kz650 throttle problem?

I just picked up a 1978 kz650 today!!!!woohoo!!!its pretty good shape for the 400 bones i paid for it.it hasnt ran in a few? years.got it to the garage,put on a charger for a bit,turned her over,vrooomm.....sort of.i had it choked full,slowly backed off the choke then it seemed to idle but as soon as you touched the throttle it dies.messed with the choke for a while had it almost fully open but like i said as soon as you touched the throttle it killed it.any ideas or suggestions would be awesome!!!thanx!!

If it has not run in a few years, or few months without draining everything, drain the old gas and thoroughly clean all of the carbs, take your time, and do it well the first time... petcock might need some attention too... and also test for air leaks around the carbs. If you dont have a service manual get a hold of one. There is a pdf of haynes kz650 manual floating around online somewhere, go to kz650.info and search for it and I'm sure you'll find the link.

I just got my first kz650 and finally got it running on 4 cylinders. A carb cleaning is a must if its been sitting, and from there, valve clearances, timing, etc... I'm definitely no expert but this is pretty standard procedure as far as I can tell ...learning as I go...

Good luck, and take your time - you dont want to have to keep pulling the carbs because you are a little unsure if you really got everything the first time! Grab a couple carb kits before you start too, and some airbox rubber boots if yours are old and hard... this will make your life much easier because you'll probably have to replace a mangled jet, gasket, or something along the way. Compressed air is also a must (can-o-air wont cut it). I'm sure you'll love the bike, but you might run into a lot of problems along the way (I have! :blink: ) just be patient...

thanks a ton for the advice.when i get the time to pull everything i will.i know a guy who is pretty handy with metric bikes so i will have to get him involved.thanks again!

jarhead74 wrote:

thanks a ton for the advice.when i get the time to pull everything i will.i know a guy who is pretty handy with metric bikes so i will have to get him involved.thanks again!

No problem, just passing on what I've learned so far. Pulling the carbs and cleaning them is really not as hard as it looks. I was really intimidated by it but after taking them off twice now and completely pulling them apart its really no big deal. Plus I know a lot more about carbs now :woohoo: Just keep track of everything and do it right. Best of luck

Congrats on the buy; sounds like a great deal! Be sure to pick up a Kawasaki factory service manual for your exact model/year - they're always on eBay. When you get the book look at the torque charts and buy 1 or 2 torque wrenches (1 small inch pounds and 1 larger foot pounds) that match the requirements if you don;t already have them. Remember, the engines are 30+ year old aluminum and are easy to strip threads in. Good luck. Ed

so i pulled the carbs last weekend.its running but not without some problems.the main one is that i have vacuum leak or leaks.going to put all new fuel line and vacuum lines on to see if that straightens it out.i still need to adjust the return cable on the throttle as it takes a while to idle down.overall,i was happy to get it running again.i can actually twist the throttle now!!!have a little dark smoke coming out of the exxhaust when i rev her up but i think thats just from sitting and needing to adjust the mixture.things are looking up!!hopefully have it straightened out before the ride to lima,ohio in june!