Help w/KZ1100 Carbs

Hello all,
New poster here. I have an 82 KZ1100 that has been sitting for a few years. It starts immediately (w/intermittent high revs), but the bike stumbles (below 3K rpm. Realsitcally, how good is Seafoam? Will a few tanks clean this up, or do the carbs have to come off for a cleaning? Also, I have read a few posts on the alternator cover leaking. Well, I also get the left foot stain. It appears that it is the grommet for the alternator leads (I replaced the alternator ~5-8 years ago). Is it possible that there is a crankshaft leak that is allowing too much oil in there?
Great forum. Thanks, Jeff

Jeff, don't waste your time/money on the Seafoam... what if the airjets are partly obstructed? Seaform won't get there... Take the carbs off and clean them. As far as your grommet leak issue, the J motor design is a pretty good one. You can't be getting EXTRA oil in there... only a little goes into the alternator cover and it is normal... you leak when you sit the bike on sidestand where oil pools right over that gromment. Buy a new grommet and remove the cover and replace the leaking bit. You will need to cut the three alternator wires to feed through the gromment so be prepared to solder them back up.

Thanks for the reply. How does the oil get into the alternator area? Is it an orifice or a seal? Mine seams to leak when I am riding and the wind cause the leak to get on the pipes, rear bag, etc.

There is a fairly large opening that allows oil into the stator/generator area and oil in that area is very normal. The leak is NOT.

Here is how you fix problem:

1. have new generator cover gasket on hand. have some hi-temp silicon sealer on hand. have a new gromment on hand. have new wires on hand.

2. drain the oil from your bike and put the bike on centerstand.

3. remove the generator cover

4. cut wires a little way from the windings (three yellow wires)

5. remove old gromment and clean any old sealer

6. You will have to assess how good the wire is up by the connector near the battery box. I would just cut the wires there if the connection and wiring to the connector is good and solder THREE new stator wires to the old wires still joined to the connector and use some heat shrink to cover the soldered connections.

7. run the wires through the gromment and solder them to the three stator wire windings.

8. Put the gromment in place and seal the inside with the silicon goop. The J motor gromment is a better design than the older engines and won't leak if it is fairly new and sealed. Make sure that none of the soldered connections touch each other. You can put heat shrink over them if they are close to touching.

9. put stuff back together the way it came apart.

Thanks again. On the Z1 Enterprises page, there is only one grommet that I can find and it states that it is for a 900/1000. In your comment, you mention the newer grommet design? Is this the J motor style? www.z1enterprises.com/detail.aspx?ID=373

You can do your research by looking up the part number on buykawasaki.com -> owner info -> parts diagrams; then looking up your bike year/model and finding the correct diagram for the alternator cover. Once you get the part number, plug it in up at the top and and hit a return and the software tells you all the models it applies to. If you have the part number, I suspect Z1Enterprises.com can order the grommet for you. BTW: Most of the Kaw parts have odd names and the grommet handle is my name for this rubber bit. You could call them as well... I think both Jeff and Steve are in Ohio or on their way to the Mid-Ohio AHMRA event but they have another fella there who may be able to help.