TOPIC:

hi can someone help me out?. ive been told a few different things, and i just wanna know for sure before i go through trouble of putting new peices on my bike. this winter i bought a 1 peice chrome air box cleaner. ( i havent ran it yet with the new box on)i removed the old one. i recentlly bought a set of 4 carb kits am i am going to get a bike shop to install them and shycronize the carb. am i going to have to buy different parts such as different jet sizes or anything, or will the carb kits have what they all need and are they going to beable to get it all done just like that? i have no clue. thanks

well...it is good to learn how to do it by yourself.
i would recomment to check what stock sizes of jets you need for your bike with original air filter and than put a new filter on and see what is going on when you changed the air filter.are your plugs fouled?
or not?how does your bike run?
than you need to fool with a needle clip position,sizes of jets and mixture srews..but if you going to put your bike to shop they have to deal with all those things.hope you can trust them.
i just have a bad experience with bike shops...it took too long and than i had to deal with it anyway.it is really hard to find someone who you can trust.
thats a reason why i spend so much time on this site to learn all those tricks about these beatiful old bike.i lovo to learn new things and this is a olace where you can learn and ask.

Here's a decent site to begin learning more about carbs and other mechanical information about motorcycles.

dansmc.com/MC_repaircourse.htm

Enjoy!

lol..screw it, im gonna put my old factory air box back on. tho many things to screw around with. i thought rip the old box off, put on a nice shinny air box and that was it. now i have rig up a crankcase air breather filter on(cause my old box had it on there), and now worry about different sizes of jets,needle seat position, etc. and wonder if the bike shop guys are gonna mess it up and not know what there doing for sure. lol..to much trouble, ill just through the ugly bulky old black box back on, thanks alot though guys.

well i just called the guy at our local bike shop, i asked him how much for rebuilding my carbs and to sync them, he said 250.(i already have the kits) so then i told him my situation with my new air box, he says he can PROBABLLY do it, he said that its a guessing game though he said it will be an extra 75 bucks each time he has to take the carbs off and try different sizes of jets.like holy crap man this could cost me 100's of dollars just to get the right size of jets in there, nevermind the 250 just for them to clean, install kits and sync them. i dunno what i should do...the $$$$$ is insane....lol

If you can tell us what kind of bike you have - list it in your signature - and show us a pic of the fancy air box then someone here may already have done the switch and might be able to say what jet sizes to use. Chances are someone could probably make a good guess or recommendation.

Unaware of reasons in this case for believing carb work is needed, but do know that it should come last after all other tuning items are attended to (new plugs, ignition timing, valve clearances) and any other ignition and/or fuel supply problems have been resolved.

This is because carb function depends on all the other systems being correct.

the reason i need the carbs rebuilt in the first place is, when i first got the bike the tank was a bit rusty, and the carbs were leaking a bit, so i creamed the inside of my tank, then i took all the carbs off and cleaned them out rwally good, i put it all back together and drove the bike for a few days, it ran really good, then out of no where one of the hoses that comes out of the carbs started to gush gas out. so i took the carbs apart again and i checked for a stuck float or whatever...lol..like i said im new to the carb thing. i put it all back together and the gushing gas stopped. it all seemed ok, but then it sateted to run rough, then ALL of the carbs were leaking pretty bad from the bowls. a friend of mine told me the carb cleaner i used to clean out the carbs was inteneded for external carb cleaning like for the linkage and stuff, and that it probabbly ate my bowl gaskets. so this is why i am getting a PRO to do it for me next time:P...and i got this nice chrome airbox that i want to put on it also. il post a pic of my new iar box and maybe someone has the same one on the same bike like JR said. thanks guys

Patton wrote:

Here's a decent site to begin learning more about carbs and other mechanical information about motorcycles.

dansmc.com/MC_repaircourse.htm

Enjoy!

thats a cool site...thanks.

Ok
You have a 77 kz1000 ltd with this airbox. Sorry I can help but I'm sure there will be others who can advise on jetting.

Nice airbox !

The new chrome air box looks really good. What type filter is used (oiled foam)? What type filter was being previously used in the stock air box?

Are you using in-line fuel filter(s) on the line(s) from petcock to carbs?

Unlikely that float bowl gaskets were damaged by carb cleaner and if look okay, re-use is usually okay. Is the leaking from gasket areas AND overflow tubes?

Fuel running from the float bowl overflow tube likely results from the float needle failing to seat -- a prime suspect in this case being crud in the float needle seat area (as opposed to simple wear).

Sounds like you did a decent cleaning job on the carbs which did fine for a short time until they began leaking again. Boo-Hiss if the freshly cleaned carbs were put back into service without new in-line fuel filters.

Carbs probably need another good internal cleaning (please wear eye protection while using a lot of good strong spray carb cleaner) and without interchanging any parts between carbs. But don't despair, the need for several successive cleanings is not uncommon.

Guessing you may not need any new parts in the carbs, jets or otherwise. When again running, a plug reading is recommended to determine whether a larger main jet is needed for max rpm operation with the new chrome air box. A too lean fuel mixture from a too small main jet can burn a hole in the piston and other bad stuff.

Noticed post in your sister thread regarding stock exhaust system. Would speculate chances are very good that new chrome air box will not require larger main jet. But still recommend plug reading from high rpm run to be certain (an easy test).


Regarding the crank case air breather vent hose -- how much room is there between the bottom of the new chrome air box and the tip of the crank case air breather vent outlet? Is there room to put an "L" fitting onto the vent outlet for a hose/tube to attach and run under the new air box and down along the fuel bowl overflow tubes to the underside of the bike? The vent tube is needed to keep the crankcase oil vapors from soiling the entire area behind the carbs and the new airbox. If needed, Ape carries a flat replacement unit for the stock canister style which should fit easily.