KZ1000: More disappointment.

So as we left off last time, I was complaining about the bike feeling too flat on top end. Essentially, what happened was the previous owner's shop switched a set of sweet Mikuni Smoothbore 29mm carbs out for a set of stock 26mm round slides. They also transferred the main jets: 120s... All else equal, a larger bore carb will require larger main jets to flow the same amount of fuel. So when the "shop" transferred the carbs over, the 120 mains were likely all they had in stock and was "convenient". Insert rant about how too often people get taken advantage of because of their lack of familiarity with things... I'd love to have a few choice words with the turkeys who were "helping" out the previous owner as a "friend." ANYWAY... This bike, with APE pod filters, 117.5 mains and 20 pilots ended up being pretty darn close according to the SOTP (Seat of the pants) dyno.

But this SOTP dyno run came after much fuss with the ignition timing... The KZ snapped crackeled and popped even on 93 octane fuel far worse than any bike I'd riddent to date. As previously mentioned, the KZ had a Dyna electronic ignition installed on it eliminating the points system. The Dyna set up was pretty straight foward and simple looking, with a slotted backing plate to adjust the static timing just like the original equipment points set up. Upon intial inspection, it was adjusted right in the middle of the adjustment range. I didn't have a timing light at the time so I just eyeballed it and retarded static timing a few degrees. Still spark knocking. A few more degrees... No improvement... All the way to "fully retarded"? There may have been some slight amount of improvement, but it still wasn't cutting the mustard. I double checked the mechanical advance unit to make sure that it was working properly and wasn't stuck in the fully advanced position. Everything looked correct.

Is this is just the way this thing is going to behave with the big-bore/high compression pistons? What's the point of carrying around the weight of a liter bike if you can't even use the mid-range punch? The KZ650 was vastly superior to it's big brother when motoring down the road because of the nagging pre-ignition problems. I was disgusted with the Big KZ.

Time to buy a timing light...