Kaw 550 died

Bike is a 1984 Kawasaki 550 Ltd, with about 17,000 miles on it. In the
last 2 years, the carbs have been rebuilt, valve adjustment done, new
battery, and a lot of the electrical connections have been cleaned.

Went thru the carbs(again), put them back on, synced them, played with
the mixture screws, synced them again..... ran great at idle outside
the garage. Then I took it down the street to get some gas. Never made
it before it started running like crap and losing power so I turned
around. Died about 3 blocks from the house. Still cranks, but no fire.
Didn't have time to check for spark but I think it's got to be
electrical. Ran good when it was cold, but broke down when it got hot.
Heck, might even be the 2 yr old battery that is in it. Havn't had
time to check anything yet, but looking for ideas.

Thanks
Brian

 

Bike is a 1984 Kawasaki 550 Ltd, with about 17,000 miles on it. In the

..Didn't have time to check for spark but I think it's got to be

I'd say if the bike was running before you worked on the carbs, and now
it doesn't.... seems like you did something to make the carb fail... Id
recheck your work..

good luck..

Fwed

 

No, it wasn't running worth a crap before I took it apart. I was
attempting to sync the carbs and could not get #4 to sync no matter
what I tried. So, decided to clean the carbs in case I sucked
something in. Didn't think it was possible as the tank is etched and
coated as well as an inline filter. What I discovered was a missing
"E" clip for the starter enricher on #4. This would allow the enricher
to stay open on #4 when I pushed the rod back in. I replaced the "E"
clip and was able to sync the carbs up.


Brian

 

To all that pointed me towards a fuel problem, and not an electrical
one like I suspected, thank you. After determing that I had spark, I
opened the drain screws, expecting a stream of gas and all I got was a
small dribble, and then..... NOTHING!!

Somehow, I managed to pinch off the fuel line when I was putting the
tank back on. I left it long on purpose to make this easier.. it ain't
long no more.

Brian