Well guys, I've been lurking here for a LONG time, and had issues verifying my first account so I never got around to posting anything. Finally got that fixed with this one.
In January, I picked up a 1994 katana 600 as my first bike. I got it for $950, thinking I was getting a good deal. I had no prior experience with what to look for, and the bike had pod filters...big mistake on my part. Well, a while later I discovered they were bad. The bike started up nice and sounded ok when I first saw it, but when I got it home it was running lean as hell. I ended up rebuilding all the carbs and dipping them, but the needles aren't stock and I had stripped pilot jets and then replaced them with the wrong ones, which I just recently discovered.
I ended up buying another carb rack, this one all stock. I used a harbor freight ultrasonic cleaner on them and removed absolutely everything, besides the air jets in the mouth of the carbs. Two of them stripped out...but Reddit said they'd be fine.
I transfered all gaskets, etc. to the new carbs after cleaning and tried to start it. It hardly starts, and when it does, it runs ROUGH. The plugs are fouling. It makes no sense because I've gone through everything. A/f is 2.5 turns out on each carb, the floats are set to about 15mm because 14.6 is hard to guess, but it's in spec. The floats are seated properly. It just seems to be running rich for no reason. Everything is in good shape, and I am completely lost on what to do. I'm supposed to be taking this bike to college in two weeks, and I'm absolutely screwed. I actually ended up trading away my car for an ex500 a few months ago, and then had a target fixation lowside that totaled it. My entire experience with motorcycles has been a nightmare besides when I actually get to ride!
The bike has a new battery, new ignition coils and wires. Not new boots, because they appear to be in good shape and spark is good on all cylinders. I'm at my end here, because I believe fuel has once again gotten into my oil, which means another change even though I haven't ridden it but 40 miles since I've owned it. Plugs have been changed several times. The float needles are not sticking and the little springy nipple on the top functions on all of them.
I've gone through everything I can think of, please help!
In January, I picked up a 1994 katana 600 as my first bike. I got it for $950, thinking I was getting a good deal. I had no prior experience with what to look for, and the bike had pod filters...big mistake on my part. Well, a while later I discovered they were bad. The bike started up nice and sounded ok when I first saw it, but when I got it home it was running lean as hell. I ended up rebuilding all the carbs and dipping them, but the needles aren't stock and I had stripped pilot jets and then replaced them with the wrong ones, which I just recently discovered.
I ended up buying another carb rack, this one all stock. I used a harbor freight ultrasonic cleaner on them and removed absolutely everything, besides the air jets in the mouth of the carbs. Two of them stripped out...but Reddit said they'd be fine.
I transfered all gaskets, etc. to the new carbs after cleaning and tried to start it. It hardly starts, and when it does, it runs ROUGH. The plugs are fouling. It makes no sense because I've gone through everything. A/f is 2.5 turns out on each carb, the floats are set to about 15mm because 14.6 is hard to guess, but it's in spec. The floats are seated properly. It just seems to be running rich for no reason. Everything is in good shape, and I am completely lost on what to do. I'm supposed to be taking this bike to college in two weeks, and I'm absolutely screwed. I actually ended up trading away my car for an ex500 a few months ago, and then had a target fixation lowside that totaled it. My entire experience with motorcycles has been a nightmare besides when I actually get to ride!
The bike has a new battery, new ignition coils and wires. Not new boots, because they appear to be in good shape and spark is good on all cylinders. I'm at my end here, because I believe fuel has once again gotten into my oil, which means another change even though I haven't ridden it but 40 miles since I've owned it. Plugs have been changed several times. The float needles are not sticking and the little springy nipple on the top functions on all of them.
I've gone through everything I can think of, please help!
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