adjusted, or is it damaged? How do we adjust it beyond adjusting the cable at the handle?

According to the guy I bought it from, he had it running last year, so it shouldn't be in terrible shape mechanically. My thanks in advance for any advice you can give

Post edited by: zul808, at: 2006/04/16 15:35

welcome to kzr.
if you just want to see if it will start use starting fluid sparingly, carb cleaner will kill a running engine.
after you know it runs pull the carbs and clean all the jets and the needle and seat(float jet stem and bolt with a hole in it) the main jet is the one that looks like a brass screw on the tallest post it is attached to an emulsion tube with several tiny holes in the side.the smaller brass screw is the pilot jet. make sure all the holes are clear. but dont poke them out with a steel pin as it will slightly alter the jet size.
I use a single strand of copper wire and carb cleaner spray.
spray clean through all the holes the jets were in and reassemble. hope that helps a little :silly: you have come to the right place!!

I would start with a good cleaning of the carbs as btchalice suggested. i would also check the points and condersers which are located on the right hand side of the bike just in front of the rear brake lever under a cover that should say Kawasaki on it.

Get a manual!

As far as the clutch goes, about half way down the cable is another set of nuts to adjust the clutch. Also, down on the left hand side, there is a small cover with two screws in it. Take the two screws out and you will see a screw with a lock-nut on it. Loosen the locknut and turn the screw in until it is just hard to turn then back out the screw 1/4 turn. then, holding the screw in place, tighten the locknut and put the cover with the two screws back on. Tighten the nuts in the midpart of the cable and then use the adjuster at the clutch lever and adjust until there is about 3mm of slack between the cable end of the lever and the mount. Tighten the locknut on the lever.

Welcome. Having the air filter/s off will throw the air-fuel mixture off as well. You can probably start it, but it wont run right.

Thanks for all the tips, guys, keep them coming!

I'm hopeful that the carburetors are clean enough to at least start the bike, though I may try soaking the parts in carb cleaner at some point.

I'll definitely check the points and condensers as you suggested - am I basically just looking for them to be clean, or are there other things I should be checking for?

I'll try some starting fluid, and those tips about the clutch adjustment are much appreciated. We suspected that the screw under that plate was for adjusting the clutch, but didn't want to mess with it without being sure.

Happy Easter!

There are two sets of points. They need to be cleaned, properly gapped (.35mm), and timed. Also if you don't know the age you should replace them and the condensers. I had major starting issues and new points, condensers, and plugs helped.

Post edited by: captaincrusty51, at: 2006/04/16 13:19

Post edited by: captaincrusty51, at: 2006/04/16 13:19

I don't think I'll have a chance to really do anything to the points and condensers today, since it's Easter and stores are closed. But I'll try that when I get a chance. I looked at them, and things are a bit rusty in there, but we were getting spark at least, so I'm hopeful that I can at least get it started.

We tried adjusting the clutch as Tazzmann suggested, but either we did it wrong or something more is wrong with the clutch. We even tried putting the adjustment screw farther in than was suggested, but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. It's almost impossible to push the bike with it in gear (and the clutch pulled in).

I called the guy who sold me the bike to ask him about the clutch, and he said that since it's a wet clutch it'll work better once we get the engine running and the oil circulating, etc. How much of a difference should that make?

IT GOES!

After charging the battery last night, we push started it a few more times and it actually ran, so we had a friend of mine drive it around the parking lot for a few minutes.

All the problems we had have pretty much evaporated - the clutch works fine, it starts off the electric starter, etc. Thanks for all the tips!

I've just got a few minor things here and there to fix on it, and I'll be golden. It backfires a bit, but there might still be some water in the gas from cleaning the tank. I'll run it through a tank of gas and see what happens. I'll also put the air filters back on before I decide whether the carbs need to be adjusted or not.

Thanks again for all the help! Happy Easter!