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I suspect you may have the wrong float valves. Or possibly you don't have gaskets underneath them? You might try putting a thicker gasket under the part that screws into the carb. This will decrease the distance between the float needle and the float tang.

hardrockminer wrote: I suspect you may have the wrong float valves. Or possibly you don't have gaskets underneath them? You might try putting a thicker gasket under the part that screws into the carb. This will decrease the distance between the float needle and the float tang.

Aftermarket float valve seats most likely (that's why no number).

Thanks for the clarification. Do you still have the old valves for comparison? I can imagine how if the new ones are quite a bit shorter, they could put the floats at an unworkable angle.

Have you set them up dry at all, that normally puts you in the ball park, i have found that new valves generally don't seat very well and i always polish them in a little,, like others have said you may have the wrong floats or valves, how long is the needle, should be around 15mm long, i have just measured a new one.

kevski wrote: Have you set them up dry at all, that normally puts you in the ball park, i have found that new valves generally don't seat very well and i always polish them in a little,, like others have said you may have the wrong floats or valves, how long is the needle, should be around 15mm long, i have just measured a new one.

Kevski is absolutely correct. I hardly ever exchange high quality OEM parts for cheap aftermarket substitutes. It happens all of the time cars, trucks, bikes.. AZ type cheapies will assure you of doing the same repair often, no matter what the part may be. Plug wires, brakes, etc..

My needles and seats are the originals that were in the bike when I bought it. I polished the seats with my dremel tool and if I remember right I polished the needle points in my cordless drill.

I'd be willing to bet if you polished up your old parts, they would work just fine. This way you are not putting in cheap junk in place of high quality OEM parts.

If the fuel level will not set dry, it surely will not set wet.



Brass polishes up extremely well!

Thanks for all the replies.

Based on the responses here and also responses from the Z1 owners club forum I think the first thing to try is genuine float valves.

I will post back in a week or so to say how it went

Are the originals that far gone that they are unusable? As long as the needle spring is functioning properly, and the tip is not damaged, they can usually be polished and cleaned up to a usable condition.

The win 10 snipping tool works well for *.pdf files. (thanks Ed) This is a snipping from my service manual:

On mine the seats are worn so the needle sits too close to the shoulder. Time to get new sets and they are pricey.
Steve
www.jetsrus.com/individual_parts/002_504_su.html

Jets-R-Us has a nifty table where you can figure out the Mikuni valve number. Then check out Amazon for a big saving over OEM.

www.jetsrus.com/needle_valve_float_bowl_...l_gasket_mikuni.html

www.amazon.com/VM26-26-2-0-FLOAT-VALVE/d...11&s=gateway&sr=8-30

I finally sorted the float heights using the non-original float valves.
Thanks for all the feedback on this post

Details of what I did are posted here:
Float height discussion