TOPIC:

I need to buy some new carb rubbers for my 1983 KZ650 with the earlier KZ650 model VM24 carbs. Where should I pick those up from?

I'm getting alot of backfiring through the carbs and they are cracked badly, so they gotta go.

Have you tried Ebay or Z1 Enterprises?

An interim fix it to apply silicone sealer to the cracks.

Also bikebandit.com No deals, but they sell parts at full Kawasaki suggested price, which is about 20% or more better than dealer price. Seems to me full price is a plenty good markup at anywhere frome 60% to 100% dealer markup over cost. I like bikebandit. Get real Kawasaki parts, don't ever settle for aftermarket garbage Chinese stuff. Don't know about Z1 as I've never used them, but I'm utterly amazed at the damn crap out there. Order a clutch cable for a 1978 KZxxx and see what you get +/- 6" from what you want???? Good enough? not for me.

del

Ebay... Can't find any
Z1ent... waiting back for an email, not avail on regular site
Bikebandit... they want 30 dollars a rubber. Thats 120 total for four small pieces of rubber, it SEEMS crazy!

Any other suggestions. The snap crackle and pop noises my bike started to make after syncing the carbs (and disturbing the carb holders greatly) is very annoying.

del

My experience with Z1Enterprises is that they only sell quality stuff. As far as the Z1Enterprises carb holders go, I am not sure if they are genuine OEM parts or aftermarket but if they are aftermarket I can say they are made by the same company that made the originals (a Japanese company I think). The mold marks are identical. Not sure where you got your Z1Entperises price but their web site stated:

KL11-5444
Carb Holders (4) Kawasaki KZ650 24mm rubber
OEM: 16065-047
$68.67

That info is from the Z1Enterprises.com web site as of today. Suspect the price was dropped due to this thread? Oh yeah, the www.bikebandit.com price PER carb holder is $31.02 and with shipping, you would be looking at $130 for a set of four...

RonKZ650 wrote:

Also bikebandit.com No deals, but they sell parts at full Kawasaki suggested price, which is about 20% or more better than dealer price. Seems to me full price is a plenty good markup at anywhere frome 60% to 100% dealer markup over cost. I like bikebandit. Get real Kawasaki parts, don't ever settle for aftermarket garbage Chinese stuff. Don't know about Z1 as I've never used them, but I'm utterly amazed at the damn crap out there. Order a clutch cable for a 1978 KZxxx and see what you get +/- 6" from what you want???? Good enough? not for me.

Ron, there are some inferior aftermarket parts, but many of them (including carb holders) are made by the very same company Kawasaki buys them from. If you choose to spend 2-3 times the price on Kawasaki ones, that's your choice - but the aftermarket ones are the exact same quality.

Cables - there can be some slight variation in cable lengths, but the most I've seen with aftermarket is about 1". You must have ordered the wrong part, or changed the handlebars to get something 6" wrong. For many of the cables you do not have a choice these days, Kawasaki no longer has many of them.