Replacing float bowl gaskets ?

Well I just got my bike and rode for a few miles (BRRRR). I see that the left side carbs are leaking looks like from the float bowls (gaskets). Plan on replacing gaskets abd serews with allen head screws. Think I can do this with carbs on bike> Thanks in advance for the replies... Perry

I've done it on different bikes before but not a KZ1000. It's very fiddly work and requires some special tools. I'd pull the carbs and go through them properly. The gaskets are rarely the cause of carb leaks.

I'm not up to that , I will have to let someone else tackle the job. I know of two pretty good places to take the bike to. The reason I thought it was the gaskets I looked real close at the carbs, the T- line , etc . Just thought that's what it was. Me 65 years old just dont think I'm up to remove/repair/replace the carbs.

I tried the hands-off approach, and it didn't take long to decide it was worth the time to do a few things myself...pretty soon I had the head off the engine, and enjoyed every minute of it.
Places around here either don't want to look at old bikes, or they will gladly overcharge you for the pleasure of working on them.
Worse yet, some mechanics(?) think nothing of stripping out those precious aluminum threads by carelessly over-torquing the bolts. Then you pay the exorbitant fee for each heli-coil needed to fix the problem which they alone created...lol.

Thats very cynical Daveo. Plenty of good mechanics around that would do a good job. Most of the price is in the labour,which you can save on by doing as much as possible yourself. Taking the carbs out and refitting them is not rocket surgery but it can be time consuming,do it yourself and you already will save a bit of money. Pull the carbs,give them a good clean and bring them to the mechanic.
Then again,once youve pulled the carbs,its nothing to pop the bowls off and change the gaskets youself! Save even more money!!

p.s its a lot easier to strip the threads if you fit allen head screws rather than the original JIS headed ones.

I'm of the opinion that 40 year old bikes are best owned by either rich guys that can afford to pay a mechanic a lot of money to work on their bike or guys that wrench for themselves.

davido wrote: ........................
p.s its a lot easier to strip the threads if you fit allen head screws rather than the original JIS headed ones.

+1 !!! Ed

Nessism wrote: I'm of the opinion that 40 year old bikes are best owned by either rich guys that can afford to pay a mechanic a lot of money to work on their bike or guys that wrench for themselves.

+1
If I had to spend more money than time on my bike, then I would only possess a few memories.

I stumbled across the t-shirt that said "I am the warranty" and I believe it was on this site. Hilarious and true.

Color me as cynical as Daveo. I've met as many poor mechanics as good ones. 50/50 odds of getting good work isn't good enough for me.

Perry, the hardest part about working on carbs in wrestling the darned things out of the airbox boots. The rest is just a clean and organized work space. Putting a hair dryer on warm in the airbox intake makes it suck a little less as it softens up the boots considerably.

Thats a sad state of affairs boys. I reckon word of mouth is the way to go here.Talk to others and find out who they use and who they avoid. Im lucky I guess as Im on good terms with my local bike shop and trust them to know what theyre doing. Though I do as much as I can myself ive no problem to go to them for advice,tool loan or jobs that are beyond my skill level.

Some folks just choose to toot their horns differently...

:laugh: !

Just took to a friend Ive know since my first CB 750 back in 1970. He has rode and worked at the Kawasaki dealership back in the 70's and 80's. He picks and chooses what and who he works on bikes for now. Hes gotten old like me. I started out with a BSA 650 in '64, then Honda 750's, last bike I had was a 2014 HD lowrider. Always wanted a Kawasaki 1000 so I got one made wife not a happy camper hopefully she will get over it sometime in the future....... Perry