slide height?

Hey all, I just finished rebuilding my carbs and plan to sync the throttle slides visually before I reinstall them and balance the carbs from there. Does anyone know the recommended slide height for TK carbs on an '82 KZ550?

Thanks in advance,
Nick in MA

The best way i have found is to use a wire feeler gauge to set them all the same then you can fine tune with the gauges.i use a small diameter wire like a paper clip.the important thing is to get all the same gap at bottom edge of the slide.

The point of bench sync-ing mechanical slide carbs is more to get the slides where they open and close in the middle of the idle screw adjustment range. Open the slides slightly with the idle adjust screw and then close all the slides and then use a wire to make sure that all the slides are fairly equal. The point of using the idle adjust knob is to make sure that you can open and close the slides in the idle adjustment knob range. Then you will need to sync on the bike with a manometer.

Thanks guys. I was wondering how to set the main idle adjust screw before getting it running. I'll use the procedures you've given and bench sync 'em up before I put them on the bike and balance them.

What procedure do you recommend for first starting up and subsequent tuning? Right now, I have the individual idle air screws at 1-3/8 turns out, and I'll have the carbs bench synced. Should I (1) use the main idle adjust screw first to get it running at the right idle speed, then (2) adjust the individual idle screws to get the idle mixture right, and then finally (3) balance the carbs? Or is there another, more effective order? Or do I have to do the whole process repeatedly until everything converges?

Thanks again!
Nick