1978 KZ200 Carburators - Getting a new replacement for PW26

I just recently bought a 1978 KS200. I have been going through the different systems on the bike to check what might be needed. It has a total of 4400 miles on the odomemeter. So it has not been used alot. I did find that it is running very rich. So I disassembled the carb, it was covered with varnish, looks like the fuel was never drained before storing it for winter. I put all the parts, except the rubber fittings into a bath of lacquer thinner for about a couple of days. After drying a I assembled it, so far it still runs rich. I have changed the needle clip with no change. I also bought a Kawaski fuel gauge tool to set the carb fuel level. So far no dice. I have found that the main jeb is a 97.5 instead of the 110. Can not read the pilot jet. Also the plug in the bike was a hotter plug as well. I have on order a rebuild kit from Motrocycle Carbs, but it is still on backorder. I do have a question regarding getting a new carb. Does anyone have an idea of which Keihin carb available today would be a good replacement for the PW26? What about another brand?

Hi Ken!
I hope that the rebuild goes well for you. I would imagine that you are probably better off with a rebuild than trying to get a different carb.. certainly a lot cheaper. I found my wife's bike was running rich as well, but after cleaning, tinkering, and running it quite a bit, (it was stored for over a decade before it became ours) it now seems like it might be running a bit lean. after soaking it in thinner, did you blow out all the jets and passages with carb cleaner and then compressed air, and check the condition of the jet needle? I found that doing that and replacing the o ring for the air screw helped with the running issues I was having.
good luck and keep me posted on how it goes.
-JP

Thank you for your comments.

Basically I am almost finished. I had ordered a rebuild kit for the PW26, and just recently got it. I re did a strip down of the carb and soaked it in Berryman's B12 for 2 days. Then I used canned ari to blow out all the passages and installed all the new parts. I also put some Sea Foam in the gas tank. It has continued to give me trouble with running rich. I then changes the mani jet back to the one that was in the carb before. The new jet was a 105 and the older one was a 97.5. Still no real change. I then moved the clip on the needle to the top most position from the factory spot at the mid point. Still not a real change. Did some more reading in the manual and changed the piolet screw from the 1 and 1/4 turns to 2 turns out. This leans out the 0 to 1/4 trottle. I did notice that when I openned up the trottle, it did an rpm drop before it started revving up. So far it has been running pretty correctly since I did this, so I still have to take it out on the road and see how it runs. The plug color was good after the last test run.

Sounds like your bike is a perfect choice for a "Wired George" relay modification. His website is www.wgcarbs.com He has designed a relay circuit bypassing the current dropping wiring in the older bikes harness.

After doing this the bike becomes more reliable and an easy starter.Many people here have done it to their bikes with no more sooty black sparkplugs.

George also runs a business rebuilding older bikes carbs and can offer advice if you are having trouble.

Did you check anything besides the carb after you determined there was a problem? A dirty or overly restrictive air filter can easily lead to a rich running problem.

How did you initially decide you were running rich?

BTW do yourself a favor and get a fine wire plug for your KZ200...tore my hair out trying to get mine idling reliably with a standard plug. Haven't had a problem since with the fine wire...

Basically the bike started to die at idle on the first ride. When I got back I pulled the plug and it was black with soot. Pulled the carb and when I took off the bowl it had green coating and there were pieces of the green material loose. The timing was correct, value gap was correct as well. It needed a new rectifier, which I replaced. The chain needed to be tighten as well. It currently is running pretty good now. The thing that I do not like is that I have lean it out to get this to work. The plug that is in it is the one listed in the manual. I also checked it's gap as well and it was correct. It is the hotter plug listed. I think that this bike has run rich in the past and some one made the adjustments in the jets, clip poistion on the needle and going to the hotter plug to get it to run. I tested the coil primary and secondary resistance and they were within spec per the manual. I have tested the voltage from the power lead to the coil to ground and it was 12.34 VDC.

I went to the website and printed out the steps. I also tested the voltage going to the coil and it was 12.34 VDC. I will make the relay mod anyway as it could help later on. Bike s currently running without fouling the plug, just concerned with how lean it has to be run.