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Yep. I removed the screws and pulled all the choke flaps to see if maybe one of them was stuck but they all moved easily. The valves are all fine. The high idle works as it should. But the choke lever is a bit too far from the end of #1 carb. You can see the gap in the photo I posted. It means that the ball doesn't seat in the indentation as it should. (You can also see one of the indents on the inside of the lever in the photo.

I have a "fix" that will prevent the lever from over-rotating. I put a longer screw in #1 carb on the bell crank. When the crank turns the top of the screw stops on the inside of the carb wall. It works, but it's not ideal by any means.

How can I remove the choke crank so that I can inspect it?

Double check those choke flaps while you're in there as well..check for any cracks or weak points on the hinges. Just had one get sucked into the engine and now i'm in the process of rebuilding the engine.

You loosen the screws on all four choke bell-cranks, and the rod should pull out.

The bell-cranks each have a small range of adjustment on where they grab the rod, so you can individually adjust the choke plate heights if need be. This is not usually needed, but nice to know it can be done. The side-effect is that you can alter the position of the choke lever relative to the height of the choke plates. This will affect the spring-ball-detent position relative to the choke positions. It's nice to have a detent position slightly off of full choke for warming up etc.

All of this, along with the fast-idle control can be tweaked to get a good tune on the choke system. It also explains why some 550's start and warm up nicely, and others are a pain to deal with. The choke system can be tuned for fully-stock with airbox, all the way to pods and open headers.

Yep...it's a cold starter. Needs at least 10 minutes to warm up before taking the choke off. Choke valves are all in good shape.

That's what I thought would work to pull the lever and rod out but it didn't want to come out. It rotates 360 degrees or more but won't move more than about an eighth of an inch laterally. Will try more forcefully next time. I saw your fix for the fast idle...great idea!

Today I got busy changing tires on my mountain bike so the carbs are sitting for another day or two. Heading into the mountains tomorrow.

Yeah, I think the mountain bikes have pretty much taken precedence over the Kz's for me in the last few years.

I'll double check the spare choke rod I have to see if there is some locking thing I'm forgetting.

I did forget the fast-idle actuator on the choke shaft, but that is pretty obvious.

What is not totally obvious is that the screws for the four bell-cranks should be completely removed. If they are loose, but left in place, they will keep the rod from pulling out. The rod has cutouts for the screws.

Back at the carbs this morning, after a day of mtn bike riding and a day to recover...

I was able to move the choke flap actuator rod and saw how each flap is attached to the rod. I mechanically synched them all and put them back on the bike. Those little gomers are very hard to work with. After installing on the bike I found I couldn't install the throttle cables, so off came the carbs to attach the cables and then back on the bike. Somehow during that process the choke lever moved too far and all four choke flaps dropped off their hinges, so I had to re-attach them while the carbs were on the bike.

Next step is to fire the bike up and vacuum synch the carbs. But it's too hot this aft, so I'll do it tomorrow.

Just to finish this off....I finished installing everything and checked the carb boots for any air leaks. There were a couple so I waited til the bike was hot and tightened until I couldn't any more. Still a small leak on #2 carb but not a lot, so I vacuum synched the carbs. They were close from the mech synch...I only had to adjust one a half turn or so. The bike isn't insured this year but I took it out for a around the block to see how it runs. It's rough to warm up, as usual, but once warmed up it's very stable. It responds well to throttle, but I need to adjust the cables a bit. The throttle seems to stick at a high idle, revving about 3000 when coming to a stop, until it is twisted back to idle position. The KZ 550 is a very nice bike for a smaller rider but it's a bit too small for me, as you can see from the photo.

Very clean!!