kz500B1 tk-22 carb jets

Hi

I am new to the forum, thanks for letting me in.
I bought a supposed 1984 kz550 LTD recently, it came as a non runner (apparently had run previously), it came with electrical issues (these are now sorted, or at least the main ones are)
I had not noticed at the time that this bike actually had a kz500B1 engine in it and has a set of TK22 carbs on it. I have not stripped them fully yet but bought a rebuild kit probably a bit prematurely.

To the question, I have bought without realising, the wrong kit. I think this kit is for the kz550A1/C1 or similar.

Now I can see the main differences are with the following:
500B1
Main jet should be a 90 the needle jet should be 4C91-2 and the air screw turns out should be  1-1/8, +/- 1/4
550A1 and C1
Main jet should be a 92 the needle jet should be 4D93-2 and the air screw turns out should be  1-3/8, +/- 1/4
I also notice that the west german 550 A1/C1 has basically the same carb setup as the 550B1 except the air screw turns are 1-1/4, +/- 1/4

Will it be possible to use the rebuild kit on this engine but setting to the spec of the west german 550 or will this cause problems?

Stu

It is not common for the brass parts to need replacing. On a high mileage bike, you may encounter a little wear on the mains and needles, otherwise, all you need to replace are the orings and gaskets. Carefully inspect the float needles and seats for wear. Replace only if needed. I do not know what brand of kit you have, but some of the aftermarket jets are junk and can give you more troubles than you already have.

Here is a thread with the information you need.

kzrider.com/forum/3-carburetor/615187-tk-22-carburetor-kits

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationThe Z500 engine in the 550 will be fine with the 550 carbs. look on the carb body for the stamped numbers like the one in the below pics.
my Z500 has over 80000 miles now and has "ovaled" the mixing tubes a bit, I have some spare carbs 1X Z500 and 1X550 sets, the mixing tubes are the same in all, the needles are different and main jets, that is the diff. I used the tubes from the 550 carbs as they looked the roundest.
Z500 carb are the 1090 ones and Z550 are the 1285 marked ones

read all about them here
s3.amazonaws.com/gpzweb/TK22mainPage/TK22mainPage.html

The Z550 carb kit are easy to find but a lot of fake stuff around. just a good clean and check float heights as the Loadvx like supplied above they will be fine. I used some new Vitron rubber o rings for the mixing tubes as well they are 5mm Inside dia x 2mm cross section from ebay as the 40 year old ones were getting hard and 2 snapped getting them off.



Where in the world are you Stu?


 

I bought it from amazon as it had good reviews: www.amazon.com/CARBURETOR-REPAIR-REBUILD...3%2Caps%2C131&sr=8-1

However, I have researched a lot and I reckon this is a rip off of the kester kits as it turned upo with kk-0049 on the packaging, it looks better than the knock off's I have seen online, but like you said I will probably reuse the old parts and just use the gaskets and orings.

Stu

Thanks, you have filled in one of the puzzles I was trying to solve, they do indeed have 1285 marked on them, so off a 550. I was concerned as I had read that using the 550 carbs could cause pinking or other engine issues on the 500 engine.

I did come across the link you referenced, that is a great resource. I will take the carbs apart soon and see if it has the 500 jets and needles or the 550 ones. And if everything looks good I will re-use the old ones.

So are you running the 92 main in your 550 carbs on your 500?

I'm in the UK on the south coast.

Hope you are enjoying the sunny weather down there.

I run Std 90 jets and the STD Z500 carbs in the Z500. The 550 ones will make no difference. In fact with the E5 fuel the 92 are possibly better  as the ethanol make a 1-2% waeker air to petrol ratio. I use only E5 in the Z.

The 2 main points i took away from that article are:
1: To make sure the slides do not go beyond the top of the carb orifice (use the full throttle stop screw to make the bottom match the carb body) This will cause a richer Wide open throttle mixture as the mixing tube hole will be more uncovered (more fuel) but the throttle body hole will allow the same air in
2: I adjusted down the fast idle screw so it did not rev it's arse off when going just down from full choke.

I recon the Z500 carbs you have still have there Z500 needles in and all will be absolutley fine.

Those o rings will be better than the one in the carbs, test by removing the ones on the mixing tubes. if they come off without snapping they are not bad. 
Keep the idle mixture screw as std i.e 1 + 1/8 turns out from just seated.

Run the STD air box and filter, i still have the std air horn that keeps the filter in, some cut the "snorkle" down, makes no difference just a bit more intake noise.

When removing carbs check the inlet boots for cracking, they are cheap to get on ebay also get if the air box to carbs tubes are hard some pattern one of these (same as Z650) they make refitting carbs almost a joy, use red rubber grease to ease them in.

these are the chinese ones
look on ebay for this

4x Carb Intake Manifold Boots For Kawasaki Z400J KZ500B KZ550 Ltd 16065-1014 A9
there are some for £15

and carb to airbox  boots (pattern)
New Kawasaki Airbox To Carb Rubbers / Boots Z400 Z500 Z550 Z650 Kz650 Kz  (Legend Mc in Newark)

Z-power UK do the genuine ones too.
Z500 B1 and B2 have points and 3.8-4.0 ohm coils while most 550 LTD have electronic pick ups but the 550 A1 i think had points.
Download the manuals from Lou's pages
if you need a laugh have a look at my YouTube bits on my Z500, done a few and will hopefully convert my pics and notes to more 
here is the carb balance one


Rob B in cloudy Darlington