Please Help Me... I'm New Here !!!!

[V2K_CCTX]

I love old Kawi's...want to find an old project bike,,,but looking for a ZR-1 similar to "zoro's"...

those old kawi's were awesome, check out the original road warrior for some good bike sceens MAD MAX

[Newbie_3131]

I know man. Zoro: NICE BIKE!!! mine is coming along, its been a really nice project just a little challenging after all the time it sat around 14,000 miles in 32 years should say something right...? By the way Zoro, I took out just about everything from the fork back except for the engine to clean and paint, so inproper cable routing (and probably dry) seems like a very possible cause. remember I said the bike didn't perform 100% at full throttle?? well, the cable probably got stuck and thats why it was hesitating once on the highway coming home. usually when I felt that I eased up on the throttle, but if the cable was stuck, that would cause the bike to kindda choke (per say)... I gotta check that out, and then get that air/fuel mix straight

[zoro]

Thank you for the compliments on the bike! These bikes are alot like a beautiful woman! They easily become obsessions! Cant get enough! You never reach a point of "complete satisfaction" and they demand constant attention! You really must have a love for internal combustion, two wheeled mechanical wonders that these old Kaws (girls) represent in every way! They are always a work in progress! Just when you buy new tires (shoes) for her, shell want chrome (jewelry) and she always needs touch-up paint (make-up) just when you think your there, she needs a new dress (seat cover) and the new dress leads to a (make-over) new pipes and a paint job! Then its time to tune the carbs (again) upgrade the brakes, and lines (she must keep up appearances!) and it goes on and on........But! When you take her out for a ride and when one of those "pretty late model v-twins" roll up next to her, she will BLOW THEM AWAY! And talk about turning heads, All those pretty v-twin riders come around and pay their respects to her and you for being the lucky guy that "old girl" is going home with! Yeah......Its an obsession!

[kawpaul]

I was telling my son last night that my bike would get 10 times the looks of the new cruiser or crotch rocket bikes. Then I explained that all these cookie cutter harley clone wannabes and sporty bikes are a dime a dozen and they all look about the same. But an old school bike is a rare visual delight because you do not see them that often.
Kind of like the difference between a 65 stingray and a 2009 vette. Park those two in the same parking lot and see which one draws the most looks.

[StarGate]

Originally Posted by zoro

These bikes are alot like a beautiful woman!

Wait a minute, I thought it was fish that were like a beautiful woman.

[zoro]

Originally Posted by StarGate

Wait a minute, I thought it was fish that were like a beautiful woman.

Oh Yeah! Only the good ol big uns and the big ol good uns...lol

[StarGate]

Originally Posted by zoro

Oh Yeah! Only the good ol big uns and the big ol good uns...lol

Well with fish, if you clean them up and prepare them properly most are good to eat. If you take them home, no matter how much you try, sooner or later they will go bad and fresh ones are always better. If you ever decide to mount one, you know it's going to cost a lot.

[zoro]

Originally Posted by StarGate

Well with fish, if you clean them up and prepare them properly most are good to eat. If you take them home, no matter how much you try, sooner or later they will go bad and fresh ones are always better. If you ever decide to mount one, you know it's going to cost a lot.

Boy I Mean!...LOL...

[Newbie_3131]

I dont even have mine running right yet, I'm already looking at this balanced chrome exhaust system (1 pipe on each side rather than a single pipe) replacement chrome gauge covers, that sort of thing I guess u guys r right...

[Newbie_3131]

Originally Posted by Newbie_3131

now... let me ask you guys what you think about this: I am going to re-jet the carbs given I've already purchased the high performance filters and the cabs are taken out, as part of the deal, I intend to remove the baffle from the exhaust to remove even more restriction from the airflow. I said this to the guy at the bike shop he recommended the following: main jet go from 102.5 to 110, pilot jet go from 15 to 17.5 he said given what I was doing, it was recommended i went up 2 steps on the main, and 1 step on the pilot, how do these number look to you guys?

I wanted to post this question to you guys again because the Petcock was loaded with junk, and when I moved it I created all kinds of problems, so I ended up putting the baffle back and original sized jets because I wasn't sure why the bike would not run. I still want to take that baffle out and go up on the jets, I would appreciate ur input on the numbers above

[Newbie_3131]

recent pic

[Newbie_3131]

some recent pics

[zoro]

WOW! Now thats what Im talking about!!! Dude.....your girl just winked at me!!! That looks like a 2-1/2" pipe! That is one fine well balanced look! It looks like a Z1, I cant stop staring at her! ILL TRY AND FOCUS FOR A MINUTE. Ok, Those jet sizes sound spot on! And after seeing you have a header and pods, I would set my jet needles in the third slot with one washer under the clip. Thats a good place to start with a wide open intake and exhaust. Now you mentioned crud in the petcock. Leave a quart of gas in the tank and after removing it from the bike, swish the tank around and dump it, two or three time if necessary untill the cruds gone. ALWAYS use an inline fuel filter! Install a new set of plugs and go pizz the neighbors off! Now you get to learn how to read those plugs! PS need to look into a slip-on can or megaphone for that pipe.

[StarGate]

Nice looking bike but sure looks like that would be a bit hard on the back side to ride it. I guess that's the truest form of a hard-tail.

[kopcicle]

I can see from the angle of the dangle of them carbs you will need to support them with a bracket

[kawpaul]

Just put a couple sticks under them to prop them up.

[Newbie_3131]

Originally Posted by zoro

WOW! Now thats what Im talking about!!! Dude.....your girl just winked at me!!! That looks like a 2-1/2" pipe! That is one fine well balanced look! It looks like a Z1, I cant stop staring at her! ILL TRY AND FOCUS FOR A MINUTE. Ok, Those jet sizes sound spot on! And after seeing you have a header and pods, I would set my jet needles in the third slot with one washer under the clip. Thats a good place to start with a wide open intake and exhaust. Now you mentioned crud in the petcock. Leave a quart of gas in the tank and after removing it from the bike, swish the tank around and dump it, two or three time if necessary untill the cruds gone. ALWAYS use an inline fuel filter! Install a new set of plugs and go pizz the neighbors off! Now you get to learn how to read those plugs! PS need to look into a slip-on can or megaphone for that pipe.

set the needles on the what? dude, remember me, NEWBIE!!!! quite frankly I took these carbs apart twice once to clean them and replace the jets, gaskets and needles and seats, the second to re-clean because of that bad petcock and to actually go back to original jet sizes, but I didn't take the whole carb apart, I basically removed the top and bottom cups, cleaned re-jetted and reassembled. Maybe that's why the jet change didn't work the first time. I did buy 4 kits with a whole bunch of parts but I didn't change all of them. I guess just going up on the jet size doesn't cut it huh? please advise me on what el I should be looking at and where I may be able to find some illustrations thanks...

Ps> in the pics bike wasn't really done so carbs were probably not properly mounted yet. the bracket does sound like a good idea though

update: OK I confess, I thought the jet sizes was going to be it, so I kind of ignored all the other stuff, I didn't realize all the other stuff that was in play, I am armed with information and tomorrow I intend to take the carbs apart again, I'll give you an update later...

[Newbie_3131]

alright, first of all, the information you guys gave me and led me to was excellent, I wouldn't call myself an expert but I certainly have a much deeper understanding of how carbs works and what it takes to make them work right (like I said I'm no expert) if anyone out there needs help the links listed on this thread provide or will lead you to probably even more information than you need. I took the carbs back off this morning, and this time disasembled the top part so the needle would be accessible, remember the first time I tried this the bike wouldn't even start after I was done, this time I began by enrichening the mix by adjusting the needle (was set on the 4th slot) given the bike wouldnt even start with that setting, i decided to jump to steps, Having only 1 slot more available, I followed Zoro's advice and used a stainless washer under the clip to add the extra step, gutted the baffle and put the tailpipe back on, with the choke on, bike fired up on the first kick, she ran really strong in the parking lot, although not really warmed up yet, didn't have time to roadtest (I'll try tomorrow) but I'm feeling good about it. Thank you guys again for all the info. now I gotta clean that brake system and get rid of the fluid (I only have disk in the front) I wanna change the engine oil again as well...

[zoro]

FAARROUT!!! That six slot needle indicates that those werent "virgin" carbs. Glad to hear your making progress! Its time to learn how to read the plugs! All the latest technology still has not surpassed "plug reading" to fine tune carburetters!

[Newbie_3131]

i guess that means riding for a while and then checking the plugs for evidence of proper mixture(or lack there of) right????? m gonna try to go for a ride tomorrow, let u know how it feels once she's on the road and hot!!!!