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Hey all,
I purchased a 93 Katana 600. It was too good of a deal to pass up, and since I like wrenching as much as riding, I figured I would enjoy another project. She has sat for 4 years. When I picked her up she looked pretty neglected. 4 years of garage dust had accumulated on her, the battery was completely dead, and the fairings were off and cracked here and there. Here she is sitting in the PO's garage when I picked her up:
The first thing I did when I got her home was tear into the carbs and check the plugs. The plugs were Champion RA6HC, and were brand new., looked as if they had never been fired. I am planning to replace them with some NGK's. [EDIT: this is where I drained the tank and cleaned it with denatured alcohol]
The carbs were the worst looking carbs I have ever seen in my life. After 4 hours of cleaning, yes-4 hours, I got her back together and with the help of my 99 yzf, some jumper cables, and my cousin on home from leave from the air force in Iraq. She would idle fairly well, but really bogged over 4K. There seems to be some valve chatter also. Here is me and my cousin tinkering with her:
I pulled the carbs apart again, and really spent some more time making sure they were as clean as I could get em. I also purchased some new o-rings for the floats and put everything back together. My camera isnt the best for close ups, but I did the best I could.
On my 99 YZF 600R, the AFR screws are capped from the factory, and they have to be drilled out to adjust. Is this the same on the pre tuna's? If so then mine were drilled out. Either way they are acessable. I havent checked how many turns out they are right now:
You can see just how bad the bowls are varished here. This is after soaking and cleaning.
Here are the jets and needles. Starting on the left are the idle jets. They were SUPER bad. I still dont think they are 100%. One was so bad we had to pound a pin thru the hole as a last resort. They just wouldnt come clean, especially that one. They are capped by those black rubber plugs under them. The black rubber plugs do not seat all that well, and will easily fall out. I can only assume this is part of the problem? The needles are slightly shiney as I took some 400 grit sandpaper and lightly scuffed them to get the solidified varish off. You can see the varish on the main jets, and its hard to tell, but where the needle should seat isnt very smooth on any of them. I dont know what else to do beside replace them, along with the needles, idle jets, and needle valves.
After all this I put her back together and jump started her again. At first she idled great, and would rev to redline with no issue, except a puff of blueish-black smoke if I snapped the throttle(valves? Rings?). After a few mins, she would not idle at all without help from the throttle. Then she started bogging at 4K and wouldnt go past it. I pulled her back into the garage and pulled the plugs. They are very, very carbon fouled. I then looked down into the cylinders with a flashlight, and I can see a LOT of carbon buildup on the pistons, which I couldnt get a decent pic of
My current plan of action is to get some new mains and needles, as well as a carb rebuild kit unless you all think otherwise?
I purchased a 93 Katana 600. It was too good of a deal to pass up, and since I like wrenching as much as riding, I figured I would enjoy another project. She has sat for 4 years. When I picked her up she looked pretty neglected. 4 years of garage dust had accumulated on her, the battery was completely dead, and the fairings were off and cracked here and there. Here she is sitting in the PO's garage when I picked her up:
The first thing I did when I got her home was tear into the carbs and check the plugs. The plugs were Champion RA6HC, and were brand new., looked as if they had never been fired. I am planning to replace them with some NGK's. [EDIT: this is where I drained the tank and cleaned it with denatured alcohol]
The carbs were the worst looking carbs I have ever seen in my life. After 4 hours of cleaning, yes-4 hours, I got her back together and with the help of my 99 yzf, some jumper cables, and my cousin on home from leave from the air force in Iraq. She would idle fairly well, but really bogged over 4K. There seems to be some valve chatter also. Here is me and my cousin tinkering with her:
I pulled the carbs apart again, and really spent some more time making sure they were as clean as I could get em. I also purchased some new o-rings for the floats and put everything back together. My camera isnt the best for close ups, but I did the best I could.
On my 99 YZF 600R, the AFR screws are capped from the factory, and they have to be drilled out to adjust. Is this the same on the pre tuna's? If so then mine were drilled out. Either way they are acessable. I havent checked how many turns out they are right now:
You can see just how bad the bowls are varished here. This is after soaking and cleaning.
Here are the jets and needles. Starting on the left are the idle jets. They were SUPER bad. I still dont think they are 100%. One was so bad we had to pound a pin thru the hole as a last resort. They just wouldnt come clean, especially that one. They are capped by those black rubber plugs under them. The black rubber plugs do not seat all that well, and will easily fall out. I can only assume this is part of the problem? The needles are slightly shiney as I took some 400 grit sandpaper and lightly scuffed them to get the solidified varish off. You can see the varish on the main jets, and its hard to tell, but where the needle should seat isnt very smooth on any of them. I dont know what else to do beside replace them, along with the needles, idle jets, and needle valves.
After all this I put her back together and jump started her again. At first she idled great, and would rev to redline with no issue, except a puff of blueish-black smoke if I snapped the throttle(valves? Rings?). After a few mins, she would not idle at all without help from the throttle. Then she started bogging at 4K and wouldnt go past it. I pulled her back into the garage and pulled the plugs. They are very, very carbon fouled. I then looked down into the cylinders with a flashlight, and I can see a LOT of carbon buildup on the pistons, which I couldnt get a decent pic of
My current plan of action is to get some new mains and needles, as well as a carb rebuild kit unless you all think otherwise?
RideGear.com (I keep shooting, but they won't DIE!)
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