1980 KZ1300 - Bad Day at the Office

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desertrefugee
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Re: 1980 KZ1300 "Kiwi"- Out on Good Behavior

#631

Post by desertrefugee »

Good to hear, Lucien! Really good to hear.
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Lucien Harpress
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Re: 1980 KZ1300 "Kiwi"- Out on Good Behavior

#632

Post by Lucien Harpress »

Oh, don't worry. Things immediately got back to normal this morning. Got some loose (as in, internally broken) wires inside the kill switch which randomly shuts off the motor, and managed to snap a throttle cable.

Ah well. Better in the garage than out on the road.
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete

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Re: 1980 KZ1300 "Kiwi"- Out on Good Behavior

#633

Post by desertrefugee »

It's an old motorcycle. It needs things. It's our responsibility to cater to those needs.
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Re: 1980 KZ1300 "Kiwi"- Out on Good Behavior

#634

Post by Track T 2411 »

desertrefugee wrote:It's an old motorcycle. It needs things. It's our responsibility to cater to those needs.
Isn't that why most consider them 'female' as well? lolol lolol lolol
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Lucien Harpress
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Re: 1980 KZ1300 "Kiwi"- Out on Good Behavior

#635

Post by Lucien Harpress »

You're not wrong.... (I'm not going to specify to whom I refer. ;) )

Thankfully I managed to wade through the $70 throttle cables on Ebay and snag a new pull cable for $24. The wire thing I'll need to take a look at. The wires seem solid, and I can only replicate a loss of connection occasionally, and not repeatably. And with switch clusters running at 200 bucks a pop, replacement isn't really an option.

Still, I'm pretty confident I've graduated from "dirty/clogged jets" to "incorrectly tuned". Which is something I can deal with.
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete

All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
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Lucien Harpress
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Re: 1980 KZ1300 "Kiwi"- Out on Good Behavior

#636

Post by Lucien Harpress »

Ohhh, story time. Gather 'round, kiddies.

Got my new throttle cable in. Turns out? Not all pull cables are created equal. 1980 KZ1300 pull cable may mean the US pull cable, the UK Z1300 pull cable, or the KZ1300B pull cable- ALL different.

Mine was different. AND too long. Got in touch with MotionPro to maybe get a custom cable made- no big deal. Got a shorter GL1000 cable made for about $20, this should no problem right?

Wrong. They haven't made a KZ1300 cable yet (surprising, in retrospect), but they could prototype one- for $160.

:-?

One more trip to Ebay and $30 later, I managed to find a NOS pull cable (with the CORRECT part number STAMPED on the housing), which finally showed up today. Got it installed, started the bike, realized that cylinder 5 was taking a LONG time to start firing, said "screw it", and decided to take a ride around the block.
KZ1.jpg
KZ1.jpg (174.68 KiB) Viewed 329 times
KZ2.jpg
KZ2.jpg (174.94 KiB) Viewed 329 times
Apart from the slow warmup on cylinder 5, I'm still getting some weird... "burbling", I guess? When I'm riding really slow. 3k on the tach, throttle juuuuust barely open. So I'm hoping my purely-spitballed idle mix screws are the blame. At speed is still pretty good, and I'm avoiding checking ANYTHING until I run at least a full tank of gas through these carbs as they are set.

Now, compared to... say a GL1000, they are quite different bikes (you don't say?). Seat height on the KZ is higher, for sure, but footpegs are higher as well, in relation to the seat. That being said, rider position is still pretty upright, so you definitely feel like you're perched on top of something. Engine width is still surprisingly narrow- the top end is pretty much all hidden by the tank, and even the crank is narrower than a Goldwing engine at the same height. Power is still something to get used to- I did a roll-on from about 40-60 and thought "this is just a hair sluggish". THEN I realized I was in 4th gear. :lol:

The one thing I DON'T like is the shifter- there is a lockout of sorts on 1st and 5th. Basically, if you're at either end of the shift range, the lever won't move any more that direction. I personally can NEVER remember what gear I'm in, so I like to check occasionally by flipping the lever quick. If you're in 5th on the 1300 the lever just... doesn't move. Not a big deal, but still annoying for a very stupid reason.

But in any case, enough with the postmortem. I'll be back in 5.6 gallons of gas, with some more ideas on how to fiddle with the carbs.
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete

All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
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desertrefugee
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Re: 1980 KZ1300 "Kiwi"- Out on Good Behavior

#637

Post by desertrefugee »

We are a patient group. And we are, collectively, cautiously optimistic. Ride that danged thing.
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Re: 1980 KZ1300 "Kiwi"- Out on Good Behavior

#638

Post by wingrider »

I was going to say, do what desertrefugee did with his CBX and ride it a bit hard and it just might clean up!
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Lucien Harpress
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Re: 1980 KZ1300 "Kiwi"- Out on Good Behavior

#639

Post by Lucien Harpress »

Did a quick 40-mile jaunt, and the bike held up probably better than it had any right to. Still getting some weirdness from the left side, but oh well.

The biggest thing I've noticed putting some miles on it is that either my fuel gauge is VERY inaccurate, or the fuel mileage on my current setup is abysmal. Stock mileage isn't that great to begin with (35-40 mpg), but if I'm doing the math right, I'm sitting at something like 10-15. Something to keep an eye on, for sure.
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete

All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
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desertrefugee
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Re: 1980 KZ1300 "Kiwi"- Out on Good Behavior

#640

Post by desertrefugee »

Yikes! I hope that's not a correct number. If it is, something is horribly wrong. I should think it would muster 20-25 even if poorly tuned. If it ran halfway decent and didn't foul the plugs, you HAVE to be doing better than that...
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Lucien Harpress
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Re: 1980 KZ1300 "Kiwi"- Out on Good Behavior

#641

Post by Lucien Harpress »

Okay, so I can confirm that the fuel mileage issue was a false alarm- I managed to get a fairly accurate number (top off tank, zero out trip meter, run a bit, top off tank again, do math, profit), and it looks like I'm pulling about 35 mpg- right where this bike needs to be.

The only downside is that a couple hundred miles later, I'm still getting annoying stuff happening from the left side. I'm confident in the fact it sounds minor enough to be a tuning issue, but a bit worried because I've been getting similar issues from that same side since they day the bike was dropped off. I'm just hoping it's different stuff each time.

In any case, in a perfect world I'd run another thank of gas through it, but I live in Michigan. The riding season is pretty well done by now. And much as I'd like to lift a 5.5 gallon gas tank that's completely full, I think I'll drain most if it, Sta-bil the rest, and swap back to the IV for a bit to see if I can clear up this lumpy left side.
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete

All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
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Lucien Harpress
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Re: 1980 KZ1300 "Kiwi"- Out on Good Behavior

#642

Post by Lucien Harpress »

So I managed to pull the plugs and see what a couple hundred miles on them look, and surprisingly? VERY consistent, if maybe a touch lean. Of course, this is not the greatest news for me, as I'm still chasing an issue on the left side. I've got a couple ideas on how to (at the very least) lock down what cylinder it's happening in, but at the very least knowing something isn't going horribly wrong at normal operating ranges is a big plus.
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete

All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
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Re: 1980 KZ1300 "Kiwi"- Out on Good Behavior

#643

Post by robin1731 »

Never a good idea to play with jetting/check plugs when the temps are below 65 or so. I'm pretty sure it was cooler than that where you are since you aren't "that" far from me. I had a guy take his bike home yesterday and told him to bring it back next spring once it gets near 70. Jet it now and it will be way too rich when it gets to 80 or above.

What that means is don't worry if the plugs look a little lean today. ;)
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Lucien Harpress
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Re: 1980 KZ1300 "Kiwi"- Out on Good Behavior

#644

Post by Lucien Harpress »

Thankfully, properly re-jetting a carburetor is still outside my skill set. I think the warmest it got on my rides was mid-50s, so yeah. It was chilly.

That being said, I'm just happy I'm getting a consistent color across all 6 plugs. Everything right now from airbox to exhaust is stock, including the jets, and performance is fantastic, so I'm happy to leave them.

I've got a feeling it's something in the idle circuit, because THOSE settings are all over the place. The issues I'm having (low pop out of the left side, both at idle and at speed) seemed to get better when I replaced the idle jet on that side, so I'm hoping it's something simple.

It may just be a mixture screw out of whack, which is it's own adventure. The manual calls to start at 1.5 turns out, but I've heard of guys saying it's a mis-print in the manual and they need to be more like 3 turns out, with every other setting in between.

In any case, if I can make that pop go away, I'll be happy.
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete

All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
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Re: 1980 KZ1300 "Kiwi"- Out on Good Behavior

#645

Post by robin1731 »

Lucien Harpress wrote:snip...………..
It may just be a mixture screw out of whack, which is it's own adventure. The manual calls to start at 1.5 turns out, but I've heard of guys saying it's a mis-print in the manual and they need to be more like 3 turns out, with every other setting in between.
The rule of thumb we use. If the mixture screw has to be turned more than 3 turns from stiock you need to change the pilot jet. ;)

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1976 Goldwing Super Sport
1985 Honda Elite
1976 KZ900 Dragbike
1992 ZX7 Dragbike (KZ900 style motor w/NOS)
and a rotation of various purchases
Randakk approved Carb Rebuilder
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