KZ440 My first attempt

[PeanutHead]

To everyone who's been following, commenting, and all that, thank you very much. It roughly took me 6 months to get Rusty 1.0 done. I say 1.0 because I need to do more body work to the rear fender and I might switch taillights. Also, I still wanna try and use that dual Suzuki gauge and 5gal Harley tank. I'm off work on Friday so I'm gonna try and tanke Rusty for a ride. Might post up a video on my Instagram page.

[PeanutHead]

Not too bad. Had to do some minor sanding on the edges but it fits nicely. Install will happen tomorrow and (hopefully) a test ride.

[PeanutHead]

Just came back from Rusty's first ride, and HOLY CRAP this little bike is fun! Now granted it was only down to the gas station and around the block twice but it was fun. She was idling just a little high, shifted very nicely, and braked great! I still have to do a little more work with the carbs and/or exhaust. Cracking the throttle she just bogged down and goes nowhere. Slowly rolling the throttle, she'll move pretty well. I don't have a tach hooked up so i don't know what rpms she was at. But I did have her up to 32 mph in 3rd gear.

So, am i correct thinking I need to wrap the baffles in the exhaust? This is what I installed in the pipes. Also, she make a nice loud pop after she shut down.

[PeanutHead]

Think I figured out part of the problem. The exhaust bolts weren't 100% tight. Found that out changing the oil. Put the tach on her and played with the idle. The idle was about 1800ish but I dropped it to 1250. Seems real happy there. Now WOT and slowly rolling she stops at 5500.

[PeanutHead]

I jumped back into the garage last night because we still have some warmish weather in MD and I'm dying to go ride (Road king is down for broken parts). So I dove BACK into the carbs to clean them up and there was a little bit of crap in the Jets. Also noticed that the petcock isn't working 100%. The prime function doesn't seem to work and it leaks in the on position. Not sure if I wanna rebuild it or replace it with a non vacuum petcock. Thoughts, opinions please.

[MrJ]

A Yamaha Raptor 660 manual petcock fits the KZ440. Or anything else with the same hole spacing, 34mm I think. As for the carbs, the stock ones suck to be honest, especially without the whole airbox assembly (haven't read your whole thread to see if you have it, sorry). If it's not running out full RPM, it's more than likely one of the following. Carbs not balanced, tear in the slide, or missing pilot jet plug. Could also be in the ignition advancer unit, frozen, bad springs, etc; and make sure the rubber idle stops are still there too. I swapped to a single VM30 years ago and couldn't be happier.

Update: I looked back at your bike, looks awesome!

[PeanutHead]

A Yamaha Raptor 660 manual petcock fits the KZ440. Or anything else with the same hole spacing, 34mm I think. As for the carbs, the stock ones suck to be honest, especially without the whole airbox assembly (haven't read your whole thread to see if you have it, sorry). If it's not running out full RPM, it's more than likely one of the following. Carbs not balanced, tear in the slide, or missing pilot jet plug. Could also be in the ignition advancer unit, frozen, bad springs, etc; and make sure the rubber idle stops are still there too. I swapped to a single VM30 years ago and couldn't be happier.

Update: I looked back at your bike, looks awesome!

Thanks dude. Yeah I'm running the complete air box (with the highly sought after snot box). The slides aren't torn and the main jets are clear. I will more than likely have to balance them. All the single carb conversion kits I find cost more than i paid for the bike.

[EVILBLACKSABRE]

That bike does look like a lot of fun. I like the paintjob too. I would have gone with a smaller seat, but that's me. That seat sure looks comfortable though.

[PeanutHead]

That bike does look like a lot of fun. I like the paintjob too. I would have gone with a smaller seat, but that's me. That seat sure looks comfortable though.

Thanks a lot. Yeah the see this very comfy. It's been sitting in the garage for a few years and thought, why not try it (and it fits my wife's ass lol).

Now, on to today's adventure. Pulled the tank off to break down the petcock JUST to find out its working correctly now. No idea wtf happened but PRIME works 100%. So, slapped the tank back on, primed the carbs, and fired her up. She still backfires a bit and spitting out black smoke from the exhaust. Stuck my hand at the muffler opening and I'm not sure if this is oil, fuel, or a mixture because all i can smell is smoke. Any ideas? I hope it's just something stupid.