2000 KZ1000 ENGINE FAILURE

DGA wrote: Possible your fuel bottle has no breather and the engine starves for fuel when the fuel can't flow anymore?

That could be a possibility, but in this case the bottle is actually a soda bottle with no cap.

Checking the magnetic pickups is a very good idea. I've just read in the manual that, just like the coils, one pickup feeds #1 and #4 cylinders, and the other feeds #2 and #3.

The heating/freezing test was a very good tip too.

I'll let you all know.

Thanks!

This is not related to your problem but may prevent another one.
It is a good idea to put a fuel filter down near the carb on your temporary tank.

You can get these at any bike shop.
Steve

Here's an update about the my KZ1000's mistery.

Today I started it without the magnetic pickups cover (I was ready to cool down the pickups artificially, just like GPzEric suggested), and it didn't fail, until I put the cover back.

Once the engine died, it wouldn't start anymore until I let it cool down for about 10 minutes.

I removed the pickups cover again and managed to restart it. It was kind of rough because it was still too hot, but the funniest thing is it got smoother as I sprayed the pickup coils repeatedly using a water pulverizer.

And then it didn't die or even fail anymore, not even when I put the pickup cover back and it went stupidly hot.

I'll try it again over and over in the next few days, and will keep you posted.

My Dad had a TV Repair Shop for many years, and most of this niggling intermittant problems were cause by componnets that went out of spec when the TV got hot. Sounds like you're onto something - good luck !

Hello Everyone!

Yesterday I ran my bike for quite some time, and this morning I took it for a long ride. It never failed again.

The cure has no logic explanation, but it happened after I managed to run the engine for a long time and to make it reach a high temperature. Who knows, maybe spraying water on the pickup coils worked as a blessing!

I don't regret working on the valves and on the carbs, I learned a lot, had fun, and they needed service anyway.

One important thing I found out in the process is that the fuel tank breather was clogged. This was not the main cause for the failure, as it also happened when I fed the carbs from a bottle. The ignition probably failed before the tank went into full vacuum and the carbs starved.

Well thanks for everything, I hope this helps someone else in the future.

All the Best,

Rafael.