TOPIC:

I have a '77 KZ650 with pod filters, accel coils with the relay mod, and a 4 into 1 pipe. I talked with the guys at the local kawasaki shop and the sold me a set of 107.5 main jets. I have the needles in the 2nd position from the bottom. It cranks over and tries to start with the choke closed, but will not start. Any suggestions on where I should go from here?

Does the jetting I have sound close? Anybody have any ideas?

You should remove the spark plugs and see if they are dry or flooded with gas.

I tried starting it again this afternoon. It almost started with the choke off. I took the plugs out and they are wet. Will moving the needles down lean it out only in the mid-range or will it help my rich at start problem?

Ok, let's run through what is happening...

1. you turn bike over with starter.
2. carbs have some vacuum and gas is pulled through starter circuit and pilot circuit and atomized and is pulled into the cylinder head and then the combustion chamber.
3. You stop cranking and check the plugs. They are wet. I would expect them to be wet. This means the carbs are doing their job at some level. Perhaps the air/fuel mixture is not sufficiently rich to allow the bike to start but more likely there is no combustion of the unburned gas because there is either no compression or no spark.

Some history on this bike? You have adjusted valve clearances? You have checked timing and verified all ignition components are working properly? You have spark, right?

Over the winter I set the valve lash and timing. I checked for spark yesterday and had good spark on all 4 cylinders. The carbs were very dirty when I got the bike, so I cleaned them up and installed new rebuild kits. I had it running last fall, but it seemed like it was too lean. There was almost no color to the spark plugs. The only thing I've changed since it was last running is the main jets and I installed pod filters because my air box hoses were cracked and causing my lean problem.

Ok, I put the main jets that came with my carb kits back in and it started up and idled alright. I let it warm up and rode it down the block, but it's lean in the midrange, so I'm going to raise the needles tomorrow. I feel better now that I got it to run again. I'll try to post some pics tomorrow too so you guys can tell me if you like my makeover. Thanks for all your help guys, I really appreciate it!

As wiredgeorge said, possibly running lean and you did mention that the clips were on the 2nd from top?. 4th down from the top is the norm in most cases, would richen things up ...

He said 2nd from bottom . What main jet did you go back to ? What was the float height ? Did you bench or vacuum synch the carbs ? At what altitude are you at ?

The problem has nothing to do with the main jets... starting isn't really affected by the main jets and the #107.5 mains sounded right. I would be useing #17.5 pilots in this application. Sounds like the choke and pilot circuits are in need of cleaning. The #15 pilots sold with carb kits for this bike will make hard starting and slow warm up and if the bike has pilot mixture screws (on bowl), and they are not adjusted for the small pilot jets, the mid-range can be affected some. The jet needles are good on the 4th slot I think.