First Bike

This is my first bike and I have never really worked on one or a car. i was wondering how easy it is to clean the carbs on a 77 kz900? I am handy and I can change the oil or tune up a car, so putting things back together isn't a problem, but what about the balancing and that is all foreign to me.

If anybody can help that woild be great.

Welcome to KZR.

The process of cleaning carbs is not a difficult one. My first recommendation, however, would be to get yourself a service manual--preferably the factory one (though a Clymer or Haynes manual may suffice if you can't find the KZ manual). They are often available on E-Bay.

If you want to do a complete and thorough cleaning, you will need to compleley disassemble the carbs, and remove each carb from the rack. Before you do this, make a note of where the idle screw is set (how high the throttle slides are raised) so that you can approximate it when reassembling. Remove all rubber & plastic components. You can get a gallon bucket of carb dip from most auto parts stores. They usually come with a metal basket which you can fill with carb parts and soak in the solution. Do not soak any rubber or plastic parts as the solution will melt them.

If you don't want to go that far, just remove the float bowls, caps, and slides from each carb. Remove the jets and any rubber o-rings you can find. Spray the hell out of the carbs with carb cleaner spray, then blow out all the air passages with an air nozzle.

It is usually not recommended that you use any metalic wire to clean clogged jets, as metal could possibly disfigure the jet orifice, causing the fuel to not atomize properly. Instead, you can sometimes use fishing line to clear clogged jets.

When you get it back together, you will need to balance the carbs, first doing a bench sync, then an "on the bike" sync with the engine running. The bench sync can be done without any special tools. You will need vacuum gauges or some other measuring device to sync them on the bike. This will all be explained in the manual. And feel free to post any more detailed questions here. We'd be happy to help.

a 900 for your first bike?
take it easy so you don't kill yourself.

like skyman said, get yourseld a manual and don't be afraid to ask questions.

oh yeah, welcome!

Welcome loucifer111, pretty bad a** bike for your first ride! Be careful dude, these 30 year old bikes are not to be under estimated! As Skyman says, it's really not a big deal to disasemble your carbs and clean them. Below is a pic of what you'll end up with, no stress though! Just messin with ya, do one carb at a time and you'll be fine.

Thanks for all your help guys.