misfire help

Ok. First things first. I bought an 82 kz1000 k2 ltd a few months ago. I cleaned the carbs, put a battery in it and started up real good. It ran well for a few days. I took it home from work, took it all apart down to the bare frame, fixed all the rust and re painted it. After putting it back together, it ran well, but seemed like there was a lack of power. Then the number 3 carbon started leaking into the airbox. The spark plug was not fouled, but the number 4 was. I took the bowl off the carbon with the carbs still on the bike. I bent the float up a little bit, until the carb stopped leaking. Power was THERE. A few days later number one carb did the same thing. Same solution. Ran fine for about a day. Then it started missing again. Before it was mostly at idle, now it is stumbling on acceleration. I kinda stumbles at cruising speed. I am running no mufflers at all. Stock airbox. I replaced the o rings on the carbon needle seats. Also my low beam is burnt, and when I turn the headlight off, it does not improve, nor does it really make a difference running it on choke, except a high idle. Stock ignition, stock coils.

Your carbs likely receive contaminated fuel from your fuel tank. You should flush your tank, clean your carbs including the float needles, set float height according to spec and install a fuel filter.

I did a vinegar soak in my tank and flushed repeatedly. What is the best way to set the floats? Clear tube? Carnal on or off the bike? I'm gonna do the wired George coil mod today, just for the Hell of it. How can I ensure that when I set the float heights to spec, they don't leak.

Damn auto spell... How do you get carnal out of carbs? Anyway, I did the wired George coil mod today on my lunch break at work. High rpm breaking up, gone. Low rpm miss still there.

Ok. I rode a little more yesterday, the higher rpm miss is much less. The only time I does not miss at all is at wide open throttle. Do I need some special tool to set float service height? Should I do this on the bench, or on the bike? Will a clear plastic hose work? It's supposed to be 2-3 mm from the top of the bowl this way, right?

I dont know about the hieght of the clear tube method but i`d make sure the ground is cleaned from the new paint

I am an auto body tech and an auto mechanic. The grounds and wiring connections were done right when i put the bike back together. I happen to like fuel injection, I have probably worked on 10 carbs in as many years. Which is why I'm stumped as far as my current problem...

faffi wrote: Your carbs likely receive contaminated fuel from your fuel tank. You should flush your tank, clean your carbs including the float needles, set float height according to spec and install a fuel filter.

As I said before, I cleaned the carbs thoroughly twice. I did a vinegar soak in my gas tank and flushed it several times after that. I put my mufflers back on this morning and went for a short ride to get cigarettes. It was doing its normal thing on the way there. Upon leaving, I turned the key, pressed the start button, and... Nothing. I glanced back and noticed smoke pouring from under the seat! So I coasted it back to my house. I took the carbs off and set the float heights. The number 1 & 3 were about 4 mm low. Fixed that its raining now so no wire fixing until it stops. Hopefully before dark. I did check when I got home, and a solid brown wire, coming from the green connector under the left side cover was burnt all the way to where it connects to two other solid brown wires, one going back to the red connector, under left side cover, the other one going toward the front of the bike.

You could have small amounts of water in your fuel system, which can stir things up. Or there may yet be particles in your tank that comes free every now and then. And if everything is sqeuaky clean and your carbs are still overflowing, you need new float valves (or floats in case they leak).

The smoke from under your seat plus the burnt wires sounds like an electrical issue, a major short. This is clearly unrelated to your carb issues, but could still have something to do with the erratic running. You need to find out the cause of the short and fix it or risk your bike catching fire and burn down in front of your very eyes.

My first priority is to track down that short. The only thing I can find not working, besides my horn, which hasn't worked since i gpt the bike, is the running lights. The headlight, brake light, and turn signals all work fine...

What kind of after-market in-line fuel filter is presently fitted?

And was any gasoline whatever allowed into the carbs without having passed through the in-line filter?

Many freshly cleaned carbs have required re-cleaning even after the tiniest bit of gasoline was allowed into the carb without having first flowed through a good after-market in-line filter.

Such filters are available at Z1 Enterprises and many motorcycle shops.

Good Fortune!