Total Motorcycle Community Forums

I just bought this bike yesterday and it seems to be a great bike so far for a starter and just need s a little TLC.

When starting the bike it immediately idles around 4000rpm with the choke all the way out. When putting the choke half way in the bike sputters out and stalls if I leave it in neutral. Putting the bike into gear and moving isn't too much of a problem but the clutch seems a little sticky as the bike jumps a little when starting out.

So, as a newbie...that knows nothing about taking carbs apart, should I put some carb cleaner in the gas tank? Is it ok to use the same type of carb/gas cleaner that is used in a car engine?

Maybe it would be best to start with what you *do* know is wrong, and work from there. So adjust your clutch cable, there may be a place to adjust it at the lever, and another in the clutch line or at the engine. Also lube it up really good, it's likely old and that old gunk may be making it stick some. You can stick the red tube thingy from WD40 into the cable, after you remove it from the lever, to get it lubed. If you don't have the owner's manual, likely you should have just a little, less than 1/2", of freeplay at the lever before the cable begins to engage.

Make sure the engine oil is fresh, old oil can make for sluggish clutch action.

I'm no carb expert, but it will not hurt your system to put in some SeaFoam carb cleaner, found at your local auto parts store, and run it for a while.

But start with the clutch cable.

I saw a CSR650 at my local watering hole this week, bright blue. Sweet, fun-looking bike!

You can try using something like Seafoam, but if the small idle passages are already clogged (which is what the problem sounds like), you are probably going to have to pull the carbs for a thorough cleaning.

My suggestion would be to get a shop manual. They're still readily available for the KZ650 series. Go through the manual and perform all of the basic maintenance items (adjustments and lubing). It sounds like you might have a bike that spent some time sitting unused. It's a good idea to go through all of the routine maintenance items at once, before something becomes a bigger problem down the road.

Advice much appreciated....

So, I've come accross what might be the high idle problem. There is a hose that connects from the engine to the tachometer...that hose is leaking a very small bit at the engine connection...and when I say small, I mean very small...but every little leak can turn into a big leak. What is this hose? And what kind of fluid is it that it is leaking? It doesn't smell like oil but it kinda looks like it.

That's the tach cable, and the leak is oil, and this is not your problem. Your tach runs on a cable, it turns inside the engine and makes the cable turn too, and the cable turns a gear in the tachometer that makes the dial spin to indicate your RPMs. You could take the cable completely off the bike and you'd spit oil and the bike would run just like it did before.

You're relatively new to motorcycles, and you've picked a great bike, IF you are willing to learn about it. A person just can't have a bike more than 10 years old without learning the mechanics of its care, unless they are wealthy, period. You have some learning to do, enjoy it!

Here is an excellent resource: The Essential Guide to Motorcycle Maintenance by Mark Zimmerman. Pure gold. It will explain all the basics of checking out and maintaining your older machine.

But seriously, adjust your clutch and run some SeaFoam before you go yanking out the carbs. Carbs are hard to do.

Yeah, I don't think I'll be pulling the carbs myself. Sounds like a job for a seasoned bike mechanic if you ask me. I hear a tune-up is in the range of about $100, and since I only paid $500 for the bike it's probably a worth while investment.

And I'm definitely all about learning everything I can about the working mechanics of a bike since I plan on being a 365 day a year rider here in California. I lived in the midwest for most of my life and the weather didn't really make a lot of sense to own a bike since storing it all winter without a garage would have been so much fun.

Took her out for a spin today and that leak from the tach cable wasn't leaking anymore. Cleaned the misted oil off the cable to check if it happens again though, but the bike is idling high at stops...up to 6000rpm's with the clutch engaged and in first gear. But during the ride she's a beauty and rolls rather smooth.

Hey ya'll, Jonathan's gonna be the next hardcore rider on here! Ride all year, heck yeah!

Good on you, if your local shop has a good reputation and will do the tuneup for a hundred bucks, go for it, make sure they tell you what materials (like oil, filter, gaskets, etc.) will cost before they get started.
If they start talking big-ticket items like coils and rectifiers, get your bike and get out of there. It has happened before, when a disreputable shop knows a new rider with not much mechanical background is at their mercy.
That Kaw has an idle adjust screw too, you know. Should be a black plastic knob on the carbs somewhere where you can reach it. Might be a metal knob, but is obviously made to be turned with your hand, you'll know it when you see it. Get your bike all warmed up, ride it around, put it in neutral, and turn that knob a couple times. See if the idle goes down.

Now that I think of it, an experienced rider showed up at a riding class once with his really old Kawasaki Vulcan idling thousands too high, and he didn't know about that little idle adjust screw. Made his day when the bike was acting normally again, you might see if it's just that simple after all.

It it does adjust the idle, put it at about 1100 RPMs. If it does not change anything, put it back where it was before you started so you will be ready for the next step.
I wish I knew a lot about carbs, I only know a little, but I DO know to start with the simple and cheap stuff first.

JonathanYost wrote:And I'm definitely all about learning everything I can about the working mechanics of a bike since I plan on being a 365 day a year rider here in California.

OK, you asked for it. This site should keep you busy for a few hours :

http://www.dansmc.com/mc_repaircourse.htm

Damn John....you said that site will keep me busy for days...you may have wanted to say weeks instead. Very cool!!!!


And I found that little knob to adjust the idle...but I haven't tinkered with it yet, it's on the plate for things to do tomorrow. Hopefully that will do the trick.

OK...I adjusted the idle speed and things are much better than before with that. Still a little high in the 3's but surely better than in the 5's and 6's.

But now, when I turn the bike off it backfires a little and scares the neighborhood dogs. To me, well I get a kick out of that...but I never had a car backfire to know what might cause that, so really not sure what causes that on a bike.

Other than that, took her out for about an hour ride today and everything else worked quite well. Still running a little high in 1st gear when stopped at a light or stopsign, but way better than before.