'78 KZ400

[alemonkey]

Well...back at it....slowly. Life got in the way, as it sometimes does. Work got crazy and we're in the middle of selling our house and buying another one. The good news is, the new one has a heated garage so maybe I can actually get some work done this winter.

Got a little done in the last few months. It's slowly starting to look like something. I ended up going a little different direction on the paint than I originally planned, but I like it. Here's how it's sitting so far. The seat pan and tank are just sitting on the frame, not bolted down, so they're sitting a little funny.

 

[alemonkey]

Ok, resurrecting this zombie thread. Life got in the way…new house, new job, kid started and graduated high school, etc. About a month ago I decided to get back to work on the bike. I went with a new color scheme and buttoned up a few things. Today I finished hooking up the fuel lines, dumped some gas in the tank, and it fired right up! It’s covered with dust and cobwebs from sitting in a corner of the garage for years, so next step is to give it a good detailing. I need to pull the plugs to see how they look, but I think the jetting is fairly close.

 

[Luugo86]

Good to see you back at it, the bike looks good

 

[alemonkey]

I took it for a ride tonight and it died about 5 blocks from home. Checked the fuses, they looked ok but I had no power when the switch was on. I called my wife and had her run my booster box to me but still nothing. So I pushed it home. Glad it didn’t die further away!

When I got home I got out the multimeter and checked the battery, it was fine. Then I checked continuity on the fuses, and the main fuse showed no connection between the two ends. When I pulled it out it just fell apart. I didn’t have any spares so I stuck a screwdriver in there to try it, and it fired right up.

I guess 40 some years is a good run for a glass fuse. I should have replaced them when I was doing all the wiring but it never occurred to me. I’ll run out tomorrow and pick up enough different sizes to replace all of them.

 

[Luugo86]

Got your biker-cardio in for the day! Glad you got it sorted.. it's always the small bugs that give me the worst trouble like that.

 

[benroloff]

Happened to me the other day too. Had too small of a battery in for a test ride, forgot to turn the fuel on after I stopped at a buddies, battery didn’t have enough juice to fire up again, had to give it a shove home. I just call it the workout for the week


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[alemonkey]

Luckily my neighborhood is pretty flat so I had minimal uphill pushing. It was about 90 degrees and horribly humid though, so I was drenched in sweat by the time I got home.

The next thing I need to figure out is the carbs. After adjusting the valve needle to its second richest position the spark plugs look good and it runs ok overall. But I have a problem with it cutting out if I whack the throttle wide open off idle. I can open it fairly quick and it’s ok, but if I all out rip it open to full throttle it dies.

 

[Luugo86]

Maybe a different main jet? I know there are some jedi masters on here who know much more than I do about carbs, but I believe the main jet controls fuel from 50% throttle to wide open throttle or something close to that. Check the plugs right after it dies from ripping the throttle, if they are wet the main jet could be dumping too much fuel too quickly. Looking forward to seeing what you find out though, I'm all ears when it comes to learning more about carbs

 

[alemonkey]

Worth a shot.