Newbie starting & idling problem

[DarkKawa]

Newbie starting my first project bike and came across my first issue I could use help with. I have an 84 ZN700-A1 that I've been riding for about 2 weeks. The carb was supposedely rebuilt by previous owner. It has run great so far and started up every day, usually with a little choke in the morning.

The problem I have came after I replaced the handlebars with a new drag bar. After I was done I started her up to see if the clutch cable needed to be adjusted... The bike started but after a couple of seconds the idle started taking off. It didn't sound like it would stop so I shut it off. I restarted a couple of times and adjusted the idle mixture knob a couple of times but could not get it to stop taking off. It got dark out so I gave up for the night and figured it might be the throttle cable since I yanked it around quite a bit changing the bars.

The next day I made sure the throttle cable was not tight anywhere and tried her again. It had also rained a lot the night before. I could not get her to start at all. Battery and starter were fine but engine would only turn over once and then quit. I'm wondering if it might just be that the bike got really wet the night before as my Clymer manual mentions this as a possible cause for not starting? Has anyone had a similar issue with rain before? It has not rained hard since I've been riding the bike until now and it's been raining for the past few days so it hasn't had time to dry off to disprove this theory.

I've read a lot of posts about working on the carbs to fix this type of problem but since it was running fine before and I have not really touched the carbs I'm heasitant to dive into trying to fix the carbs or anything else I didn't change. The throttle cable is very worn where it enters the throttle and is coming out at over a 45 degree angle also. Any advice is appreciated. I plan to take a closer look tomorrow when it is supposed to be dry. Thanks

[david_knack2001]

I had a problem where my idle would take off when I turned the handlebars. Turned out the throttle cable was set too tight, so when the handlebars turned it pulled on the cable. I'd try loosening up the throttle cable where it connects to the handlebars.

If the bike was running fine before you changed the handlebars, I would definetly not do anything with the carbs. The only thing I would do maybe is drain the gas out of them, put the bike on prime, and try again. If you have pod filters maybe a little water got in there. Or, maybe your petcock is leaking a little and it's flooded. I guess you could chek your spark plugs and see if they got wet. I've never left mine out in a storm before so I'm not entirely sure what to do.

[DarkKawa]

Thanks for the advice. I'll try this tonight. My petcock is leaking a bit so this is probably not helping. I have a new one on order from Z1 along with plugs and a bunch of other stuff to catch up on my maintenance. The next thing I'm going to look for is a cover.

I live in an old rowhome in Philly and have no garage or covered place to store my bike. I'm very lucky to at least have a large patio in the back with side access so I can work on my bike in peace... I will report back tonight.

[DarkKawa]

No luck so far. I drained the carbs and disconnected my throttle cable at the grip to make sure it was not too tight. I had the same result. Turned over once and then nothing.

I was irritated and have a lot to do on the bike so I gave up for now and took off the tank and all other body parts I want to paint. I will seal the tank tomorrow and try to get to painting this weekend. My parts from z1 haven't come yet but should soon. When they get here I will change the oil, filters, petcock, fuel lines, fuel filter and spark plugs. I'll throw everything back together next week and hopefully will have better luck. If not I may head to a local shop and seek help. If anyone else has any thoughts I am all ears.

[masonryman]

If it will only turn over once, check the oil and make sure it's not full of gas. if the level gets to high there is not room for the piston to go up and down this often happens with carb problems (stuck float)

[DarkKawa]

Changed the oil the other night and it was black as midnight. Didn't notice any gas in it though and the level wasn't too high before draining. I put in a new oil filter and K&N air filter as well. Will change out the plugs tonight and see what they look like. I'm on schedule to have her back together Saturday as the weather report is good and I am cautiously optimistic about getting her running smoothly again.