1990 KZ1000 police cafe build

Pretty much any bike shop will carry muffler packing kits. I know CycleGear has em on the shelf.

roman_dog said:

Thanks guys, can't argue good advice when you get it. I did get the thickest gauge that's out there, but still. Do you have a link for that packing? I couldn't find any glass wool locally, which is what I originally wanted.

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You could always recycle the guts from a donner muffler. I shortened two cans on a Ducati a few months ago and thru away exactly what you need. I bet you can find someone with a couple laying around.

What no big bore kit or cams?
Hope you at least honed the cylinders and installed new rings. 8)

roman_dog said:

Finally! My cylinder head is back from the machine shop! Work can now resume... Not a whole lot to be said about todays progress, just put the engine back together and mounted it in the frame again. Here are some pics.

pistons

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Nebr_Rex said:

What no big bore kit or cams?
Hope you at least honed the cylinders and installed new rings. 8)

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Ya, I honed the cylinders, got new rings, and did a full valve job. Believe me, it took all my self control not to get a big bore kit. Trying to keep the cost reasonable though, haha. Perhaps in the future...

Well, I finally got the last package of electrical stuff I was waiting on. Wired everything up, plugged it all in and got ready to fire it up. First attempt is a no-go, there is something wrong with my ignition system as I'm getting no spark. I went through everything, and unfortunately it seems that my IC ingiter went bad. I may have damaged it at some point or another when working on other bits, so I pretty pissed off about that. Not a cheap part, but as it failed all the testing procedures in the book, I guess it needs replacing. More to follow.

WooHoo! I got an igniter from eBay for cheap! The seller says it works, so I really hope this was my problem; I'll find out soon enough. In the meantime, just cleaning parts now so I'll have less to do when it comes time to paint.

I wish you luck. I enjoy electrical, but sometimes the gremlins just won't let you have a good day

Well, I got the electrical worked out. Took some time and trying different things, but I won out in the end. Ignition works, and the engine fired up nicely. Sounds like shit though, I'm having trouble tuning the carbs and setting the idle. The exhaust pulses feel as though cyl 3 and 4 are firing good, but 1 and 2 are out of order. Can I solve this by sychronizing everything properly, and then working out the idle mixture and jets? Any ideas?

Here's a sound bite, I hope it loads:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqjAsWaAiNk&feature=youtu.be

Set all the carbs at the stock air/fuel screw setting first. Then sync. Usually all will be well after that. During the sync you can do the stumble or idle drop method if you feel like it. Typically the stock settings work, and if you are running pods I go an extra 1/2 turn or so to the RICH side so you aren't too lean at idle.

Thanks Bruno. Well as I was trying to tune the carbs, I noticed that I was having a hell of a time getting anywhere. Going back to square one, I checked all the other things, like plugs. My number 3 plug (which WAS good) is now dead. I am also thoroughly convinved that my local Kawasaki shop is literally the most useless place in the world, as they didn't have any spark plugs to sell me. Whatever, I ordered new plugs and wires. While I'm waiting on those, I decided to make today a science day, with total success! Using electrolysis, I removed the rust from the hard-to-reach part of my exhaust pipes, as I'm entirely too unmotivated to do all that by hand. Then I also made a manometer so I can check the carbs when I get everything back together. Here's the pics:

Heres my exhaust before:


Here it is stewing in the mix:


And after:


And here's the manometer I made. Never tried this before so I hope it works:

Alright guys, I need some help. I got the new plugs and wires installed, and have confirmed good spark on all of them. I checked and re-adjusted the cams per the manual procedure (they slipped when I first put the motor together, newbie mistake, I know), and the carbs seem to be in good working order; fuel is getting to all 4 float bowls and . All that being said, when I start the engine, it idles well enough, but as soon as I roll on even a little throttle, it backfires, stutters, and dies. Any thoughts on what my problem could be?

Need some more fuel.

Nebr_Rex said:

Need some more fuel.

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More in the float bowl, or bigger jets?

I will have to make a couple assumptions on this one. 1 is that the Carbs are the original ones that came on the bike, and 2 that your valve adjustments and timing are correct. When you say it idles well enough I am also assuming a smooth idle. My 81 GPZ1100 is fuel injected so I will have to blow some old school cob webs out here. When going from idle to your slow roll you are transitioning from the idle jets to a transition jet just prior to the power jets. Being that your rebuild didnt modify the basic engine design the jetting should be pretty close. Obviously the change in exhaust and most likely a free flowing air filter will improve flow through the engine it should not be enough to cause a slow roll to kill the engine. Now comes some troubleshooting ideas and you can eliminate the ones you have done or know to be good. 1) Valves are adjusted properly ensuring they fully close. 2) Ignition advancer rotates freely when moved by hand. 3) Initial timing is correct. 4) no vacuum leaks at idle. Once you have checked these off we are at the carbs. Most likely these are the good old CV style carbs. You have the throttle plate and a slide internal. If you know your float level was set correctly the slight change in throttle would not be enough to drain the bowls so the next item for checking would be the diaphragms at the top of the carbs. If these are torn the slides dont open the motor chokes and dies. Sound about right. These are what actually moves your needle in the middle of the carb to allow more fuel so if they arent moving then no extra fuel. You look and sound like a capable individual so please dont take any of these suggestions for anything more than that. As for performance parts at the begining of your post I would check out APE Race parts, MTC Engineering, Falicon Cranks, and WEB racing cams just as a few sources I have come across. Good luck and love the work you have done with your bike. Keep it up and hope this helps. Here is a pic for you of my GPZ.

Thanks for the advice KZsAll. I'll try double checking all that when I get a chance. Diggin' the color on your 1100 too! So another couple questions for those more learned than me. When I time my cams per the manual, there is a little bit of play as I turn the crankshaft before it catches the exhaust cam and starts to turn it (even though I pull the chain tight). So the question I ask is: If I adjust the cam one tooth in either direction, or if it is actually one tooth off, could that cause the symptoms I'm having? Steady idle but bogging down and dying with any throttle? And second question: My valve clearance is within spec, but only just. Should I have the shims ground until the clearance gap is right in the middle of the recommended range?

Not a problem Roman_dog. Thanks for the complement. On to your next series of questions. I have had my head on and off several times this past year so the cams are definetly something I am familiar with. If you followed your manual your golden. But to answer the tooth off question here is a run down. Your cams will have what is known as and intake and exhaust centerline. The manual is set up so that when followed these centerlines are what they are supposed to be installed at. With out the manual you can do the same thing by using a degree wheel if the centerline angles are known. Using your one tooth example lets say it is off. How this will effect our particular style of engine is it would change the lobe seperation angle. That is the angle between the intake and exhaust. A single tooth really would not have a drastic effect on this angle and probably would be unoticed. You have probably heard a drag car with its super choppy idle. That would be an extreme example of moving the centerline closer reducing lobe seperation. You have also seen grandmas grocery getter. That is a wide seperation angle. Your one tooth may only really account for a single degree change(not sure about the exact change per tooth) When you figure these angles can run from super choppy at 106 degree seperation to extremely smooth at 116 degrees you can see a degree is not much. I would bet your spot on. Ours is around 110-112 if my memory serves correctly. Plus you have a smooth idle which tells me your good there. I dont recall any delay in my movement but if you spin the motor over a couple times and the timing marks line up as the manual says your good. I always spin the motor 1 full revolution to allow the automatic chain adjuster and any slack to pull out and double check the timing. Food for future thought. On the valve adjustment in spec is in spec. Any that are close will probably be out later down the line but for now your good. NO GRINDING shims. Z1 Enterprises sells shim kits for the KZs so when the time comes do it the right way by your manual. Easy to do with the shim on top design. By the sounds of it your good on your timing and valve adjustment so I still think the easier things I suggested would be a better starting point for you. As always hope this helps and looking forward to your success.

Agree with the info supplied above.


Just a note: The engine can run with the cams off a tooth, but it will not run right.
You are right to want to double check it. (although as mentioned above, it may well be fine)
A compression check will help you know, (although with your brand new unbedded pistons it may read a little low, but it should read consistant)
Also you can pull the valve cover and watch the alignment marks carefully.


As mentioned above, no grinding shims. Just replace them. shim kits are helpful, and remember that in general as valves wear they tighten up to the cam, so look at the clearance window and if you can, lean toward the loose side of that window with a new engine. Stay within spec, but if your shim choices put you either right at the tight side of spec or smack in the middle, take the middle every time. This isn't a drag motor.


But again, as mentioned above the most likely culprit is the carbs.
You may need to raise the needle a notch to get the crossover range right. Also, double check your fuel flow. A clogged petcock or tank vent can result in inadequate flow that will give you similar symptoms.


Good luck!

Thanks for the input guys. I went and triple checked the cam timing and valve clearance and was not happy with the results. I checked all the clearances before I installed the head, but perhaps they weren't seated properly, or maybe I didn't have the cam lobe correctly positioned, but one of them does not have enough clearance. It's only off by 0.001", but thats on the low side which gives me almost no clearance. I'm going to get a new shim from my machine shop tomorrow before I mess with it more. In the mean time, I'm painting my exhaust with some of that hi-temp paint. Once I get that shim I'll try firing it up again and start fooling with the carbs.

OK, still not working. I replaced a shim that was too thick, so now all the valve clearances are within spec. My local mechanic suggested that the carb pistons were my problem, so I rechecked (again!) the diaphragms: all good. I also lubed the pistons so they move super freely. Everything went back together, I fired it up, and same problem. It idles but will not rev. All the vacuum lines are new and there are no leaks. Once it died I pulled a plug and found that it is running pretty rich, but as soon as I tried to lean out the idle mixture it died. Here are a couple videos on Youtube. Could this be an ignition thing? I cleaned and lubed the ignition advancer...

When you hear it bog down is when I put a little throttle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK40cSvLWng&feature=channel&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7NPFa50ho8&feature=channel&list=UL

I am not going to pretend to know a whole lot about these but have you tried tuning it with the filters in place? Some systems need that vacuum/ restriction to work right.