TOPIC:

hey,

i got a 81' kz550 with TK carbs. heres what im wondering. am i suppose to be able to remove the plug to the pilot screw?? that thing really seems to be stuck in there. has anyone else had this problem or maybe know of a solutions??

thanks
buzz

I've never seen a set with them still in place. I guess you drill it very carefully and slowly, then pop it out with a small screwdriver.

yup...just going thru the same thing myself with my 84 KZ550...get a small hole in there...be careful, ya dont want to go in too deep...then pry that little bugger outta there. an awl or some other type object works well for prying.
it does take a little bit of work, but they will eventually come out. you should see the mangled remains of the first one i did!

thanks for the advice,

i eventually got mine out. i ended up using a dremel, because here at school i lack many tools. i got pretty worried my bit was gonna get wild and completely mess up my carbs, but i got lucky.

buzz

Post edited by: buz0340, at: 2006/05/06 00:52

My 81 still had the plugs in place too (believe it or not Lou!) when I purchased her last summer. I was cleaning/rebuilding carbs and decided I wanted to get to the air screws so I drilled and popped 'em just like described here. Hard to believe no one ever mesed with the carbs for 25 years but there were only 14K miles on the bike too.
Anyway...adjusting the air screws helped smooth the idle circuit.

nice to know that apparently nobody has messed with mine either - till now. so nobody puts the plugs back in?? cool... will save some time and effort there.

i do have a question about the pilot air screw tho...are they normally all set the same? in the process of cleaning still, but #1 & 2 had very different settings. #1 was only 1/2 turn out, #2 was 1 and 1/2 turns...

About 1.25 turns out is normal. I usually end up with all four within .25 turn.

Neil, 14k miles? Nice!

mine were all over the place...
#1 - a little under 1/2 turn
#2 - 1 1/2 turns
#3 - 1 turn
#4 - 1 1/2 turns

I know I still have some work ahead of me as far as getting everything set, but these numbers seem a bit far out of whack...
so what would be a good starting point - 1 full turn?

1.25 is a good starting point.