First post here. I recently bought my first motorcycle - a 1977 kz650c. I'm linking a video below, has anyone experienced this before? Any theories on the issue or advice would be GREATLY appreciated.
^^^ VIDEO^^^
THE PROBLEMS
-bogs out when throttling quickly or sometimes even lightly or just idling
-super rich
-occasional leak out of float bowl overflow valve
-only runs with choke on
-clearly sounds awful
WHAT I'VE TRIED
- cleaned carbs (but did not remove the needle or anything from under the top cover)
-replaced pilot jets and main jets with same size (102.,5) also replaced float needle valve and not sure of specific name but what is between that and the float itself
-adjusting air mix screws and/or idle screw
- changed spark plugs and checked that all have spark
-replaced old warped air box boots and springs and checked for vacuum leaks
LONG WINDED STORY OF THE HISTORY OF THE BIKE SINCE I'VE HAD IT (probably optional to read-video says it all)
I bought the bike almost 2 months ago. I have learned a lot since then but at the time knew essentially nothing about motorcycles. My friend looked it over for me and test rode it. The bike started right up via its stock ignition. We live in the city so the test drive was just a light, 25mph cruise around a couple blocks. All checked out in his opinion, he accepted my offer and my friend rode it home. Once we got into some open space he was able to really open it up, and by the first stop light after that, it wouldn't idle anymore - just bogging out. I should have probably taken it back right then and there. My friend tells me we just need to clean the carbs and its easy and he'll help. Being so excited about watching him open it up just now and picturing myself doing the same, we pressed on, requiring the choke to get back without bogging out. A few days later we took the carbs off and they're filthy. Can't see through some of the jets, totally clogged. Cleaned them out good but never fully disassembled them or replaced anything. Took hours to get them back on with the old stiff airbox boots, a heat gun helped. It never had springs on the boots so I used hose clamps and duct tape (i know...) to hold them on because i warped them with the heat gun. The bike actually ran well when all was said and done. It DID run rich but, between a leak from the seal of my float bowls and me realizing it was dumb of me to not clean the tank and eliminate the inline fuel filter because it was dirty, and me ordering new airbox boots and springs, I never fine tuned the carbs because I figured I was soon going to have to take them back off anyway. Weeks passed, I learned how to ride and rode every single day for hours. I fell in love with this bike. The electric start stopped working at some point in there but that's for a different thread - I learned to kick start it and pressed on. Eventually, after a few weeks, there was a sharp decline in performance, to the point where it sounded awful and I couldnt get it over 30mph and by the final ride I had on it, it needed the choke to not bog out again. At this point I knew a thing or two about the bike and knew that my rusty tank and filterless fuel line meant the carbs were filthy and it was finally time to take them off that second time, so I did. Even filthier this time around. When I took the first float bowl cover off a pile of dusty rust fell out. Remember I mentioned it had a leak from my float bowl seal? It did, but every once in a while it would piss some out the overflow on the bottom too. From what I read I figured the gasket may need to be doubled (it did) and also I could have some rust underneath or on the tip of my needle causing it to not seat properly (I did). May be worth mentioning that it didn't seem to have these leaky float bowl issues till after I took the carbs off the first time. I cleaned them up and this time replaced the pilot jets, main jets with the same size that was already in there 102.5, float needle valve, and whatever is on top of that. I did not remove the needle or anything under the top cover of the carbs, just cleaned them the best I could as they were - I figured I didnt do that the first time and it ran good, so I dont need to now. I did not remove the choke plunger things either. I knew that the carbs would be dirty but I ultimately attributed the horrible sound of it and the not being able to get over 30mph to a vacuum leak because of my warped boots and duct tape job. When I took the duct tape off 2 of the boots were totally off of the carbs so I figured that was it. I buttoned everything back up nicely with the new boots and springs this time, reset the air mixture screws to 2 1/2 turns out, rebuilt the petcock, tried twice and failed to clean the tank but said screw it and slapped a fuel filter on and started kicking. Unfortunately, it still took like 20-30 kicks to start it and it still runs the same. This takes us to present day
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ANY HELP