new guy with 76 kz900 and some questions

Hello all-

Figured I could kill two birds with one stone and introduce myself and ask some questions at the same time. My name is Ben and I just got my first Kaw. I'm from Ft. Wayne, IN. I've been riding for about 12 years now. Now for the questions-

1. Carbs are pretty messed up and I am planning on rebuilding them. I found the kits on z1 ent., don't know if that is the best place to buy them or not?

2.There is a 4 into 1 system and pods this bike, but I pulled the carbs apart and I've got 120 mains and 17.5 pilots in it. From reading on here it sounds like I need maybe a 20 pilot and a 125 main?

3.On sudco's site they list a small and a large slotted jet for the vm28. I know from reading on here that I have vm26's I think. But they say on there site that my bike takes these main jets and the jet description says for vm 28's. Anyhow they look like mine except I can't tell from there picture if I have the big or small one's. If it helps the stock jets in my bike are plastic.

4. Do you guys have any preference between a clymer's or a haynes's manual? I would prefer the more technical of the two.

I think thats all for now, I appreciate yall taking the time to read and (hopefully) answer some of my questions. This thing is kind of a basket case, I'm sure you've all been there:)

Thanks in advance for all your help,
Ben

what makes u think u need dif jets?have u made some mods? was the header and pods on when u bought the bike? was it running good at 1 time ?maybe they just need to be cleaned befor u make changes?? any more info for us?:whistle:

Thanks for the quick reply,

I bought the bike off of a buddy of mine. It has never run quite right. I cleaned the carbs for him when he still had it and it ran better but it is lacking quite a bit in the power dept. I figured a good place to start would be to rebuild the carbs and I figured while I was in there I would jet it. My jet guesses are based on the fact that according to buykawasaki.com, the jets in my bike are the stock size for it. According to info. I found on this site(especially the filebase), I should go up +2 on the pilot and +7.5 on the main with the header and pods. That would put me at 127.5 on the mains and 19.5 on the jets, so 125 and 20 were just close guesses. I don't neccessarily have to jet it, I just thought with the header and pods, I may as well while I had the carbs apart. I quess I just figured you gotta start somewhere. Hope this clears things up a bit.

Thanks,
Ben

No love for the new guy huh:) Seriously nobody has any good advice for a kz newbie? Anything I can be more specific on?

Thanks,
Ben

yea, with a header and pods you deffinatly will have to re jey. It's probally running lean, because you said there is more popping than normal. Cleaning the carbs is always a good thing to do, because it dosent take a whole lot to mees up carbs on a jap bike like ours. As far as jetting in connserned, 125 on the mains and 20 on the jets is probally a good place to start, remember you can always fine tune from there

Thanks for the help! Any idea on whether I need the small or large slotted jets on the sudco page?

for that im not sure, maby wiredgeorge could chime in

Anybody? Somebody's gotta know which jets those carbs take-and I promise not to send this to the top anymore-you guys gotta be getting tired of seeing the same post pop up:)

Well, our resident carbureter guru, WiredGeorge is offline due to family stuff right now, and I don't know when he'll be back.

Welcome, Ben.
I'm not even going to try to give you carburetor advice. But I will send you the Kawasaki Shop Manual for the KZ900 on CD. It's a .pdf copy of a copy, but it's readable, and has info that you can use, in addition to your Clymers.
It's yours for the asking, just send me a PM with a mailing address.
Oh, it's not exactly free. You'll have to do a favor for another rider (preferably a KZ rider) in return.

Thank you for all of your help everybody, I really appreciate it. I did keep seeing everybody talk about wiredgeorge being the carb expert- I sure hope everything is ok with his family, that stuff is WAY more important than any bike stuff. Thanks again, I think I'm well on my way.

You guys rule
Ben

I am a newbie also on the site, but I have been working and riding on my bike steady for the last three months (BIG DEAL!). Anyway, I heard you say your lacking in the power department. What is the symptom?

1. Do you lose power when you quickly go full throttle and then the bike recovers, or do you have quick response all the way through the turns (meaning - 1/4 throttle, 1/2 throttle, 3/4 throttle, full throttle)?

2. Is the bike just underperforming in the power department?

The reason for all the question is that when I got my 80 kz1000 I immediatley thought I had a carb problem, but then found out it was all dominio's!!! My problem originated in the valve clearance. I had none, so my exhaust valve wasnt closing and there for I always look like I'm running rich, and my compression sucks at 80! I have shims on their way to correct this. I look rich because of all the carbon build up on my exhaust valves.

Have you done a compression check?

New, but trying to help!