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Hey all, i'm back with another newbie question!
1982 kz550 C3 carbs (TK-22) my air screws were messed with by the previous owner, don't know why but i'm afraid they're out of whack. he said he adjusted them by sound so im afraid if i run the bike, itll do some damage to the carbs, or engine.
I want to get the air screws back to preset, but in my manual they don't specify how many turns out. all it says is "Preset" and that doesn't help me much! haha. What can i do to get the air screws back to how they should be? don't feel like having a hole burned through my piston because its too lean

How do the plugs look?

The TK-22 website has the air screw settings. I assume you are in the U.S., correct? The setting would be 1 and 3/8 out from very lightly seated. Plus or minus 1/4 turn.
Turning out leans the idle mixture.
Turning in richens the idle mixture.
gpzweb.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.co...ge/TK22mainPage.html

The info can be implied from factory service manual, which you should have. If not you can get several different ones from the link in my signature.
I recommend you get all of them.

But with modern fuel having alcohol in it, you will likely want to tune the air screws properly.
You might get a good procedure if you look for the lean-drop method of tuning idle mixture. I've posted it many times over the years.

Also, I recommend you read the valve train warning before you get too far into maintenance.

I have the Haynes service manual and my carb is model specific. All the other bikes in the manual have certain turn outs but mine just says “preset” I’ll check out the lean drop method. Should I have the carbs synched before or after I mess with the air screws?

I'd read and download everything Loudhvx has written. Thinking he knows more about the 550s than any one including the top people at Kawasaki........ wish he would have fell in love with the KZ650s instead.

KZB2 650 wrote: I'd read and download everything Loudhvx has written. Thinking he knows more about the 550s than any one including the top people at Kawasaki........ wish he would have fell in love with the KZ650s instead.

Ha, thanks. I do love the Kz650's though. It just wasn't in the cards when the 550 fell into my lap.

Calvin9819 wrote: I have the Haynes service manual and my carb is model specific. All the other bikes in the manual have certain turn outs but mine just says “preset” I’ll check out the lean drop method. Should I have the carbs synched before or after I mess with the air screws?

Whichever parameter you feel is further from where it should be should be addressed first. If the idle is super uneven, then you may want to check the sync first. If the idle seems to surge after a throttle blip, or even on its own, then you might want to set the air screws first. It is not uncommon to have to go back and forth between syn and air screws since a sync can cause the throttles to end up at a different positions, which means the needles end up at different positions, and thus the idle mixture can end up different.

I guess if it was my bike, I would set the air screws to the factory position and start from there.

id start from factory if i could, but there's no turn out specifics. Ill just need to dig into the internet or even call Kawasaki and see if they have any info for me. i was going to have the carbs synced when i go to do the inspection anyway, so i definitely want to start with the air screws.

Did you see my post above? Its 1 and 3/8 out. Plus or minus 1/4. There is a link to all sorts of info for your specific carbs.

just saw the link, thank you!