TOPIC:

Hello All
I have a 79 KZ1300 which struggles to start, I normally have to use two batterys to start the bike, I have fitted a new cam chain, tensioner,nylon gear and the ideler and double checked the timing, I have also checked the starter motor and that seems ok. The other problem is that when I ran it the other day there seemed to be a lot of petrol coming out of the carbs and running back into the air filter. If I leave the fuel on and the engine off for an hour or so the issue is not there so I do not think it is the floats. The bike will also not run very well on tick over but does rev up very well.
I have a 6 into 1 on it at the moment.

Hi Sixpipes

Do you overcome the problem by increase the idle before starting just one turn ?

How fit do you consider your battery ?

regardZ

Holger

Either your float heights are too high or your float valves are letting petrol past when closed.
The poor starting is caused by too much fuel & not enough air........hard to ignite.
Be careful your engine is not full (or even half full) of fuel, as if it has been going back in to the airbox, its been going forward & past your pistons too. That will create huge starting probs.

Pete F

Great advice from Pete and Holger .

I had these same problems last year when I got my bike (overflowing carbs, needs a car battery to even consider starting, really poor running but can rev like crazy).

After spending the winter and spring working on the bike I managed to get it back on the road this last Monday. Now it starts up immediately without choke, idles great and rides better than I ever imagined it could.
To get to that point I had to:

1)Thoroughly clean the carbs even polishing the float needles and seats with q-tips

2)drain the tank and completely de-rust it. It was so bad rust chunks were everywhere... Thank goodness it never ate completely through.

3)take apart the starter motor and give it a thorough cleaning according to www.dreadsbikersite.com/Z1300/starting.htm.

4) new plugs, caps, leads, AW-82TRI conversion and resoldered wire throughout ignition circuit.

Ton of other stuff I did as well but that's everything when it comes to starting conditions that helped me. If you haven't tried any of those avenues yet it's definitely worth the time to do them.

Mikez,

Spot on mate..........all good !

Pete F

In other words, make sure you remove the spark plugs prior to starting. Cleaning out the cylinders first will prevent liquid lock from damaging your engine.

Todd.