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Morning Guys,

Not say it is but maybe give you an idea what I went through with my 81 A3,

Had exactly the same problem, same symptoms, had the carbs off several times, valve cover off checked cam timing etc.

Eventually took the starter clutch off and found the "knock pin" which the starter clutch push over to hold it in place broken off,

Its a little $2 pin but it damaged my starter clutch torsion damper, causing the timing to be off,

And gave me head ache upon headache...

A very good friend of mine sourced another clutch tarrier with a decent torsion damper,

Cleaned up the crank, fitted the clutch tarrier... and she fired first time,

Not saying it is but worth wile to check...

Husky wrote: Morning Guys,

Not say it is but maybe give you an idea what I went through with my 81 A3,

Had exactly the same problem, same symptoms, had the carbs off several times, valve cover off checked cam timing etc.

Eventually took the starter clutch off and found the "knock pin" which the starter clutch push over to hold it in place broken off,

Its a little $2 pin but it damaged my starter clutch torsion damper, causing the timing to be off,

And gave me head ache upon headache...

A very good friend of mine sourced another clutch tarrier with a decent torsion damper,

Cleaned up the crank, fitted the clutch tarrier... and she fired first time,

Not saying it is but worth wile to check...

Husky, you deserve credit here for your post and it is most relevant to the A3 model since the ignition is a different beast on the a3's compared to the other models. In this case it's not relevant since the ignition is completely different on the 1980 that TX4726 has.

tx4726 wrote: Thanks for the replys. I've gotten so desparate as to use starting fluid (carefully) and cannot get it to fire, so while I'm not ruling out carbs, it sure clouds the issue. I've been working on cars, trucks and tractors for nearly 50 years but this one has me stumped. I'm gonna jerk those carbs tomorrow and vat them in carb cleaner. The are such a joy to work on, I wish there was a way to install a Holley and be done with it.

Starting Fluid- I wish everyone would just throw out this stuff. It was primarily used to get stubborn diesel engines going when it's -30 F. Most people use far too much of it thinking they can just spray it in the carb inlets. Ideally when starting a diesel you fog the intake with ether vapor and then try to start. Dumping ether down the carbs will wash the oil off of the cylinder walls and pistons and then when it does fire up, you are running metal on metal.

Sorry for the rant but I've had to rebuild too many engines because customers grabbed the ether and tried to get their stubborn engines going.

I am fully aware of the dangers of starting fluid and have used it for 40+ years on diesels, irrigation motors cars and trucks. There are times for its use. Its probably safer in an aerosol spray can than a plastic squirt bottle that sprays gas all over in the case of back fire. That is all beside the point and subject to opinions. Regardless, the bike wouldn't even fire on starting fluid so that indicates that it probably isn't fuel related. Agree?

Sorry, clumsy typing.

Starter fluid pros and cons. I agree that if you try to start a faulty engine with loads of ether, you can damage it. But starting a kz engine with a small dose which vaporizes itself on its way through the airbox can not hurt a working engine.
If ether + air hurts the engine and washes away the oil, would the fuel + air mixture not do the same?