FZRSupport: the FZROnline Archive

Okay, so i drilled out the brass caps on the bottom pf the carbs that control the ammount of gas in the carbs (i believe). When i bought the bike carb #4 had it already drilled out. I checked the setting, 3 half turns out. When i took the other caps off i set them to the same spot. Some of them were way far out, 7, 5 turns out. Is that normal? I thought factory set was 2 1/2- 3 half turns out from bottom. Any thoughts or specs i should adjust them to other than what i have ot to now. I bought the bile used and have been fixing all the "jerry-rigging" the guy before me had done. Also, the needles are set on the third notch down from the thick side, i think inread in another post that stock setting is 2 down from thick end. Is that correct?

The issue i am trying to fix here is a power loss issue. I have to choke her for a while to keep her running from a cold start. Then if i dont get her hot she shuts off at sitting idle. I can not get her to stay anywhere between 2000 and 4000 rpm in neutral. She goes from idle to botging a little, to up to 4000-4500 rpm. So testing the voltage at 3000 rmp to see if the vr was working correctly was a pain! It took me aboit 10 min to get her to stay at 3000r. And off the lone i have to give her a lot of gas or she feels like she gets lazy and dosent want to pull the chain. I know i need to check the valve clearances to make sure they are within specs, bit will not be able to get to ot for a few days. Any advice on the carbs?

The idle issue is more than likely due to your pilot screw setting (the screws that you are talking about). These screws adjust the air/fuel mixture (as you correctly assumed) for the pilot circuit. This circuit is responsible for the idle / just off-idle throttle range. The stock setting from the factory is 3 FULL turns out (NOT half). You bike's pilot circuit is currently set VERY lean. Do the following once you have them set to 3 turns out:

1 - Set the idle to 1000
2 - Blip the throttle
3 - Note the following:

If the bike revs and hangs slightly the bike is lean – Back mixture screws out 1/2 turn
If revs drop below idle, or otherwise hesitate, before coming back up the bike is rich – Turn mixture screws in 1/2 turn

Once the pilot screws are in their happy place, set the idle back to 1200.

Turn idle adjust screw clockwise to raise idle
Turn idle adjust screw counter-clockwise to lower idle

Regarding the erratic screw settings, these screws, over the course of 15 - 20+ years (depending on the year of the bike), WILL work themselves loose.

As for your needle clip position, 3rd down from the top seems reasonable so I wouldn't mess with that quite yet. Deal with the pilot screws first and see how everything goes.

Regarding the valve lash, if she starts up fine in the cold, you may be okay. However, as a preventative measure, you should at least check the clearances. It's easy. Just takes a little bit of time.

FZRBRANDON, thank you for the reply! You clarified more questioms than i origionally asked. I have the bike in pieces right now in the girage. I will set the screws to 3 full turns out and check the valve clearances as soon as i can, might be a week or so, work is killing me right now. As soon as i get her back together i will let you know what i find. Thanks again!

Okay, all adjustment screws set at 3 full turns out and all valves are within tolerance on gaps. Got her back together and started her up, took a minute, carbs needed to fill and then she fired up. Sounded great at first and then smoke! Pale smoke dumping out of the exhaust, help!!!

Real light smoke: might actually be steam. If it was cold outside when you started the bike it's very common for water vapor to come out of your exhaust until the bike is warm. Not a problem at all...

Real light smoke that is white in color: This is usually oil burning; when you were checking your valves its likely some oil dripped into your cylinders. This extra oil will burn off after a quick ride, and the problem should be fixed.

Real light smoke that is dark/black in color: This is usually a sign of un-burnt fuel in the exhaust indicating that your bike is running rich. The EPA screws at 3 turns out should not cause your bike to be rich.

My guess would be the above Options 1 or 2; as long as you didn't do anything majorly wrong while checking the valves or setting the EPA screws i would take the bike for a ride. The smoke or steam will/should clear itself up. If not, let us know...

Okay let her run for a few minutes and it settled down a bit. Still smokes though, white in color as i give her gas it gets worse. I checked the clearances after removing the valve cover and finding top dead center, rotated the tire while in 5th gear to get the valves to move so i can test the others. All checked out okay, put the cover back on. So i dont thi k i messed anything up there. I took a video of the smoke if it helps, i need to put it on youtube and drag the link to a post. Any ideas while i upload the video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-Ahjalz ... e=youtu.be

Heres the smokey exhaust, was a lot worse when first started. This is after 30 min or so.

haha!!! figured it out, this whole damn time it was cylinder 4 spark. I posted in another post that the cylinder was wet when i took off the exup housing and i could see the gas in the exhaust from that pipe. I unplugged the boot to number four to move the radiator fan plug and forgot to plug it back in. I came back out an hour later to start her up to see how she was running and i let her run for about 10 minutes and she sounded like normal. I then saw the cable unplugged, plugged it in and no change. I wiggled it around and the spark grabbed the plus, white smoke like crazy! Burning off the gas in the pipes. I hope the cylinder is still fine, been running dry or wet for that matter without being fired for about 500 miles. I have to go back through and find out why the wire is not sending spark correctly. Anyone have any thoughts on the condition of the cylinder after not having spark for 500 miles or so? Would all the smoke be coming from the un-burnt gas in the pipes or did the piston rings burn up? any thoughts?