Bike Z900 A4 not running correctly (FINALLY SORTED)

[Gray17]

Thanks for info Kev, carbs are correct ones VM26s, the jets and carb kits supplied by Nigel are Keyster and all components were used,and replaced whatever was in originally every jet etc replaced back to standard. Needle jet centre position.
Air screw is 1.5 turns out, but on recomendations, tried 1.75 and 2 turns out, still ran rough, so back to 1.5.
Fuel is new unleaded ie filled last time i was out, so not old.
Appreciate what your saying about George mod, but it does e sure a good voltage at coils at all times. If it fails it will stop coils working hence why i fitted it atop battery so easily accessed to link terminals, its also fused. If i ever get bike running correctly and find its not needed, i may well remove it.
Carbs to manifold def no leaks, carbs to airbox not 100% sure how can you tell, they are all fitted snugly with clamps tightened, but are a little on hard side. If this is def cause i will replace them, but the intake only draws air, its the output the mixes the ratio, so an airleak there would cause weak mixture, alas mines seems to be rich rather then weak, least looking at plug condition which is black. But then its only ran in garage, mostly on choke so prob not an accurate indication.
Whilst im very grateful for all the help and suggestions, think half the problem is I've now lost confidence in my abilities in doing some of the tasks, after doing them several times with no real benefit, yoy start to doubt if its components or you?
You are right about having to start at basics and go through each logically step by step, but to do that justice you need several things
1. The technical ability and know how, i thought i had that but unsure now.
2. The correct tools needed, bought some, but quality not the best, cost prohibitive for 1 time use. Therefore not convinced i can trust them.
3. Enthusiasm, sorry but in my case thats long gone unfortunately

[Ultim8pc]

Gray
When you get into a situation like this you get frustrated and can doubt your own abilities. Also you can sometimes fail to see something obvious.
My advice at this point would be to not work on the bike for a while and then come back to it. Often you will spot something you didn't see before.
Also, you may want to create a checklist of things that need to be looked at and done as without that it can sometime be hard to remember what you have done or not.

[Gray17]

A very big thank you to all, for the help and advice which has been greatfully received, and allowed me to get as far as i have so far.
Without this forum and its members i definately wouldnt have.
Many Thanks

[Sgt.Pinback]

As you say she runs better on choke I´d assume she doesn´t get enough fuel.
First thing I do: let her run with open fuel cap, then check if pet cock is free

[Gray17]

Thanks appreciate reply, yes tried leaving fuel cap open, fuel tap is brand new and flows freely on both outlets, carb chambers are always full of fuel. And have similar ammounts in them when drained.
Yes it runs better on choke at first but only when cold, once fully warmed runs without choke, just not as it should.
To be honest done as much as i can with it now. You can only go round in circles so many times.
I am now going to leave it to someone eminently more qualified then me, who understands the quirkyness of the Z900 and has the expertise and tools needed to do it justice.
I have tried many times but simply for me its a step to far.
Ultimately i will get a bike i can be proud of and actually ride, and 95% of the restoration down to me if not the final 5%, so dont consider that a failure on my part.

[r3sc]

After all the effort you’ve put in over the weeks you could never be regarded as a failure so don’t even entertain that notion!

Please let us know what the final outcome is when the problem is finally traced.

[wilsonsjw11]

There is a set of stripped and cleaned 26mm carbs on eBay at the moment.
Item number;276570968025
Regards
Steve

[Gray17]

Appreciate the positive comments R3SC and Steve thanks for ebay part number, Its a bid not a buy it now and already at £200, don't think theres anything wrong with my own set of carbs, they too have been cleaned, stripped and all internals replaced, its the setting up thats the issue, if it is the carbs could just as easily be the 101 other things at fault or all of them, thats the issue and reason ive decided not to go any further with it myself.
Thanks though.

[moizeau]

There must be someone close who knows he stuff?

[warren3200gt]

Pete, I offered about 4 or 5 months back to sort it for the cost of parts only, no charge for labour or experience or knowledge, but apparently a few hundred quid to courier here and back was "too expensive"

[Gray17]

Morning Guys, well can finally close this very long saga as bike now running as it should. Id like to take credit for it as have virtually replaced and rebuilt the bike 95%, but that final 5% was proving elusive to say the least.
Anyway Rob Zed1015 offered to help and lived reasonably closeby, managed to get it running well enough to ride and left in his capable hands for a week. Result the bike now starts on the button, ticks over without stalling and pulls strongly without any hesitation in all gears.
When i test rode it, it felt like a different machine. Well chuffed!
So what was wrong? Well no 1 thing as youd expect several issues caused the poor running.
Some down to my own inexperience and implementation, others poor parts and finally wear and tear.

Timing - despite checking, double checking and tripple checking id still managed to get it set incorrectly, Rob corrected it, but it will need a new camchain at some point due to wear.

Ignition - the timing was way off, i had tried to set this up using a strobe myself to no avail, but did get it to run, the advancer springs were useless and have now been replaced and I'd not fiited the Dyna S cam corrctly either (rooky error) The Dyna S i bought is not Dyna S its a cheap chinese clone, whilst it works, is very poor quality, but was recomended.
Anyway Rob has timed it up and it now works well.
Carbs- Again id stripped and cleaned them, replaced all internals with Keyster parts and had choke plungers done, but again there were probs, 1 of the floats was faulty, now replaced, I'd also inadvertently fitted the choke lifters upside down so weren't closing properly, did take photo so may have been like that from prev owner?
Anyway they are all set up now and ballanced, work great.

Plugs- had NGKs in but a grade hotter from prev owner, on recomendation bought Denso plugs, but didnt run right with them either, Robs replaced with correct NGKs again runs great.

Theres lots of other tweaks he's done, basically gone through everything step by step to ensure its correct, And what a difference its made.
To be honest if I'd live to be 100, I'd never have got there myself so very grateful for his help and expertise to sort it out.

I'm now looking forward to enjoying riding the bike and having some fun and days out on it, instead of working on it all the time.

Once again big thanks to all who helped in getting me as far as i did, even bigger thanks to Rob for getting me past the finishing post

Cheers Guys
So if you see me on the Kawasaki Z900 A4 at Seaways cafe Fridaythorpe, come and say hello, Teas are on me.

Oh and Warren yes you did offer to help, and at the time said i was grateful and appreciated the offer not sure what else you were expecting.
But as i said at the time, i live in Hull you live in Essex thats 300 miles a long way, far too far for me to bring machine and dont really trust couriers with my pride and joy. Some are very good but others not so how do you know which?
Its an expensive bike was i willing to take the chance of damage or getting stolen in transit No and yes cost was a factor too, you've critiscised my penny pinching as you call it before, i dont consider £4k spent on it penny pinching as its taken all of my savings and then some to get to this stage, but guess were at different financial points in our lives, so yes that was a concern as who knows what the new parts bill would have been.
I also still hoped 4 months ago to be able to complete it myself, but now know it just wasnt possible. There were also some local guys who said they could sort it too, but that never materialised either.
However none of that matters now as the bikes running great.

Once again thanks to all!

[marmck]

Great news ,everyone loves a happy ending

[wilsonsjw11]

Excellent news!!!!
You were very lucky to get Rob working on it as he truly is an expert on these bikes.
Regards
Steve

[Ultim8pc]

Glad to hear you got it sorted and Kudos to Zed1015 for helping out.

[zapo]

Glad to hear you got it sorted and Kudos to Zed1015 for helping out.

+1