KZ550 pods...

no question that this has been beaten to death, but I couldn't find a thread about the specifics to a 550.... My 81 550 LTD is stock with about 14k miles on it, great condition and good compression across the board.... I pulled the carbs for a good cleaning (bowls were full of gelled fuel) and the stock air-box (mainly the boots) are too hard and rough to put back in... so I ordered a set of EMGO pods.

is there an accepted standard for re-jetting the carbs for stock exhaust and pods?

This is my first KAW and want to use it as a DAILY rider that has the ability to make some 100-200 mile trips including 65-80 mph sustained speeds on the highways.

Thanks for any and all QUALITY advice/input that may be coming my way.

I would say one size up on the mains would be plenty. I have a 4-1 header and pods on my 550 and i believe i went up two sizes.

Does your 550 have TK brand carbs?

I am sure someone else will chime in too!

The 1981 LTD should be a KZ550 C2 with Teikei tk-22 carbs.

The problem is that the exact jets are no longer available, other than stock ones in the rebuild kits.

Stock (for KZ550 C) is:
92 main
32 pilot
4D92 needle (not adjustable)

You will likely want:
94, 96, or maybe 98 mains
34 or 37 pilots
4D93 adjustable needle or DN0205 adjustable Dynojet needle

The 4D93 at the 2nd clip position (from the top) matches the 4D92 needle.
You may want to try the 3rd clip position on the 4D93 needle, or 3rd clip position on the DN0205 needle.

Dynojet kit 2305
comes with needles and 98 mains (and a bunch of larger mains)

K&L rebuild kit 182462
Keyster rebuild kit KK-0049
come with 4D93 needles and stock jets.

The bike will be rideable after it warms up if you don't mess with the pilots, but it will take longer to get off the choke.

You can get small head Keihin jets that will work, but I don't have an exact match on the Keihin pilots yet that will substitute. I drill my own jets and have had no problems.
The jet numbers are in hundredths of a mm.