Trying to get my 77 KZ650 on the Road

Well Thanks Guys. I did the WG Mod. And she starts right up. Well, I had a problem getting it to start up the first time. I tried and tried staring fluid, run for a sec and then stall out. I did not know what to think. I double checked my wiring it was great. Looked in the gas tank almost empty. :pinch: I got some gas and she started right up. :woohoo: What can I say not the brightest moment, but I got thru it.:laugh: Well the real test is when I go to start it up tomorrow, after it has sat for a while. But, it was great I just turned it off and wait a while it she would start right up. Very pleased. Thanks again guys. Night and day difference. I would recomend this mod to anyone having hard time starting. Simple, Cheap, quick improvement.

Well, I started looking into the brake light issue. I did get a bulb from the local auto parts store your standard 1157 two way bulb. Fit right and I have a great tail light now. But when I hit the brake No response. So I took the brake light switch apart, simple design. Pretty cruddy in side, I took it apart, cleaned it up, put it back together. STILL NO BRAKE LIGHT. The Brake light on my dash is on, when it is connected and when it is disconnected it flashes. (thats the brake switch)Is there a fuse or a relay somewhere I am not seeing. Or do I need to find a different bulb. I think the switch is good, but I have been wrong before.:whistle: I get no brake light when I hit the front brake as well. Which makes me think it maybe something other then the rear switch. Again any help would be greatly appreciated. On another note: I saw a ton of bikes out riding tonight, probably some kind of bike night somewhere or Run. Well over a hundred bikes in groups, sport bike's, harley's everyone riding together. Don't see that to often around here.

If the light on the dash is lit, the switch is good. Check the wire connection under the seat. You said you have a dvom. Well see if you are getting 12v to both prongs inthe tail light when you hit the brake.

glad to read that another 650 out and about. If you got pods you might want to go up a size in main jet. I've got pods, and 4-1 pipe, with electronic ignition. I have 110 mains. good luck.


Post edited by: Snakebyte, at: 2007/07/19 07:46

Well, I came home from work and tried to start the bike. No luck:( she needed a shot of starting fluid. Once I get her started she starts up without a complaint. Its just a cold start I have trouble with. So the WG mod was an improvement, but it looks like I need to focus on my carbs. I took a ride this afternoon, I had trouble keeping an idle. I would ride and come to a stop and the idle would be up around 4k rpm's. I adjusted it a few times back down. I have also noticed that the run off tubes for the carbs are spitting fuel when I let the bike sit and run. I will check out the the voltage for the tail lights. I need to return the multimeter I just bought, it stopped working. I used it one time. Harbor frieght cheapo. Well, i have been tring to avoid having to pull the carbs off and attempt to rebuild them. It starting to look like I have no choice or at least get a new set of main jets. You said your running with 110 mains Snakebyte. How did you come to that choice. Any suggestions would be great. thanks.

Deeeyam have I been having fun rebuilding my 77 650 C1.

Yea, the carb rebuild kits cost me about 120$ for all four. I must admit that it was pretty well worth it. If not just for the experience of learning the insides of the carbs.

I re-synched the carbs using four pieces of coat hanger wire. And the mixture settings I have been messing with for months. Not to fear. I have even seen plans to build a manometer out of little glass jars and piping.

Yes you will need to re-jet AND re-needle your mains. Trust me/us on this one....

If those overflows on the bottom of your carbs are spilling fuel, then you have a faulty float level/stuck or worn float valve problem. Good idea to check float levels and valve condition. Sorry, but I can't recommend not pulling the carbs off for a rebuild. For the float level adjustments I used clear vinyl tubing used for aquariums shoved in the lower-most holes, with that big flat topped screw in it, on the bottom of the float bowls. Run up against the side of the carb, the clear tubes will show just how full the float bowls are filling.

There is an aftermarket ignition system that does away with the mechanical points altogether. I would recommend looking into it. Prior owner of my bike installed one on mine. I also saw one, in a box, at a local bike wrecking yard.

My 650 had a hot power wire that went up the central wire harness, burning it's fellow wires insulation along the way. I replaces the whole f'ing thing, and fixed all my electrical problems.

I second the recommendation that you use your voltmeter to check your brake wires. You can follow the power from the battery through the switch to the lamp by checking voltage. Or you can check continuity of the hardware by checking resistance via the Ohm meter.

My brake light has two filaments if I remember correctly. One is for the running lights, the other is for the brake lights. The lamp should have two contact points on the bottom to match the two contact points in the plug. The lamp shaft serves as the common ground to match with the lamp holder ground, of course. Be sure that there is good contact as corossion (sp) may be one of the problems.

Check the power to the rear brake switch, and that the switch is actuating properly. The front brake is more difficult to observe mechanically.

Happy to help if I may.

Seattle out...

I am going to start researching getting some rebuild kits or at least some main jets. When I bought the bike the old guy that sold it to me gave me 1 rebuild kit. So I guess I need to find 3 more. The syncronizing of the carbs is what has me reluctant to rebuild the carbs. But it needs to be done. :pinch: I am going to work on the brakes this weekend. After I return that fualty multimeter I bought. I believe I have a good spark now I will double check this when I get a working multimeter. Thanks for the advise. keep it coming. If there is anyone out there local in the clearwater area wanting to enjoy my fun. Let me know.

My bike sat for 18 years and I simply pulled the carbs and cleaned them REALLY good. As a bike mechanic I stongly suggest replacing your float needles and seats. Your pilot(smaller) jets are probably restricted. Go to your local Yamaha dealer and get some of their concentrated carb cleaner. The bottle says you can run it through a remote resevoir into your bike. I suggest however that you pull the carb rack intact, disassemble and soak the components in that kick a@# Yamaha carb cleaner. Worked great for me!

srobie1 wrote:

Well, I came home from work and tried to start the bike. No luck:( she needed a shot of starting fluid. Once I get her started she starts up without a complaint. Its just a cold start I have trouble with. So the WG mod was an improvement, but it looks like I need to focus on my carbs. I took a ride this afternoon, I had trouble keeping an idle. I would ride and come to a stop and the idle would be up around 4k rpm's. I adjusted it a few times back down. I have also noticed that the run off tubes for the carbs are spitting fuel when I let the bike sit and run. I will check out the the voltage for the tail lights. I need to return the multimeter I just bought, it stopped working. I used it one time. Harbor frieght cheapo. Well, i have been tring to avoid having to pull the carbs off and attempt to rebuild them. It starting to look like I have no choice or at least get a new set of main jets. You said your running with 110 mains Snakebyte. How did you come to that choice. Any suggestions would be great. thanks.

www.factorypro.com/tech_tuning_procedure...igh_rpm_engines.html

I used this link and lots of jets. I had 102 jets to begine with Stock. Word of advise is if you happen to scare a jet or nic it, replace it. I had a jet with a tapper in the slot were the screw driver is supose to go and that threw off my mixture in that one cylinder.

Well thanks for the suggestions. I think what I am going to do is pull the carbs off the bike. And really clean them up. I will probably let them soak in some carb cleaner. Like kzluke suggested. I really feel that they are pretty close to were they need to be. I beleive that there is really only one carb giving me the hard time and thats number one. Thats the one with the fuel puking out the overflow tube. Also when I dropped the bowls on the carbs and cleaned them, it didn't look all that great. It was pretty fowled up in there. The others really didn't look all that bad, they were fairly clean and in general good shape. Should I attempt to just rebuild the one carb seeing how I already have the one rebuild kit? Or should I hold off and rebuild all if the cleaning does not work? Whats that rule "if it aint broke don't fix it". On another note my bike was missing the right side cover (thats the brake side). I won a pair of covers on ebay. They were off a 79 kz650SR. I got lucky because my bike is not an SR. The cover I needed fit, but the other side didn't. Don't matter cuase I already had a good one. I plan on reselling it on ebay. Thought I would see if anyone reading here needed one. Make me an offer. It is great shape and has the emblem as well. Reddish color. I also got a set of coils I bought from someone that aren't the right coils for my bike. I think there off a 81 kz650 electronic style ingnition. Going to sell those as well. If you need them let know. The coils are in great shape. Not looking to get rich, make me an offer. Thanks again for the suggestions keep them coming.

As has been discussed here lately, look very closely the metal overflow tube inside the carb bowl. Sometime they get cracked. Even a hairline crack will leak fuel.

If you see such a crack, search and find the thread to see how to fix. Some folks use shrink tube or a metal sleeve. I've never done it, so I can't say.

Thanks i will have to inspect them close when i get in there again thanks for the tip.

Well, I started. I took the carbs off tonight and started cleaning and disassambling. I pulled the main jets off. VERY Nasty. They were filthy, I also noticed that the O-Rings were completely shot. I soaked them in a bucket of gunk brand carb cleaner I bought this afternoon. It did an OK job not good enough though. I am going to take them into my work on monday and let them soak in an ultrasonic cleaner. The carb cleaner did a good job of cleaning the bowls. Need to clean up the floats they are pretty fowled up on a couple of the carbs. Or should I replace them? I spayed the crap out of the carbs with some Chemtrol B12 and blew off with air. Not bad, came out pretty clean. I will do that a few more times to get it all out of there. I was inspecting the parts as I took them off had a hard time reading the jet sizes (I have great eyesight) but could not tell, I beleive it read 105. I was going to replace the one. I have a (one) carb rebuild kit, but the kit does not have that size 105. Can I buy just the jets, say in a kit of different sizes? I am going to start searching around to see if I can. I am going to also get some O-Rings to replace the bad ones on the mains. If anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate them.