1982 KZ750 that goes drip, drip, drip

[bamnq6]

So, I'm now the proud owner of a 1982 KZ750 LTD (chain drive), 27634 miles. None of that fancy belt/shaft stuff over here. A good friend of mine (avid motorcyclist and tinkerer) pretty much went thru the whole bike before selling it to me over the weekend. New Battery, plugs, & tires, checked brakes, chain, bolt torques, balanced carbs, patched a vacuum leak, yada, yada, yada. The guy is a great friend of the family and wanted to make sure I was safe on my first "big" bike.

So, now that I'm 350 miles away at school and started to put miles on, little things have started to creep up. I'm pretty mechanically oriented, and handy with tools. I'm an aerospace engineer, and I perform all my own auto maintenance.

Here's the scoop...

Flasher Relay- the blinkers on the bike were really, really slow. Like one "blink" every three seconds. A prior owner installed the battery sans vent tube, so battery acid destroyed the flasher relays. Kawi dealer wants $40 for the flasher blinker. I grabbed a $3 blinker at O'Reilly (552?) and it seems to do the trick. Any real problems with this solution??

Tach drive oil leak- She leaks a drop of oil out the tack drive when running (i think, front and center of the block). I've heard this is a recurring problem on this bike. What's the best solutions?

Gas Leak- So after riding today I park my bike in the basement. 8 hours later, my house realllly smells like gas. Turns out there are drips of gas collecting on the "intake boots" on cylinder 2 and 4 and dripping onto the transmission. By intake boots, I mean the rubbers that connect the carbs to the air intake box. This is the 1st bike I've owned w/o a fuel cutoff. Is it leaking 'cause I left the fuel valve in "run"? Or do I have a bad gasket somewheres?

Fork Leak- Also found today after parking in my basement- The allen head screw in the bottom of the left fork is slowly leaking oil. Probably 3 drops onto the floor in 8 hours. I wiped of the oil and I'll check it tomorrow. I this because I had the forks compress ~4-6" inches when I trailered it 350 miles to school? Can/should I attempt to tighten that bolt?

On all there leaks: When I picked up the bike, I was told the only leak was the tach drive. I fully believe that my friend was telling em the truth. I'm expecting that they either appeared after ~30 miles of riding and moving some of the long term storage sludge around, of somehow due to this my own negligence.

Goodness this new guy is windy...

[StarGate]

The blinker relay should be fine. Pretty much any that will fit and opperate normally can be used.

I think the tach drive has a seal around it that is probably leaking.

There is a gasket on the bolt in the bottom of the fork. Either the gasket is bad or the bolt is loose but yes you can try to tighten it. The problem will be keeping the inside from spinning with the bolt. If you get lucky, it will tighten for you but there is a good chance it might just keep spinning.

Hmm, gas leak sounds a bit strange. I can't think of anything over the 2/4 carbs that could be leaking like that. It could be leaking from the gas gauge sending unit and running down the underside of the tank but that is the only thing I can think of. You'll probably need to remove the tank and inspect that one a little closer to determine where it's leaking from.

As the saying goes, It ain't rocket science. I guess in your case it really wouldn't matter if it was.

Originally Posted by bamnq6

I'm an aerospace engineer, and I perform all my own auto maintenance.

[bamnq6]

So late last night when I finished changing the oil, I switched to fuel control valve from "run" to "reserve". When I went and looked at the bike today, the same intake boots were dry. I think I'll keep switch to reserve when parked and keep on eye on those boots. I know that my gas gauge sender is defunct (always reads low fuel), so I'll probably pull the tank and check out that area later. Any idea on the cost of a replacement sender?

One more question: Idle adjustment. When the bike is warmed up and running off choke, my idle RPM is about ~500. This strikes me as a little low. Occasionally, (2 or 3 times) she has stumbled and died at this low rpm at "in-opportune" time, ie stop lights.

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of a Clymer manual, but until then you guys are all I've got.

[Ericthejet]

1000rpm is a good starting point for hot engine idle.
I'd get an OEM rebuild kit for the fuel tap.

Read this about fuel taps in general,

GPZ 900R Fuel Taps

[antiq]

Yep 1000rpm or 1100 rpm is a good idle. Adjust at the idle screw up under and between carbs one and two. The fuel leak doesn't make much sense but if it stops in running on reserve okay. Run and reserve both require vacuum to allow fuel flow. It may be that the petcock needs rebuilt as suggested or it may be that you had a bit of garbage in you float needle valves. Personally I'd run a few tanks of good carb/injector cleaner and install a good fuel filter.

[stocksj]

Originally Posted by bamnq6

So late last night when I finished changing the oil, I switched to fuel control valve from "run" to "reserve". When I went and looked at the bike today, the same intake boots were dry. I think I'll keep switch to reserve when parked and keep on eye on those boots. I know that my gas gauge sender is defunct (always reads low fuel), so I'll probably pull the tank and check out that area later. Any idea on the cost of a replacement sender?



One more question: Idle adjustment. When the bike is warmed up and running off choke, my idle RPM is about ~500. This strikes me as a little low. Occasionally, (2 or 3 times) she has stumbled and died at this low rpm at "in-opportune" time, ie stop lights.

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of a Clymer manual, but until then you guys are all I've got.

I have an 82 750R1 and am having the same problem with leaking gas. I pulled the tank earlier this summer and I think I found a loose hose under the tank. I finally placed the tank back on this weekend, added some clamps on the hoses, checked the hose placement added gas and turned the key and got gas running out of a hose in the middle of the carbs. Maybe I need to recheck which hose is running where but this is frustrating.

[antiq]

Originally Posted by stocksj

I have an 82 750R1 and am having the same problem with leaking gas. I pulled the tank earlier this summer and I think I found a loose hose under the tank. I finally placed the tank back on this weekend, added some clamps on the hoses, checked the hose placement added gas and turned the key and got gas running out of a hose in the middle of the carbs. Maybe I need to recheck which hose is running where but this is frustrating.

Do you have the stock petcock set in prime position or a newer replacement with on, off, reserve? Did tapping on the bowls stop the leak? Were the float bowls drained when pulled the tank? Where was the loose hose supposed to be attached? Or was it a vent hose?

[jforeman574]

Best guess I would have would be float bowls sticking and filling up with gas while bike is off like the other guy mentioned. Second guess is maybe its not leaking from the rubber boots but behind the reserve switch there is a seal or gasket or whatever u might call it. If that gasket is bad like mine was on my GPZ I had to leave it in one position to keep it from leaking.