Idling connected to wiring?

Sooooooo...my goal was to get my electrical all nailed down before I started messing with my engine but now I have a problem.

So I traced some problems back to my rectifier and I replaced it. Then I found some shorts in wires, so I fixed them. But now, the bike won't idle anymore. Its hard to perform troubleshooting that states "let the engine idle" if you bike just wont.

Is there a connection between wiring and idling? The bike techically idles fine if I keep the throttle held at 1.1k rpm, no problems, sounds good, but the minute I let go of the throttle it just dies. Now I am not sure if I should adjust my throttle cable to hold at idle or is an electrical issue?

Why is it when you fix one thing another breaks?

Could be dang near anything on one of those new computer controlled bikes. Is yours one of those new models or a KZ something or 'nother?

Assuming it's a KZ xxxxx I would just adjust the idle knob on the carbs.

Sorry, sorry. 1976 KZ400.

I would just adjust the throttle stop screw (it's the knob marked #24 between the 2 carbs in the pic below) to attain the proper idle speed. Is it possible it was bumped when working on the bike? Ed

Thanks Ed. I just wanted to make sure that not idling wasn't something tied to poor wiring, or a short, or something else.

Ed, quick question:

For my issue of the enging dying with no throttle should I go clockwise or counter clockwise with this throttle stop screw?

On my KZ650 turning the knob clockwise increases idle speed. Ed

If it wasn't charging before but is charging now, chances are that it will take more effort to turn the engine. When my 650 went from 12 (well, that will be none) to 15V idle charge, idle speed dropped from 1200 to 800 rpm.

Faffi, this could quite possibly be the problem. My bike had a failed rectifier and a few shorts in some wires. Since then I have fixed those problems and can't get it to idle, so hopefully adjusting the idle speed will fix the problem.

I will let you know tomorrow after I work on the bike tonight. Thanks for the help.

Well Ed, my carbs looked a little different than the one you posted but my manual helped me find the throttle screw and guess what? It worked! The bike idles like a champ now.

Thanks for all the help everyone...

On to my next area of wiring doom, the fuse box.