Noobie having some carb issues

So I bought an 83 KZ550 not too long ago and I've finally gotten around to working on it. I wanted a project because I don't know anything about motorcycles and I wanted to change that. SO.... the bike didnt come with the aribox so I put pod filters on it. Also had rusted out cut pipes so I bought a MAC 4-1 exhaust. I've begun the process of rejetting. I went to my local bike shop and they gave me #96 main jets. I came back and threw them in and it ran a lot better, not great, but close. He told me he would drill my pilots for me if I needed it since he didn't have the sizes I needed. I've read that everyone else ups the sizes on both so I brought them in yesterday for him to drill and he was asking me a few question and concluded that he didn't think I needed bigger pilots, but said he would clean them for me. So he cleaned them and then gave shims for my jet needle and recommended I do that. So I did it and the bike wouldn't run, not without me holding the throttle at about 3k. So I took the shims back out and it's still doing the exact same thing. I've tried messing with the mixture screw and it didn't help.

pull carbs, go back to your last known running setup, bench sync, then ride it and tell us how the throttle is at 1/8, 1/4, half, and full.

Thats the thing, i am back to the last ru ning setup and it isn't running. Is it possible I messed something up putting the carbs back together?

Might have dirt in them if nothing has changed. It doesn't take much

Try jetsrus for the pilots or try a dealer. One up on the pilots is right.
Steve

cm - is yours the A4 model ?

If that is a chain-drive Ltd, (Kz550C4) then you will probably not find pilots available anywhere in any size except the factory 32's.

But since it idled before, and now it doesn't, that is likely not the problem.

Can you confirm the model?

If it is a C4 with the TK22 carbs:
What needles are you using?
If they are adjustable, you will want the third clip position from the top as a starting point.
You will likely want the pilots to be 34 (32 is stock), or maybe even 37 after you've tried everything else (shimming needle and adjusting mains).
There is some basic TK22 info in my signature. At least you can confirm if those are the carbs you have.

Hey guys sorry about the delay. It is the c4 model; chain drive. The needle, I dont believe is adjustable, just 1 spot for the clip.

Check out my site for the TK22 carbs, in my signature. Links are at the bottom of the main page.

When you added the shim under the needle clip, did you correct the idle setting to make up for the slide position due to the clip?

Adding a shim under the clip doesn't only raise the needle relative to the slide, but it lowers the slide relative to the needle and more importantly lowers the slide relative to the throttle linkage. So you have to compensate by raising the linkage by adjusting the idle knob.

I realize you have undone this change, so there is still something else going on.

But there is a good chance that a single .5mm shim isn't going to be enough anyway. You will need a full 1mm, or maybe even 1.5mm in cases where the exhaust is also altered. You can get adjustable needles from the rebuild kits, or the dynojet kit (details on my site).

There is a page on my site about the proper way to shim the needle to prevent the needle from binding.