79 kz1000e carb adjustment help

Ok. Im having a hell of a time. haha On the bottom of the carb there is a adjustment(needle valve?) that i have no idea how to adjust. I just cleaned the carbs and have no idea what this is supposed to be set at. The adjustment screw is located on the bottom of the carb. There is a hole in the float bowl that exposes it so it can be adjusted. Sorry for going on and on im just trying to describe this the best I can. I have found the air screw adjustment specs but nothing for this one. In fact on the exploded parts views that I find online I don't even see this part on the carbs! Any help would be great!

Nick

that is a fuel screw try going 1 1/2 turns out with it. turn the screw in until it seats gently then back it out 1 1/2 turns that should get you close.

Thanks for the help!

not a problem

#5 is the pilot circuit mixture screw.

Turn out counterclockwise for richer

Turn in clockwise for leaner.

Good Fortune!

[Click on image for smaller view.]

kawbike74 wrote:

...adjustment screw is located on the bottom of the carb...have found the air screw adjustment specs but nothing for this one. In fact on the exploded parts views that I find online I don't even see this part on the carbs!....

kawasaki.com parts diagram does indeed show side-located pilot air screws on oem carbs for 1979 KZ1000-E shaft drive (which are also manual slide -- not CV -- carbs).

Am guessing carbs on the bike at hand were at some time replaced with the different style (bottom located pilot mixture screws.)

Imo, not a big deal as both styles are okay.

Good Fortune!

Thanks for all the help guys! I messed with it a little bit after work. I turned the screws a little bit more to richen it up a bit. Wow! What a difference. Im getting pretty close. The old girl is really starting to purr once again. I bench set the float levels. I ordered a float level tool so I can set them up properly. Other than that the thing fires right up and revs up nicely. Yeah I pretty much figured the carbs were off a different model 1000. I think the 79 and 80 models came with accelerator pumps. Anyways, the website is awesome and thanks again for the help!

kawbike74 wrote:

...I bench set the float levels. I ordered a float level tool so I can set them up properly....

Unfortunately, setting the float height doesn't ensure correct fuel level.

The objective is to achieve correct fuel level.

Would verify actual fuel level using clear tube method.

The critical issue is NOT float height (which is simply a linear measure of distance, akin to how high or low an inner tube may ride on surface of water).

The critical issue is fuel level (which is the actual true level inside the float bowl, largely governed by float height).

Seemingly identical parts and measured float height settings may result in different actual fuel levels among the carbs.

Good Fortune!

Yeah that's what Im waiting on. I ordered the tube from a kz website. Should arrive tomorrow. I just read on the website that a good method to getting close on fuel level in the bowl was to measure the distance from the float to the bottom of carb. I didn't have the tube at the time. So I am going to go ahead and remove the carbs and set them up properly. Im getting there. Thanks for the info!