new bike and problems

so ive just bought my first motorcycle a 1978 kz200 that i love i got it about two days ago. the guy i bought it from broke his neck at work and hasn’t been able to ride it since end of summer it started second kick when he showed it to us, thin when we were leaving it had alittle trouble starting it finally did. My buddy staled it on the way home and it took a good 30min to start agin on and on, hard to start every time all day. the bike sounds great when it rides but either trys to stall at stops or you mess with the throttle screw and it start idling high the guy seed it hasn’t been jetted for the winter(and i live in Colorado high altitude) but i don’t think it should have this hard of a time starting should it?
i got inside the carb (keihin carburetor) look to see if the jets were clean witch they were. looked at it all, it was very clean my next guess was an air leak but the rubber that connects the carb to the engine was cracked on the outside but didnt see any damage on the inside the sparkplugs burned a dark brown/black(maybe from summer).
ive ran out of ideas! what’s wrong! please help. my jet sizes are 38 i believe for the pilot and 1/2 for main i dont know what size to go to or what could be wrong

Describe in detail how you try to start it.

Try some fresh 87 octane gas, choke it and don't give it any gas when it starts let it warm up some first and don't turn any screws yet.

how about some pics.

JD

zallen22 wrote: so ive just bought my first motorcycle a 1978 kz200 that i love i got it about two days ago. the guy i bought it from broke his neck at work and hasn’t been able to ride it since end of summer it started second kick when he showed it to us, thin when we were leaving it had alittle trouble starting it finally did. My buddy staled it on the way home and it took a good 30min to start agin on and on, hard to start every time all day. the bike sounds great when it rides but either trys to stall at stops or you mess with the throttle screw and it start idling high the guy seed it hasn’t been jetted for the winter(and i live in Colorado high altitude) but i don’t think it should have this hard of a time starting should it?
i got inside the carb (keihin carburetor) look to see if the jets were clean witch they were. looked at it all, it was very clean my next guess was an air leak but the rubber that connects the carb to the engine was cracked on the outside but didnt see any damage on the inside the sparkplugs burned a dark brown/black(maybe from summer).
ive ran out of ideas! what’s wrong! please help. my jet sizes are 38 i believe for the pilot and 1/2 for main i dont know what size to go to or what could be wrong

Hello, zallen22, and WELCOME to KZrider!

Reported hard starting might be a carb issue, or also might result from an ignition issue or a compression issue.

Couple of initial checks:
Remove the spark plug and watch for fat blue sparks as the engine is spun over.
Assure valve clearances are within specs.

If needed, this link should download a Service Manual.
After downloading, each page may be clicked to see a larger view.
Click here > www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.164610...5236331&l=b7a818679d

Good Fortune!

zallen22 wrote: so ive just bought my first motorcycle a 1978 kz200 that i love i got it about two days ago. the guy i bought it from broke his neck at work and hasn’t been able to ride it since end of summer it started second kick when he showed it to us, thin when we were leaving it had alittle trouble starting it finally did. My buddy staled it on the way home and it took a good 30min to start agin on and on, hard to start every time all day. the bike sounds great when it rides but either trys to stall at stops or you mess with the throttle screw and it start idling high the guy seed it hasn’t been jetted for the winter(and i live in Colorado high altitude) but i don’t think it should have this hard of a time starting should it?
i got inside the carb (keihin carburetor) look to see if the jets were clean witch they were. looked at it all, it was very clean my next guess was an air leak but the rubber that connects the carb to the engine was cracked on the outside but didnt see any damage on the inside the sparkplugs burned a dark brown/black(maybe from summer).
ive ran out of ideas! what’s wrong! please help. my jet sizes are 38 i believe for the pilot and 1/2 for main i dont know what size to go to or what could be wrong

Patton's point about checking valve clearances is right on. And about the compression too.

My experience with the kind of hard starting like you have was:

1) a bike with a marginal battery (this bike needed a good battery to run) -- it only manifested on cold mornings. I didn't know it at the time, but a cold battery does not work nearly as well as it does when the outside climate is warm. Replaced the battery, problem solved, starts on cold mornings.

2) a bike that took well not a half hour but maybe 10 minutes to kick over. It was a low-compression problem causing the inability of the cylinders to fire, Yamaha 2-stroke R5-350. I have not bored it out yet to solve the low compression problem (I'll get to it I hope.....someday...)


3) a bike with outrageously bad out-of-adjustment valves, and low compression. This bike would not start at ALL. It was a Suzuki 1100. The only reason the seller unloaded it for pennies was he had just bought it and he could not get it started. I bought it on faith. I adjusted the valves, presto it starts and runs. Still have not bored it and put in bigger pistons. Hope I get to it. When it runs even with low compression wow. But the blue smoke is embarrasing.


Check the easy bit first. Charge the battery until you have between 12.55volts and 12.65 volts thereabouts 1 hour AFTER you take the battery off the charger. If you cannot get the battery to read 12.55+ volts (don't read it right after you remove the charger, it will read high and innaccurate) one hour after you remove the battery from the charger, pitch the battery. Why? Because each cell when good carries 2.1vdc. And (6 cells) x (2.1vdc) = 12.6vdc.

When you know you have a good battery, try to start it. If it still starts hard even in warm surroundings (like your garage if it's cold there outside), check the next easy thing -- the compression. If that's okay, check valve clearances. Hopefully it will just be your battery.


However, I do not nor have I owned a kz200 so I don't know if they can run without a battery.