cleaned carbs and a totally new problem

[bassmanjr5]

i found its a flat spot in the rpms around 6-7k. ive cleaned the carbs adjusted the a/f ratio to 2.5 ive done so much pulling of the carbs and putting them back on that im officially fed up with this dang bike and dont really care to own it anymore lol. i just would like someone to be able to help guide me through this. im just sick of not being able to ride it because i simply clean the carbs adjust the a/f and sync them and then the bike no longer wants to ride right. asgkkadshg so frustrated right now.

[steves]

You don't mention what year your bike is, so start by checking here to see if you missed any steps in cleaning them.

http://katriders.com/wiki/index.php5?title=Carbs_101

Is there any rust in your gas tank?
Do the slides move freely?
Are the springs returning the slides (push them up from inside)?
Is anything sticking or binding?
Do you have an air or vacuum leak?
What kind of air filter are you using?
Is the petcock in working order?
What does the vacuum line between the petcock and carbs look like?

[bassmanjr5]

sorry its a 99 katana 600

[steves]

And what about the other questions? Like the inside of the tank?

You'll want Carbs 102

http://katriders.com/wiki/index.php5?title=Carbs_102

[Matt Marais]

Check if your carbsopen up at the same time - leaking diafragms

[bassmanjr5]

do i check if they open at the same time without the air box on? and i did use the carbs 102 when i did all of the cleaning. i went about it again last night and adjusted the float heights which brings another question.

When i adjusted them i lifted the floats to where they were just touching the needles little bracket thing that holds on to the metal tab. was that correct? i just didnt understand both the haynes manual or the carbs 102 at that point.

The bike idles near perfect. absolutely no roughness to it. I did find that it idles better when leaned on the kickstand but roughens a tad when centered with me on it.

Im hopefully making progress lol.

[kevin2502000]

No, you probably set them too low causing richness. Flip them upside down and the float tang should lightly touch but not compress the needle valve. Measure the highest part of the float to the carb bowl seating surface on the carb.

[icekillah]

just a follow up on the float measurement. i just "adjusted" mine and keept on getting overflow, after taking them off and on maybe 4 times i decided to do it the "better" way by holding the carbs at a 45 degree angle(so the floats were just free from gravity and had free movement then took the measurement its suppose to be much more of an accurate reading, you may be able to get it done just by having the carbs resting upside down but i would suggest tilting them so you get a true level reading. just my 2 cents

[bassmanjr5]

yea i did find out what i was doing wrong as far as measuring. now its just trying to be able to get around the paralax you get from the wrong angle looking at the ruler lol.

[steves]

Measure and cut up an old floppy disk. Viola... float tool.

[bassmanjr5]

lol gotta love a board full of guys with all kinds of ways to make tools out of random odds and ends.

Well a quick update:
After attempting to find and fix whatever was wrong with the bike a million more times and looking at the float height to be nearly exact the right setting i finally have thrown in the towel. Thanks to mreeds hooking me up with Thazkat, i will be traveling to lakeview to have thom do the necessary trick to fixing this beast.

Ive learned so much so far about this bike from this forum that i should be able to fix it. but being that i have absolutely no experience working on these motors and that this is my first bike, i still havent done enough reading and learning to fix this issue. But luckly there are people out there that are willing to put in there down time that normally would be used for R&R time to fix other peoples bikes.

After talking for an hour and a half on the phone with thom about the bike, politics, the world issues, gun safety, and the smoking ban here in ohio, i did realize one thing. all the guys on these boards are looking to gain knowledge and a helping hand from another fellow rider to continue their ride. Everyone of us on these forums, if not already, will sometime be watching the back of another rider. Therefore it is important to make sure to help everyone even if the questions should be a known answer or if it starts to get annoying always lend a helping hand. The more of us there is out there riding, the more people we have watching our backs, and the more good people we get to know.

So thank you guys so much for helping me out with this issue and thank you for having this board available to us.

[mreedohio]

glad we could help you out!

[akarob]

So the floats were the problem? How much adjustment did they need?

[bassmanjr5]

Well Im not sure whats wrong yet. im taking it to thom who is Thazkat on here. he will be doing the work for me. so ill finally have the kat running in good shape once someone who knows what they are doing gets to it lol.