TOPIC:

Hi all,
Just bought my first KZ1300, always wanted one of these beasts when I was younger but couldn't afford it back then! registered as 1980 imported into UK 1998, 16000 miles, ran sweet on trial run of about half a mile, now the 2 middle cylinders won't fire up, been on a 15 mile run up to 8 thou revs, still not firing, exhaust pops at times, before I strip the carbs or start checking the coils etc, any help would be much appreciated.

Many thanks
Nigel

Hi and welcome,

That looks very nice. I was in the same boat when I was young too. 20 years ago I bought an A1 (when someone stole my spotless CX650 Eurosport - every cloud...) and a few years later I sold it to buy a B2 Touring.

It's worth bearing in mind that 3 and 4 cylinders share an HT coil and pickup coil as well as a common carb so might be worth checking for a good spark there. The original HT coils have moulded HT lead which can't be replaced and the coils a prone to splitting open under the heat. Pick-up coils fail occasionally too.

I hope it's something simple like a stuck float valve on the centre carb

Yours is either an A1 or A2 (1980 suggests A2) and your pickup housing is behind the block

Hi Zed
Thanks for the quick response,
I will check out all those possibilities when I get back from holiday in 10 days time, the engine is an A2, engine No 210 so just above the 200 mark, I will let you know how I get on.

These bikes are true beasts from an era when biking was biking...

Hi and welcome. Take a look at the FAQ section. A bible of info to help sort out many a problem.

Hi Nigel welcome to the house of Z13. From the first moment they were anounced I wanted one. I then found myself in quite a dilema as I was working for Suzuki and they wanted me to upgrade my old purple GT750 Suzuki for a new GT750 or a Rotary but I made myself very unpopular and went next door to the Kawasaki dealer and ordered a Z1300. I tried to do it in secret but in the bike community there are no secrets.
I was the first kid on the block to have one and at the time I took delivery there were only 3 or 4 registered in Australia. 36 years later I still have it and long to ride it.

Hi Nogel,

quite nice, need to admit. And the engine number quite low, a true A1. Not that it matters, but giving a good feeling.

Enjoy it

regards,

Holger