78 650' Carb issue. Broken needle stuck.

The picture accurately shows the problem. Carb 1-3 all have the end of the adjustment needle broken off inside it. These are VM22's on a 78' 650b. How I discovered this was sadly after they were already back on the bike (The Joy of pulling carbs off) and other than white smoke pouring out the exhaust (Freshly rebuilt these so they have not had the chance to be adjusted) I noticed that gas was pouring out of carb 2 and 3 at the float seal. So off the carbs came only to my dismay to find that I had little needles poking in all the intakes. As I went to unscrew the adjustment screw I saw to my horror all the ends had busted off in the carbs. I know this was caused by operator error, I'm still very new at this.. Anyways! I would appreciate some help and advice on how to get these little brass bugger's out of the carbs so I can attempt to "Firmly seat" new needles. :laugh:

A pic of the inside troughs where the needles are?
Steve

Johnbug wrote: .............. I know this was caused by operator error, I'm still very new at this.. Anyways! I would appreciate some help and advice on how to get these little brass bugger's out of the carbs so I can attempt to "Firmly seat" new needles. :laugh:

No offense intended, but it sounds to me like you are hellbent on creating the same problem again. What are you using as a reference that tells you to "Firmly seat" the needles? The Kawasaki Service Manual I have read is quite clear that the pilot screws should be "LIGHTLY" seated (see image below). Ed

None taken. The manual says the same thing it was a play on my stupidity, the manual said lightly but I managed to fuzzle it because I though seat them implied all the way in then back out the 3/4 turn. So I turned it until it was fairly tight but still could move plenty then went 3/4 turn out. Put all screws to the same then put them on the bike and the following problem occurred.

As by request here are some more photographs of the situation. The last photographs are from the engine side looking back, the small indent is where the needles originally were poking through. My first attempt to remove them resulted in them flattening out almost level with the insides.

What happened to that choke tube? I'd take the slides out and see if I could push them in with a thumb tack or something.
Steve

SWest wrote: What happened to that choke tube?
Steve

Most of them are varying levels of busted when I bought it. From what I understand my bike was a project that two people passed up before me. From what I can tell there are many small issues and a lot of quick fixes that have been done. Plus It sat for about 7 years before someone even tried to start it again. So for my first bike I am defiantly learning the process.

To be honest, I would replace those carbs for two reasons. First, they are damaged and fixing everything will be painful and expensive. Second, you mentioned they are the 22mm VM22SS carbs that came on the KZ650-B2A and D1A models rather than the 24mm VM24SS carbs that came on the normal KZ650-B2, C2, and D1 models. Consequently, they reduce the bike's performance compared to the normal 24mm carbs. Ed

That does seem like a good idea. Do they sell newer carbs that would fit ? Or will it more so be a matter of luck of the draw and eBay?

Finding a brand new set of carbs that will work on your bike might prove to be difficult and very expensive. The next best thing would be to buy a set of VM24SS carbs that have been professionally refurbished. These will work with very little muss / fuss (just syncing) but cost about $450. See www.wgcarbs.com/index.php/carburetor-sales for details. Otherwise you can buy a set from eBay and hope they don't need too much work and $$$ to make work properly. That's a bit of a risk for sure especially considering that so many eBay sellers are not honest or are simply unaware of problems the carbs may have. Unfortunately, an eBay set in good shape may cost nearly as much as a refurbished set, especially if you end up needing to replace a bunch of parts in them. Ed

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