Float height adjustment

1982 kz 750E
Hi all, I have no experience with carb work. I put New float needles on all my carbs and before I reinstall the unit I would like to bench my carbs to do the float/ fuel level adjustment. I’m gonna do the clear tube and base on other forums the level should be about 4mm below bowl/gasket. What’s the correct way to do the adjustment? Having the carbs level all the way or will I be leveling the carbs and having them pitch slightly as they were if installed? In case I sound confusing the engine intake isn’t a perfect 90 degree so will I need to take this in consideration? After installed I’m also doing a gauge vacuum test to synchronize them. Thanks

First question but might be to late. Why did you change out the float needle and seats? Did you use OEM parts? Did you match the size of the old?

To set the float I have the carbs level and plumb on the bench. One important thing is to have your fuel supply at the same height distance from the carbs on the bench as it would be when mounted on the bike. There is a post here that shown using a clear glass bowl. It’s a awesome way to set floats but takes a lot of set up. Going the traditional way is to fill the bowl, clear tube the height, drain bowl, bend tang, fill bowl and recheck float height. No shortcuts. Be careful with gas and fumes.

Level is fine. Installed on the bike is ideal.

What kind of needles did you buy? The Keyster needles are the best of the aftermarket ones. The spring in those will support the weight of the float. Most other brands will sag with the float resting on the needle spring which is not ideal. OEM needles are ideal but they are very expensive.

BTW, for those not familiar, the needles are viton tipped and the seats are not removeable on the Keihin CV34's.

["Mikaw"
Thank you for responding, honestly I’m learning to work on the bike, last season was my first one riding the bike, it was a gift to get me started. When started she had black smoke from the 1/2 muffler, 3/4 was fine spark plug 2 was wet at times but header was hot. Sometimes the rpms will get stuck once reved to 3-4k Then go back but it wasn’t always. Bike ran great with great power just lagged when WOT for a sec. I figure clean the diaphragm and make sure seals were fine( I didn’t test prior disassembly) but now move fine and smooth travel. I was thinking maybe my float was allowing too much gas or the needle was bad , I just replace them with a set from eBay, to be honest. I could inspect and put the originals back, I just wanted the set bowl gasket for the carbs to be honest.

Nessism wrote: Level is fine. Installed on the bike is ideal.

What kind of needles did you buy? The Keyster needles are the best of the aftermarket ones. The spring in those will support the weight of the float. Most other brands will sag with the float resting on the needle spring which is not ideal. OEM needles are ideal but they are very expensive.

BTW, for those not familiar, the needles are viton tipped and the seats are not removeable on the Keihin CV34's.

Thank you for posting, I’m such a rookie on this, it was a cheap set from eBay, I just wanted to bowl gasket for when I open it I wouldn’t be stuck with a leaky bowl. I put every needle labeled with the carb #. I will check them out and reinstall if there isn’t damage on them, I’m afraid now the cheap ones from eBay are crappy ones. But if I can set the level right I could confirm if my issue was a float too high and causing black smoke on cyl #2.

Nessism wrote: Level is fine. Installed on the bike is ideal.

What kind of needles did you buy? The Keyster needles are the best of the aftermarket ones. The spring in those will support the weight of the float. Most other brands will sag with the float resting on the needle spring which is not ideal. OEM needles are ideal but they are very expensive.

BTW, for those not familiar, the needles are viton tipped and the seats are not removeable on the Keihin CV34's.

Ed, thank you. I wasn’t sure what carbs the P.O. was dealing with, and no one had responded. That’s why I replied and gave general guidance. Thank you for sharing your knowledge

Hello, thank you guys for feedback, I bench the carbs and level them out put the gas tank just about the same distance as if on the bike. All 4 carbs were within specs, below the bowl gasket but above the screw for the bowl. So if I still have issues I’ll be here seeking for advice on this machine hehe. Thank you all sincerely