Z1 Float Questions

Hi All; I'm still fiddling with the 900, trying to get it to respond as good as possible from idle to redline. (Isn't everybody?) The current perception is that the floats are not as buoyant as they should be. To get the service fuel level correct the check valve tab on the float is bent up at about 35 degrees. All fine and good except that this configuration leaves very little float travel left to allow the needle to drop away from the valve body and refill the bowl. I think the tab on the brass float frame should be nearly horizontal, which leads me to think the black foam stuff is saturated with fuel. What to do? I've tried drying them out and using fingernail polish to seal them on the KZ650. The new fuel we get seems to like to dissolve the polish, leaving little flecks in the bowl and their job is to immediately find the nearest pilot jet and make a home. Today I'm going to remove the floats and bend the frames next to the black doodads and see if I can get a little more travel. I believe the float levels are running very low while riding down the road even though they check out on the bench or stationary on the bike. Please share your wisdom and save me from pulling the last few hairs. . . Ride safe, Steve

Just like OMR says,"take it slow and think it through"! It turns out that my floats are not useable. I couldn't bend them like I described. They were already at the end of their travel with only .030 left for filling the bowls. The motor was starving for fuel while on the main jet and that's why it would not pull redline or accept WOT. Lucky for me I had an old set of VM24SC's and I robbed the floats. Set the levels and I was good to go. I'd still be interested if there is a sealing option for my soaked floats, seeing as how I can't buy them new. Ride safe, Steve

On some carbs it's possible to erroneously install the floats upside down. :ohmy:

Only a miniscule amount of float movement is needed to allow the needle/seat interface to open.

Good Luck!

Yep, it's possible to assemble inverted on these. I've done it before! Not this time. I broke out the trusty dial calipers and measured the depth of the float bowl and the height from the gasket surface to the bottom of the soaked floats and I only had .030 of clearance. I can state as fact that the remaining travel was not enough to keep the main jets supplied (on this bike, at this time) After switching to the KZ650 floats the adjustment tab was nearly coplanar to the float frame which allowed a ton of float travel. Does anyone know of a fuel proof coating that could be applied to my old floats? Better yet, where can I buy new replacement floats? I can't be the only guy with float trouble and I don't know if the KZ floats will hold up. This is my daily driver, so I could use an option or two. Thanks as always and ride safe, Steve

steve get a hold of sudco they are one of the main distributors for mikuni and keihin in north america they should be able to help as far as sealent goes it would defeat the purpose of the float by adding a bunch of extra weight to them you would be better off going to a brass float if you can find them.

Good advice TB33! I figured Sudco couldn't be bothered by such a trivial thing. I'll call them and report back. To be clear, new aftermarket floats are available, but they are over twice the OEM price, which is already too much. Brass sounds like the way to go, at least you could hear if they had gas in them! Wonder why MaKaw changed to the foam type? Probably cheaper to overmold the frames than stamp and solder. Sounds like a new cottage business hey? "Steve's handmade brass floats for obsolete motorbikes" Probably could sell 4 or 5 a year! lol At least it would pay for the solder. Thanks again, Steve

FWIW, am hoping the service floatbowl fuel level is being checked by using the clear tube method to assure 2-4mm from carb body (which reveals the true fuel level inside the bowls).

As known, the upside-down-while-on-the-bench measurement method is often unreliable (even with new floats) and varies with actual buoyancy of the float.

Good Luck!

Hi All; I called Sudco and told them of my heavy float condition. They told me that once a foam float gets full of gas, it's done. He didn't know of a method of drying and sealing it. While he was talking to me he went to Babbitts and said new OEM units were available. They are for the early version Z1 and I have the late version. Damn! So then I tried to find the OEM part number for mine and couldn't. I ended up calling Rob at Z1E and he looked it up on a microfiche. I then searched for this number at Kaw and it doesn't exist anymore. I was getting pretty frustrated! So then I looked up the number for the KZ650 floats that are in the bike now (which are soaking up fuel as I type)and was shocked at the price! So I ended up buying aftermarket repro's and am awaiting delivery. Will see how it works out. Ride safe, Steve

shighley wrote:

H While he was talking to me he went to Babbitts and said new OEM units were available. They are for the early version Z1 and I have the late version.

Be careful when using Babbits...they will show many obsolete parts as available and allow you to order them. Always check with the Kawasaki site...it actually shows if a part is still available and then Z1E can order it for you.