My "new" 81 KZ-550-C

Good evening guys, so here is the deal I'm driving home from work and I see this guy with a decent looking bike in his driveway and a grinding wheel. I stop to see whats going on well turns out he's gonna cut this bike up for parts!!!! I simply could not allow this to happen. Turns out he had a valid title and all for the bike long story short i got it for $500 title in hand and it rides sorta. Well here is the mechanical issue I'm having. Its harder than hell to cold start and once i get her up and running the headers for 1 and 2 are barely warm after 10 minutes idling and 3 and 4 are way too hot to touch. I have pulled the carbs and cleaned them to all ends they look good. All fluids have been changed. One last bit of info for you guys on here if I take a can of carb cleaner and spray it into 1 its does nothing, 2 it bogs down and trys to die, 3 and 4 it bogs down and dies if I don't get on the throttle. Well guys let me know what you think and point me in the right direction please.

Brad

Do you know if the carbs have been jetted to run with those pod filters? If you're spraying the carb cleaner at the intake boots and the idle is reacting in any way, the boots need to be replaced with new ones

These things were cold-blooded from new, and nickleo373 asks the same question I would have asked.

I believe your bike came with #92 main jets, and a non-adjustable needle, and with pods you would want jets around #105, and a adjustable needle in the middle position.

I highly doubt they have been rejetted would that cause the overheating issues? and new boots ordered thanks guys

The wrong jets could cause the engine to run lean which is a fairly common problem with pod filters. A lean condition will cause the engine to operate at an above normal temperature which will cause engine damage over time. Also make sure your float heights are set correctly using the clear tube test. I found the tk-22 carbs on my bike work best around 4.3mm below the carb body. I'd recommend finding a factory air box on ebay to remove all the jetting issues until you get the bike running correctly stock. The previous owner of my 550 added pods and I ended up chasing problems around for months before giving up and ordering an airbox