Big mistake... I need carbs!!!

Hi. I made the big mistake of sending my carbs out to get rebuilt. The place advertises 7 to 8 weeks turnaround it has now been 11 weeks and the carbs are still sitting on a shelf, with now idea when they will be done. I never got any notice of such a delay and if I cared to wait for such a long back log like most company's offer when they can not full fill a order on time as per a contract to do work.

So I need to buy a set of carbs to put on my bike and get some seat time in before I am redeployed this August.

Does any one know of a set of carbs I could buy to put on a
1983 Kawasaki kz1100 D2 not sure what brand will work on this bike. I should be able to pick up a cheap set on EBay just not sure what kind to buy. Can you help me decide what to buy?

Check with Wired George - wgcarbs.com

TexasKZ wrote:

Check with Wired George - wgcarbs.com

I did that already:
"In any case, there isn't much to be said until I get to an order. I had a
tremendous number of orders come in during our pre-Christmas sale which
sort of messed up predictions on when orders will get completed. We should
be to your order soon... again, there is not a lot that can be updated
untiil we do reach the point where the order is actually being worked and
then we sometimes let the customer know of issues/problems and such but
until them, your carburetors are sitting in our storage area on a shelf
doesn't sound like it provides much info. There are still a number of
orders between where I am now and your order so I hate making predictions
in the event there are issues with any of the jobs that need to be worked
that cause us to have to spend more than average time on that order. We
are getting there and thank you for your patience. wg"

I got the same reply when I asked at the 8 week turnaround date.

I don't have time to worry about that anymore. I just want a set of carbs that I can fix and rebuild myself and install on my bike. I have not even ridden the bike yet and now running out of time.

So does anybody know of a set of carbs that would fit a kz1100 D2 I could look for on Ebay!

Thanks

Man I feel you ya. Great looking bike. IMO, I would aak one more time to complete your rebuild asap. If you do not get a different answer, a specific date or more acceptable range then ask for your carbs back.

I recently bought a 77 KZ650 with very gummed up carbs. I odered a carb rebuild kit. They go for like $25 per carb. I ordered mine from my local Kawasaki dealer for an amount higher but reasonable. A buddy of mine has the carb cleaning kit and solution. We are going to tear into them in the next couple of weekends. Back to your quandry. I would either be patient if this person is some sort of carb/rebuilder guru or I would ask for them back and get some local help. Even your local Kawasaki shop should be able to rebuild the carbs. They just need to soak and clean parts and then replace needles, jets, o-rings and gaskets. BTW, What is the rush? It is early in the season. Do you have it for sale? A rally to attend? etc.

I am relatively new to this board but if someone promises a certain turnaround and then later can't deliver then they should be notifying you and asking what option is acceptable. Again Option 1: wait your turn and be patient, rebuilder communicates updates to you, Option 2 get your carbs back. If option 2 is your choice be sure the mechanic or rebuilder pays your shipping for the inconvenience. My 0.02. Really hope it works out.

I don't know anything about the 1100s, so not sure what your carb options are. But a quick search for kz1100 carbs on ebay turned these up:
cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/KAWASAKI-LTD-KZ1...dZ1QQsspagenameZWD1V

Best of luck to ya.

I know one thing. If someone was out of work right now and needed to make some good money. Rebuilding vintage carbs would be the way to go. When someone has 20 plus weeks of work sitting on the shelf thats serious demand. I can't believe that one of you regulars hasn't gotten into this business...Russ

Darryl, Bad form posting private emails on the web. Since you called me out publicaly, why not explain that I told you that your set would be ready within a week or two and and exact DAY couldn't be predicted because each set takes a varying amount of time. I explained that we ran a sale prior to Christmas and there were a bubble of orders I am slogging through.

Darryl, you sent three emails to me this week and I tried to answer your somewhat caustic notes as patiently and professionally as possible. I never PROMISED you anything. We generally keep to a 7-8 week turn around based on last year's turn around but this is only an estimate and sometimes it takes longer and sometimes not as long. I am a small business and do the vast bulk of the work myself and work 6 days a week 10-11 hours a day when the backup is larger than normal.

Darryl wrote:
Well that is not good news, If I had of know it was going to take more than 3 months to who knows how long I would not have placed a order. With such a large number of customer ahead of me. I'm for a lost of words now. I have been documenting the progress if this ride at.

www.kawasakimotorcycle.org/forum/vintage...-kz1100-spectre.html

It really feels like a preach of are contract. The no idea when It will be done is a real kick in the pants.

I just feel like crying over this whole mess.
UNQUOTE

---

Darryl, If you really want to be truthful, rather than make statements about promised turn around, and print the responses to the somewhat dramatic emails you sent, please just tell folks where you read about our turn around; it is on our IMPORTANT INFO link:

Turn Around Time For Work?

wiredgeorge Motorcycle Carburetors knows you want your carburetors as quickly as possible. We work diligently and turn out orders as quickly as possible. This season's workload has been very heavy so expect seven to eight weeks turn around. This is ONLY AN ESTIMATE based on last year's turn around but could be less or more. When many orders come in at the same time, this can create a bubble of work that can make the turn around significantly longer than normal. If special parts need to be ordered, we are at the mercy of our suppliers so turn around time may be longer. We do our best to provide a realistic backlog estimate but we can never foresee problems and delays from one set of carburetors to the next . You are encouraged to buy carburetors or rebuild work done in the your off-riding season for this reason. Do to the varying nature of working with vintage carburetors, there isn't an "average" length of time to finish a single set so trying to predict how long it will take to rebuild several sets can be frustrating so we will not attempt to give exact time estimates for work completion. If you ask for an update after sending in a set, keep in mind that we can't give a precise timetable but can only say for sure how long your set will take to get to once there are only one or two sets in front of it in the queue. We don't send status updates if your carburetors are in our storage area awaiting their turn in the queue since we can't be precise nor would there be anything useful to say.

I will still get to your order in the near future in spite of your public airing of this subject.

Not here to call any one out just stating facts of how it went. The page your are talking about has been updated today to read a little different now. "This is ONLY AN ESTIMATE based on last year's turn around but could be less or more. When many orders come in at the same time, this can create a bubble of work that can make the turn around significantly longer than normal."
This was not there this morning or this:
"keep in mind that we can't give a precise timetable but can only say for sure how long your set will take to get to once there are only one or two sets in front of it in the queue. We don't send status updates if your carburetors are in our storage area awaiting their turn in the queue since we can't be precise nor would there be anything useful to say.

And no were did your reply to my email say anything about a one week or 2. It says "We should be to your order soon" the same thing you told me 3 week ago.

I let you know I was documenting the updates to this bike so that you would know. did not try to pull a fast on on you as I started the post before I HIRED you. www.kawasakimotorcycle.org/forum/vintage...-kz1100-spectre.html

I'm just posting my experience with this matter which has been public sense the beginning. I even stuck up for you when others told me I was crazy to pay so much money. I payed for the service of 8 weeks give or take a week to have the carbs rebuilt.
Look at the first page of the post and you will see were I try to defend you and did not even know you or do business with you before.

I did not ask you to promise me anything I Hired you. Based on the info supplied we had a contract to do the work and it said 7 to 8 weeks it is now 11 weeks. Not once did you ever let me know how back logged you were and could not meet are contract to do the work, only after I contacted you.

Nothing private about a this upgrade. started long before I Hired you Sir:
Dated 11-30-2008 www.kawasakimotorcycle.org/forum/vintage...-kz1100-spectre.html

Here is the Important info page as it was before it was updated today.

Turn Around Time For Work?

wiredgeorge Motorcycle Carburetors knows you want your carburetors as quickly as possible. We work diligently and turn out orders as quickly as possible. This season's workload has been very heavy so expect seven to eight weeks turn around. If special parts need to be ordered, we are at the mercy of our suppliers so turn around time may be longer. We do our best to provide a realistic backlog estimate but we can never foresee problems and delays from one set of carburetors to the next . You are encouraged to buy carburetors or rebuild work done in the your off-riding season for this reason. Do to the varying nature of working with vintage carburetors, there isn't an "average" length of time to finish a single set so trying to predict how long it will take to rebuild several sets can be frustrating so we will not attempt to give exact time estimates for work completion.

Here is the new and updated page as of today you can see were it has been updated at the bottom of the page:
Turn Around Time For Work?

wiredgeorge Motorcycle Carburetors knows you want your carburetors as quickly as possible. We work diligently and turn out orders as quickly as possible. This season's workload has been very heavy so expect seven to eight weeks turn around. This is ONLY AN ESTIMATE based on last year's turn around but could be less or more. When many orders come in at the same time, this can create a bubble of work that can make the turn around significantly longer than normal. If special parts need to be ordered, we are at the mercy of our suppliers so turn around time may be longer. We do our best to provide a realistic backlog estimate but we can never foresee problems and delays from one set of carburetors to the next . You are encouraged to buy carburetors or rebuild work done in the your off-riding season for this reason. Do to the varying nature of working with vintage carburetors, there isn't an "average" length of time to finish a single set so trying to predict how long it will take to rebuild several sets can be frustrating so we will not attempt to give exact time estimates for work completion. If you ask for an update after sending in a set, keep in mind that we can't give a precise timetable but can only say for sure how long your set will take to get to once there are only one or two sets in front of it in the queue. We don't send status updates if your carburetors are in our storage area awaiting their turn in the queue since we can't be precise nor would there be anything useful to say.

As you can see they are different.

I will find a set of carbs on Ebay and rebuild them myself. If you do the work I paid $420 great if not I guess I am plum out of luck. I knew that going into this post. I got more important thing to worry about than a broken contract.

Thanks for the private messages everybody of support. I will take point no problem if you wish to cover my back great, it is nice to know I'm not alone.
I teach my kids that freedom is not free it comes at a cost. I refuse to be Punk'd at any cost. For me it is a big price to pay but I will not go quietly.

So please tell me if you know of different years and models of carbs that would fit on a 83 kz1100 D2

Best pricing I found for my Keihin CR Specials...
NOTE: They're not cheap ~ $700 but freakin aye are they sweet....

dynoman.net/carb/keiCR.html

OMR

They look very sweet. I will see if I can get the money together such a nice set.

Thanks