78 kz1000 ltd carb setup

Im new hear and have spent a lot of time reading and searching the archives. Ive found a ton of helpfull info, so hear goes. Im nearing the end of my project and trying to fine tune my setup. I have a 78 kz1000 ltd with i think to be the 26 carbs. i just did a full rebuild and tuned them the best i can. The bike seems to be running strong and smooth but im unsure that i might be a little lean yet. Here is a pic of my plug, and here are my specs. I have a brand new vance hines 4 into1 sidewinder with unpacked baffle and modified airbox not pods but better breathing and diff filter the rest is stock. When i did the rebuild the mains were 102.5 and secondarys were 15 my kits came with 107.5 and 17.5 so i used them to try to rich the mix a little. According to several posts here i think my 17.5 is close but i think my main should be around 120. looking at my plug is this correct am i still too lean? All i need is an educated start point. Thanks in advance for the help.
krazyjay

doesn't look bad to me...mine look similar to that.

thanks for that i want to make sure i dont run it too lean for any period of time.

Your plugs aren't lean... The jets you got in your rebuild kit were for a stock 77 kz1000.... 107.5/17.5. I find the 78 carbs work best with #110 mains and #20 pilots and the jet needles clipped to 3rd slot.

sounds good ill give it a shot thanks for the help. ill up some pics when shes finished.

I just ordered a set of pods with 117.5 mains to go with them. Ill setup em up and tune it and hopefully itl be close. i just done a fuse block update to resolve some electrical issues and im rebuilding my forks and front end now while im waiting for the pods to come.

ok this is it. I installed a set of emgo pods with 117.5 main jets that came with them as a setup, set the needles to the third slot with 17.5 pilots and my air screws are at about 1 1/2 turns out it has a vance hines 4 to 1 sidewinder with unpacked baffle its the best i can get it and it runs crappy from the start but smooths out once im moving, it ran better on my stock airbox with the 107.5 jets. Any ideas what i should do next?

Post edited by: krazyjay99, at: 2007/09/07 15:48

ive just setback all my setting as the new setup was not working at all. im on a stock airbox vance hines pipe and running 17.5 pilot and 117.5 main. my needle is set to the fifth slot as anything less isnt working. I guess ive been unable to get a working combination here. the next thing to do is set my mains back to 107.5 as the 117.5 are to rich it seems. spent 60 bucks on pods and cant use them with out a good jet combination witch i havent been able to find yet. Anyone got any good suggestions to start all over from scratch?? I dont have big bucks to spend and would like to do it myself but i dont yet fully understand the full working of my carbs if i did i could probably figure this one out. All i want is to rejet to run my pods and pipe ive seen many combinations here but not sure witch one is right for my 78kz1000ltd.

Beware of imitations.With tapered K&Ns,a pipe,
17.5 pilots,middle needle notch,and 125
mains my KZ1000 ran great in 77 and 78.
The uni filters were terrible,and the non
tapered K&Ns had a lean spot at 5k rpm..

wow tim i was born and raised in portage and now live near toledo but still in mi. Are you saying that the cheap filters i have may not tune out?

WG what do you think? Earlier you posted 110 main 20 pilot and 3rd clip position. Will this work with the cheap pod filters I have and my vance hines pipe? ive tried a lot of combos last couple days with no luck still figuring out the complicated carb thing.
78kz1000 ltd with 26s vance hines pipe and Emgo pods. my original jets were 102.5 and 15 and clipped to 5th slot. Thanks all youve been helpfull.

Tim it sounds good but i think my 78 was jetted a little leaner than 77 maybe carb guts were different im not sure wiregeorge seams to be the guru on this im just trying to learn what i can as i go. It seams this is the only arena ive got left, like they say save the hardest for last.


Not afraid to admit when im wrong.
{and thats alot}