carb improvements while rebuilding

hi, looks like the carbs on my 1980 kz1000 LTD B4 are due for rebuild due to PO lack of care, are there any improvements than can be made to the stock carbs while they are apart to improve performance? Bike is totally stock and plan on keeping it that way but if i can get a few more horses out of it without doing anything wild to it, it works for me.Am tempted to do them myself as they look easy ,but getting them back to running smoothly leaves me a little skeptical.


1980 KZ1000 LTD B4.
9650 orig miles.

I dont think there are any easy mods to carbs for more ponies, unless your jetting is not spot on, if you want to spend some ca$h, you could get the carbs bored larger, but im not sure if that works for all carbs:S , wait for an expert to jump in before you do anything like that, but unless the engine was hopped up, bored carbs wouldnt make much difference I think....

Waaaaaait a minute... The Me109 was fuel injected!

guitargeek wrote:

Waaaaaait a minute... The Me109 was fuel injected!

Only the last model of the line, the Bf 109E
I bet you thought no one would recognize the reference :evil:


But what's that got to do with the carbs on a 1980 KZ1000 LTD B4 :laugh:

Post edited by: steell, at: 2006/05/04 01:36

Everybody polishes the outside of the carbs.

IF you do this, take your time and be patient as you can ruin a set of carbs if not done with care.

The bores of the carbs can be polished also to smooth the air flow through the carbs. Heres what I do:
I made a slightly tapered arbor for my lathe that I mount a peice of 400- 600 grit emory cloth to. This is used to get rid of the casting mark on the engine side of the slide and to smooth up the bore. It is kept out from the slide area by about 2 mm (if you get into the slide area, you may alter the passages in the bottom of the venturi, you dont want to do this).This is the only place where the actual stock dimensions are changed (to get rid of the casting mark). What you are attempting to do is to smooth the bore by polishing it with the emory cloth.
I then use the 600 grit emory cloth to polish up the whole venturi (YOU ARE NOT BORING THE CARB, YOU ARE JUST POLISHING THE VENTURI)You dont want to sand the heck out of the bore you just want to lightly sand it to smooth the bore.
I lightly (LIGHTLY) sand the bore where the slide is to polish that part also. I use 0000 steel wool on the slide. The slide moves much easier in the bore when it is polished this way.
I usually finish it up with a polishing with Never Dull (polishing wadding)
Of course, you will need to clean the heck out of the carb when you are done. I usually clean them before and then reclean them after.
The picture shows the arbor, The single carb has had the bore polished and the casting mark removed, and the other set shows the carbs as they left the factory. I took other pictures of the bores, but my camera isnt that great.
Fish

Post edited by: The Fish, at: 2006/05/04 09:38

yes, the me109 WAS fuel injected,, with the exception of the first ones built which used a BRITISH Rolls Royce Kestrel engine which was carberated. All subsequent variants had the DB 601 through DB605 engine, of which ALL were fuel injected. As to the ME109E being the last of the line, the last variant used in combat was the ME109K, which was a vast improvement over the (E) model, and the even more popular ME109G6.After the war the spanish built some ME109's equipped with the Rolls Royce Merlin engine of Spitfire fame,,,now,, hows about the question on my carbs now that the history lesson is over?????????????

was just on Ebay,, i saw a performance carb kit, made by K&N for the 81 through 83 kz1000,, offers beter ridabilty, more hp, better throttle response, wonder if there is anything out there like that for mine,, and does it really work???

me109g4 wrote:

yes, the me109 WAS fuel injected,, with the exception of the first ones built which used a BRITISH Rolls Royce Kestrel engine which was carberated. All subsequent variants had the DB 601 through DB605 engine, of which ALL were fuel injected. As to the ME109E being the last of the line, the last variant used in combat was the ME109K, which was a vast improvement over the (E) model, and the even more popular ME109G6.After the war the spanish built some ME109's equipped with the Rolls Royce Merlin engine of Spitfire fame,,,now,, hows about the question on my carbs now that the history lesson is over?????????????

www.chuckhawks.com/me-109.htm was the source of my info, but I should have read all the way down the page, then I would have seen the other models you listed :blush:

And I am not giving any advice on your carbs for the simple reason I don't have any idea. I hate carbs and think EFI is the best invention since sliced bread

Isn't that the one that shot it's gun through the spaces between the propeller blades? Clever those Germans.

BARNEYHYPHEN wrote:

Isn't that the one that shot it's gun through the spaces between the propeller blades? Clever those Germans.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interrupter_gear
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bf-109

The 109 had a cannon that fired through the prop hub plus various other armaments, usually including a pair of machine guns mounted above the engine.

Thought this was interesting:

In Japan, the Kawasaki Company utilized the Messerschmitt Bf 109 E, which Germany had sent over, in their design evaluations. This lead to the creation of one of the best Japanese Army fighters in operation at the time, the unique In-line engined Japanese fighter the Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien aka "Tony".

Dude, the 109-E was not the last model at all




The K-4 was the late-war version. The G's were pigs, especially when fully loaded out with gun pods. I think The F was the sweet model though, that all the aces really loved.

Did anybody know that the early spitfires and hurricanes outfitted with merlin engines had problems with the carburetor in negative G situations, such as pushing over into a steep dive, or rolling inverted? The float would raise, pushing the float needle valve shut, shutting off fuel flow and temporarily stalling the engine!