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Quick back story, I bought a 1983 Kawasaki Kz750 L3 over the summer as a beater bike. The bike was a one owner non-runner with 25,000 miles. I rebuilt the top end and had the bike running for a few weeks until a weird little issue resulted. Whenever the bike warms up, the bike will not idle and just die out. In order to keep the bike from stalling out, I need to keep on the throttle and keep it revving around 1500-3000 RPM. Once the bike cuts out, sometimes it will start right back up when i hit the ignition if it hasn't been running long and other times if running longer and at speed the starter will crank but the engine wont start. I did some further tinkering and replaced all four intake manifolds after one had failed, but other than that Ive checked the clearances and tinkered with the carbs with fresh gas with no results.

My hunch is that this is a issue with the coils failing after being warmed up with heat, as the bike becomes more prone to dying the longer it runs. I am asking for suggestions and your expert opinions after reading different threads about similar issues. Bonus pictures of bikes!

Did you adjust the valves after the rebuild?

Did you make sure to remove the cam chain tensioner cap and pull back on the wedge before installing the valve cover?

Other possible things are a fuel cap that's not properly venting and/or a petcock that's not flowing well.

Will it idle on choke when hot? will it idle off choke when cold? check your float bowl fuel levels using a U tube in the drain taps.

Are your carbs roughly in balance? you can hear it when they are badly out.

Coils breaking down can do wacky things like this which won't show up on a multimeter test. New 7mm silicon HT leads and non suppressor caps is always a good thing to replace on old bikes. Also cleanup or replace female blade connector pairs that power the LT side of the coil.

Does the electronic tacho ever jump around? it takes its signal from one of the coils.

Finally check your ATU advancer isn't sticking.

This will be a process of elimination.

A month later but I finally sorted this pesky bike out. After playing with the multi-meter I found out my coils were working but my spark wires were beyond junk, there was no continuity in the wire! I replaced them with some new wire and boots but also noticed that my vent hoses were turned upwards. I moved the hoses so that they would vent down. Now, the bike sounds better and runs like a brand new bike, thanks for the help!

That is quite a beater bike!

That has got to be one of the cleanest L3s I've seen on this site. Do us all a solid and keep that one original. Most have been chopped up, parted for R1s or built into ELRs.

Thanks! I have no intention of keeping this anything but original and stock. I'm currently debating whether to go with EMGO aftermarket replacements or finding a pair of stock mirrors. I'm slowly going to start restoring her, she needs new paint on things like the grab handle and brackets but for now i just want to enjoy it. I love the look of the bike and style, I'll take good care of her

Nice bike! I'm glad to see you plan to keep her stock! According to the 1st link below the left mirror is Kawasaki part number 56001-1352 and the right is part number 56001-1353. The 2nd link below claims to have the genuine new old stock (NOS) mirrors in their inventory. The price shown is in Kroners not dollars. There may be other online parts dealer that have the genuine NOS mirrors closer and at less cost. Ed

www.powersportswarehouse.com/p/Kawasaki#...0-L3-1983/080155D-10

www.partssweden.se/1983-kz1000-r2-eddie-.../handlebar-kz1000-r1

Unfortunately partssweden homepage can't always be trusted, I have had a number of occasions where they sport inventory and after a month they contact me saying that they haven't been able to source the parts. Making me wounder if they have any inventory of there own at all.
So email them first and ask them to check and if it's a really sought after part that you are looking for, pm me and I can call them.
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That's a shame. They bought out the inventory of an older site named Spinnin Wheel that was very good about keeping their online inventory accurate. I had bought several hard to find NOS parts from Spinnin Wheel and was always happy with their prices and the condition of the parts. I'm sorry to see that partssweden isn't as good. Ed

Spinning Wheels is still around but I don’t know if they have anything to do with partssweden which is a brand name of Lelles, one of Sweden more legendary motorcycle dealers notoriously known for their bad service.

But yes, when Hartmut Flöter in 1999 lost the Swedish Kawasaki agency that he has had since the sixties and closed the shop, he sold his entire NOS stock off. I have heard a name but it slipped my mind.

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