Manky Monkey Motors

Morning all....after having the top end re-build and sticking on the new bowyer ignition the bike runs like a sack of s**te....I have only managed to start it on full choke,but as far as I am aware the carbs are all good but I tried to take it out for a test ride yesterday and managed to get about a mile before it died on me......after about 45 mins of it not wanting to start and run again I called out the RAC to get me home...he had a look at it and had exactly the same problems with it and told me its a timing issue,even though he spent all that time playing with it he could only get it to fire up and run full choke a nd loads of revs or it would just die out....got it running enough to limp home at around 5k revs and have stuck it back under its cover......Just to be safe and cover all bases I got Toad going to pick up and check my carbs over and make sure they are set up properly in the next couple of weeks but I have got to get this bloody timing sorted as its driving me mad...ive never had so much grief from timing on anything ive ever owned b4...going to go through all of the instructions ect for that ignition and check it all out soon as its light out........Oh well moan over lol....have a good day all....Voodoo....

this just a hyperthetcal thought is the advance retard unit behind the back plate the correct one for the bike? otherwise that would give a false timing mark. but im almost 100% certain its the carbs will have alook over the weekend might be worth swapping over to your old unit again.

Always worth a try mate......Voodoo...

Finally decided to try and get the Z back on the road before stripping everything for winter rechroming etc.....Before I parked it up I could get it to fire up and run but rough as hell...now it wont even fire up?? gggrrrrr time to start again with timing and finally get those carbs stripped and rebuilt....Voodoo.....
Oh and I still need to get another rear brake master cylinder etc as one on it is F****D and I like to be able to stop!!

will pop down sunday i,ve just had a thought ;)

Lucky you ive not had a decent one of those for an age lol....c ya then mate....Voodoo....

Ive got the rear master cylinder from the gs850 if its any good to you?

im sure you havent, but ive seen people put cams in wrong side before.... :o

does sound like a carb prob.. can u not borrow some just so u can eliminate???

I've got one from a Z550 if thats any good?

Clive

Thanks for input all...Carbs are now back on the bike and fueltank is flushed through..tomorrow i will nip down with a can and grab some fresh petrol.......Then fingers crossed it should all be running again....
I will have to measure between the bolt holes on my cylinder and give you a shout with the size Clive....Voodoo....

Okay buddy. Just measured these and they're 48mm, centre to centre!

Clive

Hello mate,
i have a KAWASAKI z1000r2 eddie lawson replica, genuine R2, and i had a simliar problem and the symtons sounds like to much air or not enough fuel, also check the petrol tank breather in the top of the cap, because if air cant get into the tank the petrol cant get out, tha tank has to breath, i ve had that problem before,
anyway i stripped my z1000r2 carbs 7 times, and they looked quite clean to start off with but amazing what is in the small tubes,
good luck mate
Regards Phill

sonic cleaning is only guarantee there properly clean, any varnish on carbs will hamper good running motor..

Does it have a vacuum fuel tap?  Are the pipes ok (not drawing air?).  I had a similar problem with my GT, got a vacuum tap repair kit from NRP Carbs (http://www.nrp-carbs.co.uk/) which sorted it.

Got it all back together..stuck in fresh petrol....managed to get it started after a few mins......let it warm up (about 10 mins on full choke) started to reduce the choke and it died.....pulled out choke..started it up and left it another 10 mins..pushed in choke and yet again Dead.........Gave it a few more goes trying to reduce choke a little at a time and the second I reduce the choke by any amount it dies??  Oh well at least it looksgood parked up lol...Voodoo.....
Oh Clive ive not had a chance to take the tap off GS tank yet to measure,will do in next couple of days....

 ??? ??? ??? ??? Thought you were after a rear brake cylinder?

Clive

You either have a large air leak, and/or the mixture far to wweak. check around the inlet area, carbs. manifold etc.and also check your exhaust system for leaks, Morrag

i,ll just clarify peeps there,s no airleaks. its a carb problem it will start straight away if you give it a sniff of butane (easy starts) a big no no!!!! >:( it will rev cleanly above primary and idle jet settings) main jet runnings ok. dave im gonna pop in and pick the carbs up and give em to a mate who can clean them properly will give ya a ring tomorrrow. ;)

try cleaning with vinegar, works well, honest........ ;)

Yeah sorry Clive it was very early in the morning and i was thinking of another item i needed to replace when i wrote the last message lol....Voodoo....

Thought I would get the RAC out to have a look at the chop...after playing around for nearly 3 hours he decided he was beat lol..Got it recovered to Burnout bikes for them to have a look at and sort out problems if not silly money...Things they have found so far...
1. Valve shims are wrong size's so they have had to order some.(Well out on pots 1 and 2)
2. Cam chain is knackered...yet again ordered.
3. Valves were not rotating in the seat....fingers crossed the can sort this...
4. Crabs out of balance.
I really do hope this is not going to turn out to be too expensive or I will have to start getting rid of some stuff to cover the costs.......Will update as and when I here any news....Voodoo......
Pic of my poor bike on the truck...

Voodoo i hate to say this,But that sounds expensive.

Yep its looking that way..Probably just going to stick my GS on EBay with a decent reserve now its all finished...Voodoo...

Your crabs are out of balance?
Still a nice looking chop though Voodoo, if it's any consolation.  ;)

Oh yes u gotta watch out for unbalanced crabs.....Voodoo.....

Well balanced or unbalanced,I don't want any.

Nipped over to see how progress was going with the Z today..was nice to have a ride out on the GS plus I even went down and taxed it!!!!.....well the bike is all back together....it needed the cam chain,set of shims,Carb needle seats valves all timing up and finally they are sorting out the carbs for me...going to balance them and set them up properly.....fingers crossed I can nip over and pick it up either tomorrow if  get chance or Thursday for def.....( going down in the morning to buy the tax for it as last thing i need is to get pulled for no tax after my last screw up lol.....Really looking forward to getting out and about on it this year as it spent 90% of last year off the road.....Ive still got to do my artwork on the tank as I only got to flatting out the Lacquer and chooseing what design I was going for lol....Voodoo.....

That's good news Voodoo. Sometimes it just takes a fresh eye or a better equipped workshop to sort these things out doesn't it. Glad you persevered with it. A few days & you'll be able to get out there & enjoy the Spring -I'm told it's gonna snow this weekend! 

Bike shop rang me and let me know the bike is ready to pick up tomorrow morning....It ended up coming out at just under £500 for the parts and labour...a lot more than I had hoped but it had to be done...
Fingers crossed the weather is at least dry tomorrow to ride it back....now off for a long soak in the bath to relax after the shock of nearly another 500 spent on the chop lol....Voodoo.....

I try not to think about how much I've spent on projects over the years -if I had a "normal" hobby I could be driving a Ferarri by now. That 500 will be paid back in grins when you're out & about on the chop this Summer.

WOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!!! damn its been a long time since I scared myself on a bike...its soooooo good to have the chop back to its old self lol.....I must admit though that front end plus lots of power takes some getting used to again....Voodoo......