Choke Enrichment not working.

I suspect you may have gotten some dirt in the choke fuel circuits. The symptoms seem to suggest it to me.

I think you should pull the carbs off the bike and check and clean each choke circuit. I've attached a PDF snapshot from the Kawasaki mechanic training manual to show how the choke system functions. One difference you will notice is that your choke plungers have points on the bottom of them that fit into the hole where the emulsion fuel is rising. When the plunger is all the way down (normal operation) this is what blocks fuel from flowing through the circuit and when the plunger is all the way up (cold start) this is what allows fuel to flow to the engine. ( As a matter of interest, on the Keyster carb kits their plungers don't have the point on the bottom and I think this is why the carbs are so difficult to synchronize with their plungers. I think the choke circuits leak a little bit.)

All four pick ups simultaneously .... unlikely IMHO. Replaced all the correct OEM O rings which worked for all the incorrect size kit O rings which don't....... much more likely.
First rule of fault diagnosis is look at what has been changed recently first only then move on.
If you want to see how crucial to good enricher circuit operation those O rings are anyone that has an good operational enricher circuit try loosening all the plungers so they are not airtight and try starting your bike.

I had a thought overnight, if I can get the cross head screws in the lifting forks loose and slide the choke rod out, then do you think if I start the bike hold the throttle till it warms up. Do you think I could raise each plunger independently and see if it changes the rpm. Would that tell me which ones have gone bad... I’m really dreading pulling the carbs and missing out on this great early summer rides... if I can’t figure out how to do this without pulling the carbs, I’m gonna wait till fall. Is has no effect on the bikes performance after warm up... ive mention before it’s running so smooth and has good linear power band...

I think I understand why you don't want to pull the carbs if your airbox is stock. On a Z1 it's much easier. On my wife's 550 (stock airbox) it's a hassle I hate to face unless I know the bike will be down for an extended period.

If you can remove your choke lifters you might be able to unscrew the plungers without removing the carbs from the bike. That way you can check the o rings and springs.

hardrockminer wrote: I think I understand why you don't want to pull the carbs if your airbox is stock. On a Z1 it's much easier. On my wife's 550 (stock airbox) it's a hassle I hate to face unless I know the bike will be down for an extended period.

If you can remove your choke lifters you might be able to unscrew the plungers without removing the carbs from the bike. That way you can check the o rings and springs.

I have pods so removing them isn’t a big deal. I waging my riding time during these great early summer day against walking thru the garage and seeing a motorcycle in pieces... without knowing exactly what I’m up against I don’t feel it’s gonna be a one day turn around... I do have a fresh rebuilt set of vm26ss for my KZ900 A4 project. But that “could” be a crap shoot on performance. I know float level would be good I set them clear tube, but i could have to go through a whole tuning rabbit hole... I’m thinking the great weather and a great running bike even with a difficult warm up far outweighs either a bike that sits for possible weeks or jumping down a “temp” tuning rabbit hole just for a few weeks till the set with the choke issue is fixed. Then do I even know they are fixed. Could come to a lot of work and missing out of a summer actually riding albeit without a choke, which isn’t the end of the world...

Sorry Mikaw, I somehow can't feel sorry for you when I look at my KZ-1000.

Rick H.

Sorry I can’t reply right now I’m out “riding” my kz.

EDIT: All kidding aside we are lucky to have Rick still with us, the reason his rear tire is off is he hit a broken off steering arm from an excavation rig... threw him and the bike into the air, damaging he’s rear rim and tire... I have only know him a few months due to this forum but can tell you he is the guy you want to pick to be on your team...

I have a multi vehicle vintage plate. If one bike has an issue I simply switch to another.

Pods make it easy to pull the carbs.

Sorry to hear about your close call, damn, hope you and your bike are okay.
Got a tire valve failure last week on my Hayabusa front tire in parking position and not in drive condition!!!
Now running metal tire valves on front and rear. I must have a guardian angel as a personal follower.....

My situation that Mikaw related was an odd one even for me. 2 lane country type road, 55 MPH speed limit which is about what I was running coming up to a hill. Just prior to the hill a lawn service truck and trailer was parked on the opposite side of the road so I moved to the right wheel track of my lane to get space away from the truck. Just as I crest the hill I see something big laying in the road. No time to do much of anything but get some weight on the foot pegs and hit the object and no room on my side to try and get around it as the object almost completely covered my lane. Obviously not a good time to try and brake either, because just as I hit the object I recognize it as a stabilizer arm off a small excavator of some sort and it looks about 4 inches or more high. So the impact with the front wheel launches my KZ into the air perhaps a foot or more and rotates the bike to the left a bit. Had traffic coming at me in opposite lane and behind me and knew I didn't want to go down. As it turned out the rotation of the bike in the air took me to the left a bit away from the ditch line and I made it through the event and rode to a safe spot to check the bike and my underwear. I didn't see any immediate damage on the bike, but something just didn't feel right on it, so shelved the idea of completing my nice day ride and rode home. Put the bike on my lift and on the center stand. Rotated the rear wheel and sure enough there was a spot or indentation on the rear tire that looked out of round and perhaps damaged the tire itself and may be the rim. So off came the wheel and tire and into a motorcycle shop to have the tire replaced and the wheel checked for true. I really hope the rim is okay, but I am funny about damaged tires on a bike and will have it replaced. All in all I was lucky as this situation could have been much worse as it isn't every day you run over an excavator stabilizer arm and ride away from it. The ironic thing is up until Covid hit us I taught police officers how to ride motorcycles and have over 23 years of experience doing this. One of or sessions involves striking objects in the road. Usually when this kind of stuff happens you have a couple of seconds to set yourself up for the impact, but not this time for me. Impact was almost immediate. I certainly had a guardian angel on this trip.
Rick H.