[numus]

You definitely have dirty carbs. Check out carbs 102 in the wiki here. Its a step by step on how to clean them with pictures and such. Follow it exactly and don't skip or scrimp on steps. Every time we try to save time and/or money by not doing a thorough cleaning it only leads to aggravation and having to remove them again until we do do a full cleaning.

You other option would be to just pick up a set of rebuilt carbs from Arsenic for the same price as what the mechanic was going to charge you. You would still need to sync them to your bike, but it saves the cleaning time and he does give a core credit for your old set.

This looks like it is going to be tons of fun

[numus]

Had 5 oz of seafoam left over from the gs500e so used that for now and later will do a carb rebuild and clean.
Question about the fuel filter... Where should it be located? I can see a hose that comes off my petcock. it loops down then up and pretty much over the carb where the fuel filter sits higher then the petcock, the other side of the fuel filter is like a corrugated style host that i guess goes into the carbs. Is that correct?

[numus]

I am having all kinds of FAIL this weekend...
Rode her to lunch today... Started her up.. then friends wanted to talk so turned her off.. Started her again... Then one needed to talk again so turned her off...
Tried a third time and... DEAD!!!
Was able to push start her once, got her to start up and left her in neutral for 3-4 minutes... Engine dead and battery completely drained During the time it was on in neutral the tach, speedo and odo wouldn't work...
Friend came and jumped it off his car and everything worked.. He followed me to a battery source near my house, they did a load test and found it WEAK so bought their generic SLA battery for the bike for 50 bucks.. Hopefully that solves me problem..
Question... Why would it die while in neutral and drain the battery completely? My guess is a bad/dead cell that got semi fixed when i jumped it off a high current... but that is just a guess

Going to check the output from the generator/regulator when the new bat is in.. What should it be at what RPM?

[freqflyer]

Bike alternators are different from car alternators and if the battery fails the bike can/will do weird things.

Regarding the carb cleaning. You might be able to take a short screw driver and take the carb bowls off without removing the carbs from the bike. The sediment is in the bowls and get sucked up messing things up.

I don't know if you can do it on a kat, I haven't fooled with the kat carbs, but on my old ninja I was able to.

[Wild-Bill]

Bike alternators are very much like car alternators in that they don't put out enough current at idle to charge the battery. For that you need to get the rpms up. Starting the bike takes a lot out of your battery. It needs to be recharged by taking the bike out and riding it.

[numus]

Question.. Would a bad battery possibly cause other problems with the bike?
Noticed since I replaced the battery my idle isn't bouncing as bad and the bike seems to be more responsive.. Not sure if a bad battery would cause undo strain on the power system or if it is more of a placebo...


Also what is the correct charging output at what rpm? Want to verify my regulator and generator are functioning properly...

[freqflyer]

It's more than just not putting out enough current. The signal isn't as clean or something. Somebody else in here can probably explain better.

When the battery went bad on my ninja. I was on the interstate turning 8000 plus RPMS. It was a 250. Anyway, that's plenty fast enough to provide enough power and yet the bike ran like absolute crap. I actually found that a lower RPM made it run somewhat better. Maybe it's a frequency problem with the alternators that a good battery smooths out.

Keep us posted but you have a shot at that fixing all your problems or at least making them more consistent.

[05RedKat600]

It's more than just not putting out enough current. The signal isn't as clean or something. Somebody else in here can probably explain better.

When the battery went bad on my ninja. I was on the interstate turning 8000 plus RPMS. It was a 250. Anyway, that's plenty fast enough to provide enough power and yet the bike ran like absolute crap. I actually found that a lower RPM made it run somewhat better. Maybe it's a frequency problem with the alternators that a good battery smooths out.

Keep us posted but you have a shot at that fixing all your problems or at least making them more consistent.

This would be a regulator/rectifier issue. The alternator puts out A/C, which has a frequency. The regulator/rectifier converts it to DC. DC power, which is what the bike uses, has no frequency. This means that there is no frequency for the battery to smooth out either.

That being said, if the regulator is on the way out, the voltage can fluctuate a bit, and a good battery may dampen that effect. In the end, it's still a faulty charging system.

Numus, you're looking for 13.5 -14 volts above about 1500 RPM at the battery. Anything less or more means you have alternator issues.

[gsx]

If you live near the sticks find an old guy with a younger mechanic working for him, chances are the two of them will figure it out. Its like fixing a boat over the phone...till you hear it and put your testers on it you will just throw parts at it. Could be something as stupid as a bad connect somewere. We had a merc come in that we effed with for a week. Turned out a bad connect. I know a kat is not an old merc but you never know. Mom n pop places usualy dont rape you.

[numus]

This would be a regulator/rectifier issue. The alternator puts out A/C, which has a frequency. The regulator/rectifier converts it to DC. DC power, which is what the bike uses, has no frequency. This means that there is no frequency for the battery to smooth out either.

That being said, if the regulator is on the way out, the voltage can fluctuate a bit, and a good battery may dampen that effect. In the end, it's still a faulty charging system.

Numus, you're looking for 13.5 -14 volts above about 1500 RPM at the battery. Anything less or more means you have alternator issues.

Found it in the hayes.. Says 13.6-14.4 at 5000... Question.. at 1100 is that enough to power the bike or is it augmenting off the battery?

If you live near the sticks find an old guy with a younger mechanic working for him, chances are the two of them will figure it out. Its like fixing a boat over the phone...till you hear it and put your testers on it you will just throw parts at it. Could be something as stupid as a bad connect somewere. We had a merc come in that we effed with for a week. Turned out a bad connect. I know a kat is not an old merc but you never know. Mom n pop places usualy dont rape you.

I have yet to find a mechanic in Tallahassee, FL or anywhere near by that I trust... Some of the shops seems better than others, but the one I trust is also the one with the highest hourly wages....

[numus]

Finally found the idle adjustment screw while sitting at a traffic light today... Bumped it up while the bike was idling so it now bounces around 1100-1200... Basically I bumped it until it didn't sound like it was bogging down in the low end of the bounce so it sounds stronger and not noticing the neutral light flickering (neutral light flickers when i have the turn signal on but the LED's should fix that up)...

[numus]

Outputting 14.20 @ 5000 rpm... and around 13.39 @ 1100 rpm... Battery fully charged is 13.17 ... Guessing my generator and regulatory are in good shape...

[05RedKat600]

Outputting 14.20 @ 5000 rpm... and around 13.39 @ 1100 rpm... Battery fully charged is 13.17 ... Guessing my generator and regulatory are in good shape...

Ya, I'd say so. TO explain the flickering, the output at that low RPM is not constant. Your voltmeter may indicate it is, but it's changing more quickly than your VM will read out.

Also, i read something about the infamous Kat 80HP question. The explanation is: manufacturers use Crank HP. Dyno's use Wheel HP. Manu's use the bigger number, of course.

[numus]

Ya, I'd say so. TO explain the flickering, the output at that low RPM is not constant. Your voltmeter may indicate it is, but it's changing more quickly than your VM will read out.

Also, i read something about the infamous Kat 80HP question. The explanation is: manufacturers use Crank HP. Dyno's use Wheel HP. Manu's use the bigger number, of course.

Makes sense on both... Once i get the LED's in (when they get to my house) the flicker should go away... I am still going to buy an advancer once i verify i only have a 4 deg currently..

Edit: Yup 4 degree... And after my idle screw bump the bike idles a lot less rough (doesn't shake as much in idle)..

[numus]

Welll... The bike is having problems cold starting again... If i don't have the enricher on it will turn over and die.. if i turn on the enricher it wont turn over at all.. If i put it on prime for about 1-2 minutes and switch it to on it will finally turn over and then it will run..
othertimes i still have to try to start it with the enricher on, and give it throttle (sometimes opent he throttle before i even attempt to turn it on for a good 3-5 seconds.. close it.. try to turn it over and open the throttle while it is trying to turn over to get it to fire up)...