fuel isnt making it to the carbs

cleaned the tank last night. re insstalled it, to see if the thing would start. nothing. emptied the carb bowls, stale fuel in them. put back everthing together. put new fuel in. first question. when the fuel comes out the petcock, should it drip, or flow out? second question. if the needles in the carbs are clogged, could it be why the bowls are staying empty and the fuel is not making it all the way to the engine? I'm no mechanic, I'll need all the advice I can get to prove to the wife that this 800 dollar purchase wasn't a waste! Thanks people!

The gas should flow out of the petcock. Make sure there is not a fuel filter in the line that has clogged up.

A 77 KZ650 should have a gravity feed petcock? If so, then put the petcock in the OFF position, remove the gas hose from the petcock and momentarily turn the tap to the ON position. Gas should flow in a steady stream. If it doesn't... you didn't give any clear detail but you mentioned drip... if it drips, the petcock is the fault and needs to be removed and cleaned and likely rebuilt. At this point, I would be considering replacement. When you remove it, keep in mind there are filtering screens on both fuel pipes inside the tank and these must be unobstructed.

Some kz's like mine came with an automatic fuel valve.
These require a suction hose from the carbs. you can tell them apart by looking for two connections.
One is to the carbs,the other is the suction hose.
You can buy the kit to fix it from dennis kirk or kz ent online. I'm thinking Your bike might have a different tank on it.Also if it has this type of valve,it will have a position that says PRIME and gas will flow in this position,so you can ride like that,or as GEORGE said it's just clogged up. If the carbs are screwed up, send em to WIREDGEORGE as he is an expert in that field.

Thanks, I'll remove it, and try to clean it the best I can. Something's gotta be obstructing the flow. And then I'll go from there. I'll let you guys know what's going on

Alright, how about this. The bike has been sitting around for 7 years in a garage, less than a quarter tank of fuel in it. And no fuel stabilizer. How nice! You guys think everything is clogged up? I think I should take the whole thing down, piece by piece, and clean everything; clean or replace petcock, change fuel lines and filter, dismantle the carbs and make them soak in carb cleaner for half hour or so each, but one at a time! I'm not about to say "Hmmm, look at that, spare parts!"

If it has sit that long ,yes I'd drain everything and clean the carbs. When gas sits for along time it evaporates and leaves nasty varnish gunk on everything.
Let the carbs soak for a couple of days then clean them up all pasages have to be cleaned.

HOGEATER(CHUCK)

disassembled the petcock, changed in-line fuel filter as well as fuel line, disassembled the carbs, cleaned everything, now the thing starts! But, I guess since I disassembled the carbs I fucked up the fuel air mixture.... I just need to find a shop that will adjust them. Next step will be a safety, then.... riding time!

SebRain77 wrote:

disassembled the petcock, changed in-line fuel filter as well as fuel line, disassembled the carbs, cleaned everything, now the thing starts! But, I guess since I disassembled the carbs I fucked up the fuel air mixture.... I just need to find a shop that will adjust them. Next step will be a safety, then.... riding time!

Famous last words, need to find a shop that will adjust them.

And when that fails, send them to wiredgeorge.

wg rules!

Yeah I know! I'm still thinking about it, but WG is a loooong way from where I am! I'm just wondering how much that would take... I'm kinda anxious to ride it!

SebRain77 wrote:

Yeah I know! I'm still thinking about it, but WG is a loooong way from where I am! I'm just wondering how much that would take... I'm kinda anxious to ride it!

Unless you really, really luck out with a local shop, comments you might get will include:

1)bring the bike in, I've never seen one before
2)wow, your bike is older than my mechanic!
3)what can be so tough about working on carbs?
4)good luck, parts aren't available any more

Contact 'wiredgeorge' for a time estimate...

Just turn all the screws all the way in and
then back them out 1 1/2 turns.The should at
least idle now even if you have to turn the
idle screw in on the throttle linkage.If you
adjust any screw do all four carbs the same
amount.If the engine speeds up,you went the
right way.If not, try the same amount in the
oposite direction.After finding where the engine
seems to idle the fastest and the smoothest,
(take notes as you make your adjustments)
adjust your idle screw back down to around
1100 rpm.If you have to set it much higher than
1100rpm to get a smooth idle,the carbs probably
need syncronizing.