Where is the best place to buy carb rebuild kits?

Wanna get a set of 4 overhaul kits for my 1978 Z1R...

The seats are still available from Kawasaki but they are $62 EACH!

I've seen kits with bowl gaskets, needles, seats and o-rings for as little as $20 per kit.

Don't want junk but a guy like WiredGeorge carbs will do a complete rebuild for about $379.

My number 4 is puking gas and plugs are fouling across the board. Spark is very good as did a regulator to coil mod that give the coils batter power and the spark is awesome. Carbs need work more work though.

Bike runs awesome for about 20 miles on new plugs and then gets rough. Does not idle well, bogs off the line etc. You know, the good stuff!

Put in new needles but the problems persist.

Also, does anyone have a downloaded file or website to a a shop manual rebuild guide for that year of Kawi.

I think the Z1R is different due to the 4 into 1 pipe.

Any help would be appreciated.

W

Try dumping a big can of this in the tank and running it through first,you might be suprised with results

Thanks WM... You are always quick with a helping hand. I have some Sea Foam (full can)... You say I should add a whole can to one full tank of fuel? Do you think my leaky carb may be something stuck? I know that;s a dumb question as they impossible to diagnose thru a forum but I'm just asking.

Not sure why the carbs are being so fussy.

My mechanic is very good at carbs and we cleaned them, synced them and even replaced the needles.

#4 is leaking gas from the drain tube. And as mentioned it fouls badly.

Dealing with the spark issue (added a regulator to deliver battery voltage) and putting on a new breaker plate with new points & condenser and timing it did not cure the problem leaving me to believe the carbs need attention.

We used a clear tube to measure float levels and my guy even weighed the floats to make sure there was no problem.

Found a place here in Canada called Carb Kit Capitol and they seem to have a lot of stuff but never pick up the phone or reply to e-mails. Not a good sign.

Any link to a carb rebuild guide would be appreciated and are my carbs unique to that bike?

W

I tend to pull the carbs apart and see what is needed and then purchase the needed items. Have found in the past that there are items in the kits that I did not really need. Some of the needles provided in some kits are not up to snuff (at least this is the case for vm24ss carbs)

IIRC the carbs on the 78 Z1R are vm28ss carbs without an accel pump, that are jetted (main, jet needle and needle jet) differently and have a smaller cutaway on the throttle slide than the other models that came stock with the 28s but other than that I am not aware of any other differences between them.

Since one is leaking from the overflow do check the float valve as it may no longer close tight. Would also make sure the overflow tube in the bowl is not cracked or leaking. Since it also fouls badly I would tend to think it is the float valve not closing tight.

Here are some online locations to search for carb parts - would recommend Z1 but that is just me.

www.nrp-carbs.com
www.motorcyclecarbs.com
www.carbparts.com
www.carbkitscapital.com
www.pjmotorsports.com
www.jetsrus.com
www.oldbikebarn.com/Motorcycle_Parts/Carb-Rebuild-Kit
www.cycleorings.com/
www.z1enterprises.com/
www.sudco.com

I am not aware of any rebuild guide for that specific carb - but there is a pretty good write up here www.thegsresources.com/garage/docs/vm_carb_rebuild.pdf
that is based upon vm26ss carbs on a Suzuki. The carbs are very similar to the vm28ss carbs and the write up is full of good pictures and explanations that you may find useful.

My guess would be a gummed up needle/seat,some times you can just tap on bottem of float bowl really good with a screwdriver handle to free them up.
The sea foam works its way through those tight little ports and scrubs them really good,in line fuel filter probably wouldnt hurt either.

I would like to suggest you try the o-ring kit from cycleorings.com. This would include a thorough cleaning of your carbs, perhaps in this case you try it on #4 first since this is where your problem lies. I suppose those little orings get hard inside the carb just like the boots outside do causing things not to seat properly. I have read many posts about replacing just the o-rings. Why buy all the other parts if the o-rings are all that have gone bad?

BTW, thorough cleaning of carbs means dissassembly and 24 hr. dip in Berrymans and then making sure all passageways are clean. I believe there is a link to a tutorial on cycleorings site. Also, this was mentioned in a previous post.

When you get it sorted out, please let us know how you fixed it.

Too high fuel levels may cause excessively rich mixture, which could explain the reported symptoms of plug fouling.

If not already done, would perform the clear-tube test on each carb to determine whether fuel levels are within specs.

Good Fortune!

wireman wrote: Try dumping a big can of this in the tank and running it through first,you might be suprised with results

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I don't think I would dump in the whole can :ohmy:

Dump in a whole shorter can then and ride wheels off of it,you can always top off the tank after half a tank if youre scurred.

Rebuild kits:

Call Z1 Enterprises and see if they have them.

If not, I have seen them at:

loudfastugly.com

Thanks everyone... gonna place an order with Z1 first thing tommorrow. I wonder of anyone knows the needle setting? usually for stock they are in the middle of the 5 positions. This bike had a Kerker on it (stock airbox as well) and now its back to stock pipe. I will probably upgrade to CDI as well. The points are a pain in the arse.

This was posted by another member here in the past - sorry but I do not remember who so can not give proper credit. But it lists the needle as set to the 3rd slot.