KZ 1000 carb issues

Hi everybody, I am new to the site and have owned a very nice 78 KZ 1000. Within the last 2 weeks the bike has evolved from a great smooth runner to a hesitating, surging weakened machine and I am hoping you can give me your thoughts about the problem.

With 90 plus degree temps coming on, the bike started to misfire on 1 cylinder. It then went into a local shop to get new tires, then started to misfire more aggressively on the test ride. I decided to install new plugs, the ones recommended by Kawasaki. The old ones were one level hotter and had the resistor feature, even though the leads had the resistor feature.
After the plug install, it idles ok, but pops when switching gears but not on deceleration, and it is misfiring worse than when it went into the shop. Up to this point in my ownership, it has run cleanly and smoothly, so now it seems a different bike.

Any ideas about what is going on, would be really appreciated.

Thanks,

Robb

Welcome to the forum

Check the ignition timing,points,coils and spark plug cables
Get a service manual at the home page of this side for your bike. (scroll down,manuals are located on the right site)
Please put some info to your account profile to get a better help.

Michael

When was the last time the valves were adjusted?
Steve

Hello, Kunklerobb, and WELCOME to KZr!

Question -- Is an aftermarket in-line fuel filter installed?

But, some bad gasoline or water in the tank can be an issue even with a good in-line fuel filter.

If not already done, would assure that the advancer is clean and lubed and properly functioning (a timing light allows viewing the advancer moving back and forth while blipping the throttle).

Was imo a good idea to revert to the stock non-R spark plugs NGKB8ES.
The existing spark plug caps (boots) may also contain a resistor.
Could also consider replacing the leads with Dyna solid wire core spark plug wires (available at Z1 Enterprises), which come with pre-installed non-resistor caps, and last longer than the resistor style plug wires.

I prefer running without any resistance in the secondary loop (meaning a combination of solid core plug wires, non-resistant caps, and non-R spark plugs). If a resistance component is preferred in order to reduce radio interference, would use the stock arrangement, which is solid core plug wires, resistor caps, and non-R plugs.

Good Fortune!