Confessions of a Carburetor Virgin

I knew I had to do it but I was putting it off. Finally had some nice weather and a bit of time, so I hauled the carbs off the bike last night. More like exploratory surgery than anything else - I need to pull them off again to work on them, but I just wanted to make sure I could get them off, have a look inside, and get them back on without breaking anything.

So a few observations and questions are in line:
- they were not shiny-clean inside, but no "crud" in the bowls. This is good, right?
- the mains are 110. Does that sound right for a 650->700 with 4-into-1 one and K&N filter in the airbox?
- the pilot, I assume, is that skinny looking brass post with holes in it. since it has no screw slot, how do you get that sucker out without damaging it? I couldn't see any numbers on it.
- the needle is sitting in a brass part that says "2.0". Does that mean anything?
- I noticed that the mains had a bit of screwdriver damage - like they were installed with the wrong size screwdriver. Is this a problem?

I didn't have time to check out the clip setting because I was running out of daylight.

I also must say, the worst part of the whole adventure was working with those m$#^%$ f%^*%& piece of s^%$ air-box hoses! Glad I've got new ones coming form z1e.

So that was fun! What should I be doing next time I take these guys off?

Joey, Your questions indicate that you would do well to purchase a Kaw factory service manual or Clymers manual for your bike. These books identify components and give you an idea their function and how to remove them during a rebuild or disassembly.

Hi WG,

I have the Clymer book. I never was good at reading the documentation The book seems to be skimpy on the details about the pilot - or I could be just looking right at it and not seeing it (which has happened before ). I never missed classes because I needed to be told by a person, not by a book.

I don't mean to harrass everyone with pointless questions. I have just never done this kind of stuff before so I tend to second-guess everything.

Joey, You have great questions... only these questions will lead to more questions of the same sort. It is easier to read over the part that talks about disassembly and then reassembly as they have pictures with arrows pointing to the pilot jets (the things you think are pilot jets are actually the enrichener circuit pickups - leave them alone as you will mess them up if you try and remove them). Once you have a general idea on what the parts are, what they do and where they are located, then specific questions are easier to handle. From your initial questions, we won't get to the point quickly where you can do less harm than good.

I HATE reading instructions... or reading for that matter but I have a copy of almost every service manual out there... the reason is that sometimes you just have to do a little reading and research before digging into a project. Essentially, your questions said, Joey is looking for a general carb tutorial. Could folks here do that? Perhaps, but Clymer already has so why reinvent the wheel? Just look over the carb chapter in Clymer and THEN ask away. I am always glad to help...

Last tip... I have rebuilt dozens and dozens of Kaw KZ style engines. I still take the time to re-read the KZ1000 service manual chapters on engine rebuilding everytime before doing another because it just helps you keep a lot of stuff in mind that can fall through the cracks otherwise.

Post edited by: wiredgeorge, at: 2007/08/15 13:14