First, Thanks to everyone who takes the time to post their problems and solutions and how-tos. It has made things a lot easier for me.
Now then, a little background. I bought a 2004 Katana 600 a few weeks ago with ~7500 miles on it. Guy I was buying it from (second owner) said all he had done was change the oil when he got the bike and that it had been sitting for around a year, maybe a year and a half. I had a mechanic at a local Suzuki dealership give it a look over and make sure there was nothing major wrong that I was overlooking before I bought it. He pointed out some general maintenance stuff and said I might have to get the carb rebuilt because it was running rough and was a little sluggish. He said I could run a few tanks of gas through it and that might solve the problem.
So I bought it, changed the oil, put new spark plugs in, cleaned the air filter, ran a tank of gas with sea foam through it, got new tires, put new brakes on the back wheel, lubed/tightened the chain and ran another tank of gas through it. It seemed to run a little better after the seafoam and fresh tank of gas, but it still was rough and would hang for 10 - 15 seconds when you gave it a little throttle and let off. So I checked the compression, just on the off chance, and it was within a few lbs across all four. Figured it was the carbs since it had been sitting for so long without stabilizer. I pulled them off and cleaned them, I read Carb 101 and followed it as best as I could, only I didn't touch the a/f screws because the plugs were still in. The pilot jet on carb #1 looked clogged and there was a little crap in the bottom of the bowls but other than that it looked pretty clean. Put new viton o-rings in the bowls, checked the float height and put on new bowl gaskets with rtv.
Put everything back on, hooked up a temp gas tank and it fired right up with no problems, but it was still running rough. Tried to do a synch with a homemade manometer, but I never could get the readings to stay stable. I would get them the same then after 15 - 20 seconds it would slowly swing one way or the other for a little bit then swing back. I got them as close as I could. Then I started fiddling to see if I could find anything obvious. I noticed that the tach bounces around about 100 - 200 rpm no matter how many rpms it's turning. So I'm thinking vacuum leak? But I read someones post saying that the valves could cause problems that seem like vacuum problems. So my next steps in order are: check the valve clearances, check the boots for leaks, clean the carbs again.
Note: The idle screw is turned all the way on and has to be for the bike to idle sort of ok around 1200rpm. Incase that's a flashing neon sign to anyone.
On to my questions.
1) Do you HAVE to replace the rotor cover gasket when you pull it off or can you get by with the old one and some rtv if it's in ok shape?
2) Do you have to replace the bowl gaskets on the carb everytime you pull the bowls off?
Any comments, suggestions, or maybe brilliant insight that would solve my problem in 5 mins would be greatly appreciated.
And sorry it's so long but I figured it was best to give as much info as possible.
Now then, a little background. I bought a 2004 Katana 600 a few weeks ago with ~7500 miles on it. Guy I was buying it from (second owner) said all he had done was change the oil when he got the bike and that it had been sitting for around a year, maybe a year and a half. I had a mechanic at a local Suzuki dealership give it a look over and make sure there was nothing major wrong that I was overlooking before I bought it. He pointed out some general maintenance stuff and said I might have to get the carb rebuilt because it was running rough and was a little sluggish. He said I could run a few tanks of gas through it and that might solve the problem.
So I bought it, changed the oil, put new spark plugs in, cleaned the air filter, ran a tank of gas with sea foam through it, got new tires, put new brakes on the back wheel, lubed/tightened the chain and ran another tank of gas through it. It seemed to run a little better after the seafoam and fresh tank of gas, but it still was rough and would hang for 10 - 15 seconds when you gave it a little throttle and let off. So I checked the compression, just on the off chance, and it was within a few lbs across all four. Figured it was the carbs since it had been sitting for so long without stabilizer. I pulled them off and cleaned them, I read Carb 101 and followed it as best as I could, only I didn't touch the a/f screws because the plugs were still in. The pilot jet on carb #1 looked clogged and there was a little crap in the bottom of the bowls but other than that it looked pretty clean. Put new viton o-rings in the bowls, checked the float height and put on new bowl gaskets with rtv.
Put everything back on, hooked up a temp gas tank and it fired right up with no problems, but it was still running rough. Tried to do a synch with a homemade manometer, but I never could get the readings to stay stable. I would get them the same then after 15 - 20 seconds it would slowly swing one way or the other for a little bit then swing back. I got them as close as I could. Then I started fiddling to see if I could find anything obvious. I noticed that the tach bounces around about 100 - 200 rpm no matter how many rpms it's turning. So I'm thinking vacuum leak? But I read someones post saying that the valves could cause problems that seem like vacuum problems. So my next steps in order are: check the valve clearances, check the boots for leaks, clean the carbs again.
Note: The idle screw is turned all the way on and has to be for the bike to idle sort of ok around 1200rpm. Incase that's a flashing neon sign to anyone.
On to my questions.
1) Do you HAVE to replace the rotor cover gasket when you pull it off or can you get by with the old one and some rtv if it's in ok shape?
2) Do you have to replace the bowl gaskets on the carb everytime you pull the bowls off?
Any comments, suggestions, or maybe brilliant insight that would solve my problem in 5 mins would be greatly appreciated.
And sorry it's so long but I figured it was best to give as much info as possible.
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