cOoTeR Posted June 14, 2011 Report Share Posted June 14, 2011 So about a year and a 1/2 ago I bought an 85 kawi ltd 550 for my fiance. It's no show bike. It has a lot of small issues. If someone is willing to help me sort some issues out and make it a little more reliable. I would gladly provide some brews or sodas if that's what your into. If its the beers you choose I would prefer to stay sober while working on the bike. One of the previous owner's did a lot of "customizing" so there's a bit of mystery with some things on the bike. Some of the issues are there are wires that plug into nothing, it runs a little rough, it leaks fuel. While riding it if you hold the gas just before it reaches redline the rpms jump but the bike seems to slow. The pitcock has 3 positions res. (i assume reserve), on (on) and pri (?wtf). I have rebuilt the pitcock but the fuel fills the carb bowls and over flows the left side carb in all 3 positions. It will run all the fuel outta the tank. The pri position drains it the slowest. The other 2 you can watch it drip out the pri position seems to do it slow enough it doesn't hit the ground. Anyone willing to help we can do it at my place or yours if your local. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imprez55 Posted June 14, 2011 Report Share Posted June 14, 2011 I certainly have no problem helping when I have free time. For starters, the carbs overflowing is going to be an issue with the carbs and not the petcock. Sounds to me like the floats are sunk, or possibly the needle valve seats. Either way it would need a carb rebuild. For the rough running, have you synced the carbs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El capitan Posted June 14, 2011 Report Share Posted June 14, 2011 float valves in the carb are sticking open. i've had it happen to me once before. simple fix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cOoTeR Posted June 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2011 I haven't synced the carbs I have had them off and when I looked inside (about a year ago) they were super clean. I assumed they were recently done but by the sounds of it sounds like they were done wrong. From what I've heard carbs are easy once you learn about them. I'm hoping someone can help me out so I can learn. The bike is real fun in my opinion a lil rough but fun. I love to ride it but I don't have enough faith in it to go more than 10-15 miles on it. My fiance will only go the 1 mile to the end of our road on it due to my lack of faith in the bike. The only time it has done anything bad was she stalled it once and it wouldn't start. I've replaced the old battery with a new one so that's no longer an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mango_sv Posted June 14, 2011 Report Share Posted June 14, 2011 Typical petcock positions are on, off & prime. On runs off engine vacuum to let the fuel flow. Prime is gravity flow. So if the its still flowing gas out heavy while on, something maybe still be wrong with the petcock, or my thought process is that on prime, the fuel is pushing the float up hard enough to slow it, but when on, it doesn't come outta the tank fast enough to push the float up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Likwid Posted June 15, 2011 Report Share Posted June 15, 2011 Petcock is On, Reserve, and Prime, a lot of kawis have a vacuum petcock so there is no "off"... just don't leave the gas cap open If you're leaking fuel check the seals in the petcock and the gas cap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanDy Posted June 15, 2011 Report Share Posted June 15, 2011 Where are you located at? Im in T-Roy Ohio, and have similar issues with an old '78 Suzuki GS550, that my gf has claimed as hers! Was supposed to be my Cafe racer project, but oh well, long as she is happy, life is easier for me!! But any who, grandpa has a harmonic cleaner that I plan on running my carbs thru, (dont have to worry about damaging any metal with safety wire that way) I'm sure I could run yours thru too, I'm in columbus often for work, so maybe we can work something out? If you want to buy new needle seats and gaskets I'll show you how to rebuild the carbs (it's supereasy!) and once you have the carbs back on the bike I can bring over carb sync'ers.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanDy Posted June 15, 2011 Report Share Posted June 15, 2011 Shoot me a pm, or reply here and what I like even better than beer or wrenching on bikes is finding more motorcycle gals for my gal to meet! Makes it easier to justify my motorcycles!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wht_scorpion Posted June 15, 2011 Report Share Posted June 15, 2011 So about a year and a 1/2 ago I bought an 85 kawi ltd 550 for my fiance. It's no show bike. It has a lot of small issues. If someone is willing to help me sort some issues out and make it a little more reliable. I would gladly provide some brews or sodas if that's what your into. If its the beers you choose I would prefer to stay sober while working on the bike. One of the previous owner's did a lot of "customizing" so there's a bit of mystery with some things on the bike. Some of the issues are there are wires that plug into nothing, it runs a little rough, it leaks fuel. While riding it if you hold the gas just before it reaches redline the rpms jump but the bike seems to slow. The pitcock has 3 positions res. (i assume reserve), on (on) and pri (?wtf). I have rebuilt the pitcock but the fuel fills the carb bowls and over flows the left side carb in all 3 positions. It will run all the fuel outta the tank. The pri position drains it the slowest. The other 2 you can watch it drip out the pri position seems to do it slow enough it doesn't hit the ground. Anyone willing to help we can do it at my place or yours if your local.My girl just had a issue with her 250 ninja petcock, Check vacuum line running from the carb up. The fuel main feed line from the pet cock off the carb and see what position is off and prime dont use res only when you are ride and low on gas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mango_sv Posted June 20, 2011 Report Share Posted June 20, 2011 Oops! I messed that up. Petcock position is On, Reserve & Prime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.