Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Oh dear... No, I did not reconnect things in the wrong place. I'll hazard a guess that my spark plug is just not firing at all, so I'll be replacing all 4 today, but if that doesn't fix things, is there anything else it could be? It's only one hose, so one carby, it doesn't SOUND like it's only firing on 3 cylinders, but then again, she sounds like she's dying as a general rule.

1979 Z650, running pods, not airbox. PS does anyone have a spare airbox "lid" (the screw on bit at the top) lying around their garage?

Thank you!

Sounds like a worn needle and seat,if its pionty then thats not a good sighn.You can test it by rubbing the point on some comcrete gently just to take the point off a bit then reinstall it.If it doesnt leak then walla,replace with new.Its easy enough to do drop the bowl push the pin out that holds the float and remove.Be carefull as soon as you remove the float the needle.seat will just drop out.

Yep, Mal has pinged it - just a sticky needle in the carby that is leaking fuel. Sometimes, you can stop this by giving the bowl a sharp 'rap' with a screwdriver handle.....just sort of 'crack' the bowl hard. If the fuel stops leaking - then the needle & seat in that float bowl should be removed and checked out. Sometimes a small bit of crap will cause the needle to stick open slightly, and fuel will just keep pissing out.......

From the symptoms, you probably need to take the carbies off, and blow all the fuel passages out with compressed air, and also check the fuel filter that sits on top of the fuel tap (inside the tank) - you need to drain the tank first, then take off the fuel tap. If this has not been cleaned for years, they get really dirty and gummed up, and this will slow the fuel flow down a lot....

Has anyone jetted the carbs to suit the pods ?? You really need bigger pilot jets for using pod filters, and also richen the idle-mixture screws (the little ones at the top and front of each carbie throat) - screw them in until they bottom out, and then screw back out 1 full turn. This is a good place to 'start' the idle mixture when using pods. You may need to screw them out a bit more to get it perfect ....

Balancing the carbs is really important on these old dungers as well......

had the carbies done a couple of weeks ago, cleaned, balanced, rejetted for the pods, etc... still hunting a lid for my airbox, then will fix it all properly, do the carbies again... picking up a new commuter this week, so I can actually stop riding the old girl, take her off the road and start fixing her properly.

needle and seats, eh? OK thanks for the heads up. My spark plugs are royally fucked, so they'll be replaced tomorrow anyway (nowhere had them this afternoon) but I'll go through the service manual and see if I can fix ... well, everything...

that all sounds pretty good mate - no airbox lid may create a few issues though with low-speed running.......

New plugs will help a lot. New needles & seats can still be purchased - the best place is Z1 Enterprises in the US - Jeff is a top bloke, will answer your emails quickly, and also posts stuff out quickly. He has heaps of small stuff in stock for most Z models.......

Good luck with the fixing-uppering you'll get there......

WIN!!! Spark plugs fixed it. The problematic one was .-wet-. when I took it out, figured it was fuel? But she works now, and no fuel pissing out! Some days are just FANTASTIC!!! WOOOOOOO!!!! J.

I know it's a bit late, but for future reference, a great way to chech if a cyliner is not firing (dead plug etc) is to touch a wet rag onto each header when bike is running. A cylinder running OK will instantly steam the water on the rag - the bad one will not.

Good stuff Jamie, glad to hear its all running well now......

photomike666 wrote:.... touch a wet rag onto each header when bike is running. A cylinder running OK will instantly steam the water on the rag - the bad one will not.....

I just spit on the bastards !!

Gosling1 wrote:Good stuff Jamie, glad to hear its all running well now......

photomike666 wrote:.... touch a wet rag onto each header when bike is running. A cylinder running OK will instantly steam the water on the rag - the bad one will not.....

I just spit on the bastards !!

Ahhh now i see why my hands get hot after the third pipe

hahahahahahaha good stuff lads... more work to be done... now she's off the road, time for an engine overhaul... first one for me, be a real learning curve.