Plugged pilot

The caps on these are metal and there is no indention to dig them out. I can't think of a non violent way to remove them. Idk why they'd use a metal plug with no way to remove it. 

Are you sure the mixture screws are not on the bottom of the carbs?
What year and model is the bike?

Drill into the cap using a small 1/8" bit with a stop so you don't drill down too far.  Stop when you pierce the cover.  Thread in a sheet metal screw and then careful pry out the cover.  If you pry too hard you may crack the carb.

BTW, that bike needs maintenance.  The carb boots are shot as referenced by RTV on them.  You best leave the pilot screws alone until you are ready to rebuild the carbs properly.

Not my bike not my problem he has them sealed up pretty good so he can replace him when he wants to. Its fugly, but not leaking. This model does have a pilot under the sealed plug cap in the bottom but it still runs through the Venturi and up to the top into the diaphragm so that hole has to be unplugged. 

I put this elsewhere but to review this is my late grandmother's bike, my uncle owns it and he's just trying to get it running after it sat for a long time. I'm sure he'll do some maintenance to it after we've got it doing what it's supposed to be doing. 

Then drilling and plucking as Ed described, is the way to get to the adjustment screw.

Yeah i had a few destructive ways to get in, but couldn't figure out why they did it. It has to be serviced, they know this. 

My KZ has the same carbs and the top is unplugged. It has the plug cap in the bottom covering the pilot lower jet just like his do. 

The mixture adjustment screws were covered to satisfy the EPA that owners could not easily mess with them.

TexasKZ wrote: Are you sure the mixture screws are not on the bottom of the carbs?
What year and model is the bike?

Its  January 1980 build kz440 ltd

Here's a better look. The pilot hole is where it's supposed to be going into the boots. That vent must be cleaned and serviced even if they relied on the lower needle. 

Problem is the lower pilot jet isn't a metering needle, there is no adjustment. You still have to meter it at the top. 

Well, i tried everything not to, but only way was to drill it. It's aluminum for future reference. 

The pilot screw meters idle mixture.  If you need more pilot mixture overall you need to bump the pilot jet size.

It doesn't need any changes cause it's all stock as it has been since 80. I got it cleaned up and sealed and it either starts instantly and won't accept throttle, starts after a long time trying and runs for 5 seconds and dies, or for no reason started and idled for almost 2 mins with no issue at all then went back to its old tricks. 

All i know for sure is my spark plugs are black as night and they are 5 minutes old. I need to figure out what's causing the rich condition. I had the breather tube off the airbox, but attaching it didn't change anything. 

Worth noting it may be black because it's having to run 80% choked right now.