HELP - Newbie Broke TK22 Needle Retainer - DOH!

:sick: Well, I was hoping to introduce myself with the freshly factory painted GPz550 photos but no, I hamfisted the install of my dynojet needles. I broke the little diecast piece that sits inside the throttle slide and retains the needle. From the color of the broken area it looks like it was already cracked & I just finished the job with a poorly placed screwdriver... Does anyone have 2 of these they wil;l part with, even one gets me out of the hole, just in case I cracked another without knowing it. They seem rather pot-metally...

This is my first Kaw having owned Suzuki's, Yamaha's, Honda's, Moto Guzzi & Triumph. A buddy of mine lightly dumped his 81 GPz550 10 years ago and never got back on it. He made me buy it for $500. Always wanted it anyway, I love 80's 'standards'. Has 38K miles but the motor has never been opened. Been bikeless for a couple of years due to work, kids etc but needed to get back on something that was small enough to fit in our crowed with junk garage. I was really hoping to wow folks with the nicely painted stocker other than the usual pipe & filters.

Oh well here is the bodywork anyway...

What was keeping it from tightening flush?
Steve

Thanks for the reply. The PO had just put a washer under the stock needles. I think that allowed it to get cracked when he tightened. I finished the job I think using a screwdriver that was just a little to big. It slid in ok but it was one of those 8-sided craftsman drivers and when I rotated it I think it acted like a cam and finished the job. Just as well as it could have broken while riding, but only if I can find a replacement...

Oddly when I went to disassemble on each carb the same screw was tight and the other was loose. No telling with PO's. Any suggestion where I could find one other than ebay?

I am not sure how tight these screws should be, don't have a feel for it having not worked with this style of carb before.

That could be a problem. I'd take out the washers and start over. There isn't a lot of stress there, so you might JB weld it together for now. There are threads on this type of carb. Parts are hard to come by and there are solutions discussed here. Tight is good enough.
Steve

Yes, that is one of the reasons I recommend shimming needles with a support wire for the retainer:
home.comcast.net/~loudgpz/GPZweb/TK22mai...shimmingNeedles.html

There is a bunch of info in my signature including manuals.

Make sure to read the valve train warning before opening the valve cover.

Maybe you can get some parts from some non-working carbs on ebay. Any of the early KZ550 motors use the same carbs. All the rest use CV carbs so they are easy to tell apart.

Yes and being it isn't for a Z1, the prices are reasonable. I look for KZ 900/1000 parts for mine. Most will interchange.
You can't spit without hitting a scammer.
Steve

i may have a couple of these let me look

Thanks WickedKZ. Please let me know what you find. Not sure how to PM yet but I can figure it out.

I took another look at wwhat came out and there were 2 washers under the clip and no spacer for the slide per loudhvx site (which I researched before buying the gpz - what a great resource thanks for that). So for sure the DPO tightened the screws over the too-high washers/clip & cracked the retainer gizmo. I may take apart the other 3 carbs again to double check they are not cracked.

I am still looking for that retainer bracket 11034 I broke but started thinking about The Power Of Epoxy. Many times I have summoned The Power Of Epoxy and have been surprised at its durability and strength. The fracture point was nicely rough but fit back together perfectly. It should be perfect for a very strong bare minimal goop bond. So I applied a minimal amount of The Power Of Epoxy and clamped it all together on a piece of wax paper, encircled for a radial clamp with a hose clamp and pressed down on the flange with a deep well socket on which I placed a 1-2 lb weight to hopefully keep the face flat while it cures on top of a glass plate. If the face cannot be kept flat (or the mating surface on the slide isn't flat) I am sure it will just snap again when the screws are tightened. Now once again I summon thee O' Power Of Epoxy to do your thing.

Oh yes, and I am still looking for an unbroken part if anyone has one. Going to check with oldskoolcarb's site.

As long as it sits flat, it should hold.
Steve