how to prime carb

hi my name is froggy i have a 1988 kz1000 police bike
custom chopper
im exited about getting some answers to some simple questions
my son has just recently got a hold of my pics an i been tearing house up to find i found 1 wanted to show progression of bike over years ill go out an take pics of it today

in the mean time i have question? i removed stock tank replaced it now i got a prob on priming the carbs the trottle doesnt give me that little squirt with the stock tank wiring unit wat can i do to prime carbs ?
i have a few other questions ill start with this one

See that little thing on the bottom of the tank?
It says fuel on it. This is a fuel valve. Turn the damn thing to prime and wait a few minuets.

right i understand thats the way i normally do it but after bike sits for a week or so wont fire up dont no if fuel is get down in those carbs or not with prime on
any other remidies

Frogy:
If you have a gas line filter you might check to see if it is partially pluged. Also check gas line.
You may have a lot of crud in the carbs but do not think all would be clogged up. ( float valves).

Open drains under carb bowls and flush out.
Harry

Post edited by: hwms, at: 2005/11/14 18:26

You replaced it with a different tank and petcock?
or did you put the stock tank back?

When you disconnect the fuel line from the petcock, fuel should flow when set in the prime position. If it doesn't and position actually is prime then maybe someone plugged the bottom hole in the gate valve. This converts petcock to change prime to off.I've done this and removed the diaphragm when I didn't want to spend the $ to rebuild a petcock with a leaky diaphragm. So, if it's a 'new-used' tank, you might want to see if prime actually allows fuel to flow.

Other than that maybe a dirty in line filter or pinched fuel line but it wouldn't run too well in this case.

Well, I guess your float needles or hinge pins could be gummed up enough to be sticking but I would be real surprised if they all stuck at the same time.

I have an 87 police but it's missing a bunch of stuff like saddle, front calipers, master cylinder, ... Building the engine this winter and will mess with the rest of the bike when engine is done. Need a few parts there too...

-Duck

take a look at pics of bike under newmembers froggy pics
i have a fat bob tank on it with a new petcock hose to filter to carb and it runs till i stopped riding it for a while and no the fuel was not going threw filter very well maybe ill by pass the filter see if i can get that fuel down in there just to get it started?? u no i did plug a hole on bottom were was leaking fuel like crazy dont no why that nipple is there an why it leaks fuel beneath my friken motor good info thanx for all response

Post edited by: froggy, at: 2005/11/14 19:32

That other nipple isn't the petcocks vacuum connection is it?

See if fuel flows best in

prime
run/on
reserve

Sounds to me like you've got a leaking vacuum type petcock and have the run and prime positions confused. I find it difficult to tell which is run and which is prme on a lot of these petcocks and I'm sure I'm not alone...

With vacuum port plugged, even with a leaking petcock, you should see a most flow in prime position and just a dribble in Run/on and Reserve positions...


-Duck

froggy wrote:

............... u no i did plug a hole on bottom were was leaking fuel like crazy dont no why that nipple is there an why it leaks fuel beneath my friken motor good info thanx for all response<br><br>Post edited by: froggy, at: 2005/11/14 19:32

If the nipple you are referring to is on the bottom of the carbs then this is an overflow and should not be plugged. If gas is coming out here then you have a problem such as a sticking float valve inside. If the carb overflows and the gas has nowhere to go then it will flow either into your airbox or worse, into the cylinders and eventually mix with your oil and thin it out - not good.

If the nipple is elsewhere then please disregard my post.

Post edited by: jr, at: 2005/11/14 21:43

u no its been some time since i
looked at it ill check an see i was
hesitant
in plugging on it but i can understand overflow due to sticky valve hwms says drain the damn thing i just cant imagine much difficulty this is a original kz1000 police bike why the hell is there a open nipple pointing to the ground spiling fuel ill take a look at
manual
and find out wat that shitz is. specially dont want fuel baking up into my oil
:sick: im glad i found this site

You have a Fat Bob tank and the gas cap(s) are either vented or non-vented. If they are not vented, you had best get some vented caps else you will not be able to pull in gas. I also doubt that the tank has a petcock which is vacuum actuated. If it is gravity feed, block the vacuum nipple on carb #2 with a vaccum cap... (if these are BS34 cop bike carbs) and make sure all the others are blocked off as well. When you turn the bike over, vacuum should draw gas into the bowls and fill them. If it isn't first thing to check is carb hook up and venting... (cap and carbs).

ill try an plugg up those carbs first see it will fill up an start if that does the trick do i need to leave those plugs on or use for the purpose of cold starts else it wont cause other probs ???? " george "

because once i get it started its just a matter of keeping carbs juiced an i dont normally have start probs just wen after sits 2 weeks plus

On the cop bike, the 1&4 vacuum ports joined at a tee and the tee had a line going to a smog switch. I doubt you have any of the smog stuff on your bike. The #3 vacuum port connected to a vacuum petcock and the #2 was plugged. If you don't have the smog stuff and you don't have the vacuum petcock, all the vacuum ports must be capped. These are above the venturi that fits into the intake manifold and are brass. Use 3/16" vacuum caps you can get from an autoparts store.