Strictly Street

At twelve you were definitely immortal.

I stopped by too. Had a samich and decided to head home before I got any colder/wetter than I was. (cage spray) There were a few Harleys when I got there and one lone yellow sport bike when I left, besides my old Kaw that is. Maybe in a week or two the weather will be nicer...

Doppler radar says we are good, roads outside are dry, think I might give it a shot. At least swing on by for a look.

Sunshine in Dublin! Looks cloudy but not raining to the west. Now if the roads would dry up just a bit... The radar on this site is about an hour delayed. GMT -5hr If it stays clear for the next hour or so....

Looks like the rain will let up about 8pm, a little late, or not? A program that you can tune for your location to see the rain before it sees you; http://www.singerscreations.com/ Say this thing even has a link to the local traffic cams!

Rain sucks, but maybe by 7pm?!?

Ah the bikes of yesteryear... I don't think they really were more fun, we just remember them that way. Of course I'm now mortal instead of immortal like I was back then... sigh

80-90 I think is about it with the sprockets that are on it. A former owner changed both the front and the back. From what to what the receipt doesn't say. Anyway that's plenty fast enough to get me in trouble!

Welcome to the site.

Overall, I have to say Magnificently! It's just amazing what a couple of dollars in parts can do!

Changed the spark plug wires which fixed a lot of weird troubles including the drop out at 4500 rpm. The interesting thing was how much it cost, $12.00 I got coil wires from NAPA at $3 a piece which with a little work fit just fine. The only other thing I found was a $50 set on ebay. Of course for the $50 they came in pretty colors.

Welcome!

People stop me all the time and ask "What year is that" then they guess "Isn't that a (insert year here)"? Nobody has got it right yet.

Your not alone, people try to race me all the time. I usually just let them go. As stated elsewhere on this thread, "Accidents waiting to happen". I haven't noticed if it's just white guys or not. Come to think of it, the last one I remember was a white girl in a minivan/SUV thing. She probably just wanted to show off that bumper sticker about her kid being something or other.

I ran a can of seafoam through it with a tank of 93 octane and it seems much better now. Still a touch of lag but much better than it was. I think I'll put off cleaning the carbs for a bit.

Bike night at the Black hat. Again I got there late, about 9pm. Worked late that day. Mostly Harleys, a couple of Hondas and of course the KZ. Cruisers and a Goldwing, no sports bikes. A few people had riden down from Delaware, others from Columbus. Sadly nobody had heard of Ohioriders. Not very memorable but its still early in the season.

A silent bike, hmm.... What could possibly go wrong?

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Hope things get better for you soon.

People who can help definitely makes me feel better! A call to a shop or two taught me most of them won't touch anything older than a 2000. I can believe that the bike is older than most of the mechanics. An Example: "What year did you say"? "1980". "1980?!? Oh no, we don't work on bikes that old". The guy sounded like he thought I was nuts to even have something that old. The weather looks so good this week that I think I'll ride to work all week. I'll try some 93 octane and a little seafoam. If that doesn't do it I'll try to clean them myself next weekend while its raining.

It seems like the transition from low to medium is the problem. Clogged or dirty jets or fuel lines does make a lot of sense. The symptom does seem to fit. And I already fixed the other troubles, whats left is the carbs. I do have a manual for the bike, and a couple of old wrenches, hmm... It looks like I'll have to do some reading.

the "Black Hat" 2643 Federated Blvd Columbus 43235 (Off sawmill just south of 270) Tuesday nights starting about 6pm or so. Chow by "Buckeye Barbecue". Pool, Darts etc. They have only had one that wasn't rained out so far this year. I got there late (9pm) so there were only a few bikes left. Seemed like some nice folks. Lots of notices for poker runs at different places. They are close to me so I'll stop by again, hopefully a little earlier this time just to see what is what.

I ran some carb cleaner through it without much effect. You are saying I should pull the carbs and do a real cleaning. Sounds kinda intimidating based on my limited mechanical skills. Any idea what a shop would charge for it?

Anywhere and everywhere. IT ain't what it used to be. Until you have _real_ experience, your toast. Craigslist.com is a source many overlook. Monster.com, Careerbuilder.com have a few leads. Don't forget the job boards at the local unemployment office. Temp contract work is nice to get experience and a decent hourly wage even though it's short term work with no benefits, it is work. You get to work with real systems that really help build that resume, even if it is only a month long contract it still helps. Good luck to your cousin!

A can of Seafoam, a set of plug wires and lube for a sticky mechanical advance was the fix(s) Runs really good now! Thanks for the troubleshooting help and tips on what to do. ===== Original Post ============ 1980 Kawasaki LTD 550 C1 USA model. Kerker 4-1 headers, K&N air filters. Dynojet kit 2305.001 installed. (Like this when I bought it, can't verify without tearing it down) Ignition coil mod so spark is not a problem. I found a sticky mechanical timing advance, a little grease and it runs much better but still about 4500 rpm it breaks up till about 5500 rpm. After that it seems ok up to redline. Any thoughts as to why it would have this narrow range of stuttering?