KZ1000 stumble starve issue and a novice wrencher

Hey Everyone -

I over-payed for a really nice 1980 KZ1000. It was initially a basket case, but then rebuilt by a restoration shop. I do not want to go back to them, as I want to do it myself, and I need to learn this stuff anyway.

A little details about the bike -

was initially a stock LTD,
When I bought it, it ran perfect. And this was only a month ago. Since the rebuild it maybe has 250 miles on the engine.
Electronic ignition
Pods
Its been bored out 1mm.
has been rebuilt, and carbs synced.
lots of other misc new parts.

Anyways - it has a clear fuel line, and what looks to be an original petcock. And since I purchased, the petcock has given me some trouble, I never seem to know if its ON or in the RES position... anyways.. the other day coming home on the highway it was running great. I came off the highway, and noticed i was leaking fuel from carb number 1 out of the vent, and the bike was unable to idle correctly without stalling. Upon investigation, I seem to have had some gunk in the bottom of the bowl. The clear fuel line, and lack of inline fuel filter are leading me to believe that my petcock screen is not doing its job.

I attempted to install a two fuel filters, this should have been an easy job... But... being that I have pods, and the way my lines are routed off the petcock, , this attempt ended with frustration, anger and a non running bike.

The fuel filters were the ones you get from your local auto parts store with 1/4 and 5/16 fittings, I cut off the 1/4... and think I pinched the inlet on the fuel filter.... The bike ran great when it fired up... but then once the fuel in the carbs drained the filters did not fill up with fuel fast enough and the engine started to starve... I installed a brand new gas cap, so I think there is a low chance it isn't venting properly --- leading me back to my crappy petcock.......

With a non running bike on a beautiful day one can only do one thing. Swear, kick things... let off steam, Then hit the interwebs and buy new parts.

I bought - a new single outlet petcock, small glass 5/16 fuel filter, brass t-fitting, and a nifty little socket wrench that accepts screw driver tips so I can take my bowls off with carbs still on the bike... thanks amazon!

All this stuff should be here by tomorrow. And I can begin to drain the tank, swap the petcock, run new lines, fuel filter, and then clean out my bowls. Lets keep the fingers crossed that there is not any gunk in my carbs. As I really do not want this thread to turn into "Kz1000 new wrencher learning how to disassemble, clean and sync carbs".

Wish me luck, and please let me know if you think I am forgetting anything. And an FYI. I will likely seal the tank, but i do not want to do it on this job. The tank does not look to be terrible... and I want to ride it through fall before pulling the tank.

Mike

Unless the tank has pin holes and is leaking I would not seal it. The stuff you seal a tank with can fail and cause problems. A clean tank will not rust as long as it is kept full of fuel, so if there is rust in the tank clean it out and just keep fuel in the tank. Mine is 37+ years old and has no rust. Below is a link to some info that should be helpful as you start maintaining your own KZ. Good luck. Ed

kzrider.com/forum/10-new-members/589649-...r-savannah-ga#594587

Well guys-- I drained the tank. Pulled the petcock. As i suspected. No screen. Please disregard the crappy fuel lines/ cheap filter.



new petcock arrived, has a nifty nice screen and only 1 exit point which will go to a new inline fuel filter. T fitting, to carb inlets.

Many automobile fuel filters are meant to be run where there's a fuel pump and so dont work well on a bike. If you cant find one designed for a bike then one for a lawn tractor would be better than one for an auto.

If you undo the drain screws at the bottom of the float bowls and turn fuel on you can rinse any rust sediment away that usually sinks to the bottom. I'd stick with an inline filter too, you would be suprised how much they trap which gets past he strainer gauze.

Also if you are overflowing on one carb, drain the bowl a couple of times as above and whack it a few times with a rubber mallet, Sometimes these things can sort them selves out with a little help.

Any ground up resto needs some shakedown period and niggly faults will likely be ironed out, nothing to worry about. Leaving the petcock gauze out was a bit clumsy though...

Yep. Well. I assembled an inline filter new petcock and new lines. The bike ran briefly. But then once fully warmed up and idling, it lost power and stalled. Upon the first stall bike would not idle up again. Same issue. With a infrared thermometer we came to the conclusion that cyl's 2 and 3 were not firing. Based on the condition of the bowls when removed, I think I was too late with my petcock and inline filter, and now I have dirty carbs. Currently having a friend of mine who owns a shop ultrasonic clean them and re-sync.

Cylinders 2 & 3 run off of 1 of your coils, & cylinders 1 & 4 run off of the other
could be your coil
Pete