$200 kat can it go

[captain.willard]

New to this forum and the street bike community. Been riding dirt bikes since I was 8. I've got a bit of a mechanical background: degree in diesel mechanics, motor and tyranny swaps, tons of drivetrain and chassis work on autos, and some dirt bike work. Anyway Im hoping to get some pointers and info on here to see if I can get this old 92 kat 600 running that I got for $200. Its been sitting for 15+ years. 32000 miles but supposedly 2000 on motor. Tires and forks are shot. Got the brakes working(is dot3 bad in place of dot4? ). Electrical works and it fires on starting fluid. Im thinking the carbs are shot and pilot jets are full of yummy goo. The scary part is I recently found gas in the oil when I changed it and after asking last owner who never had it running right said one of the carbs was flooding a cylinder. In my research that could be float height/float valve issues or needle jet/needle issues. Any tips would be appreciated. Im not afraid to tear into it. I think the only deal breaker on a $200 bike would be an engine rebuild. Im currently rebuilding my brothers Cummins already. Dont want another

[Yhearfear]

I had a problem like that gas in the oil. drain the oil and put new oil in it. Take the carbs off and clean each carb clean the needles floats and every tube and hole in it. after that put the carbs back on. id suggest running the bike for a few minutes then shutting it off and redraining the oil and putting fresh new oil in it and a new oil filter.the reason id personally change it a second time is so the oil u changed picked up any remaining gas that was still in the crank case. Also check the gas tank and make sure its not rusty ..if it is try home depot or lowes look for somthing called metal rescue its a little pricey but it works great if u follow the directions. i had to do the same with my bike .carbs oil and metal rescue it solved all that. oand ur gonna need to clean the airbox out and probably change the airfilter.good luck i hope this helped

[captain.willard]

Thanks that does give me hope that I won't need replacement carbs or in depth carb rebuilds. Im not extremely worried about the rust in the tank at type moment. If I keep it full of gas it wont rust further. Surprisingly the air filter is not even bad. Oil is still sticky. I think it has been garaged most of the time. As soon as I get money for carb kits and a float guage I will tear into them.

[JIB]

Welcome to KR

[Yhearfear]

Honestly if u just get two big cans of carb cleaner and take each carb apart one at a time u really wont have to buy anything to fix the carbs but if there is rust in ur gas tank to where when its empty if u can shake it and hear the rust thats bad if u look into the gastank with a light and see rust ur deffinetly gonna want to use the metal rescue if u leave the rust in the tank its gonna clog ur carbs again and cause u more of a headache

[DarkFury]

Welcome to KR
Download Carbs 101 follow it and when u think the carbs are clean clean them again.

[captain.willard]

Thank you for the replies. I rinsed the tank out and then oiled the inside for now and painted the outside and Im in the process of cleaning the carbs while Im waiting for seals. Yeah every jet was clogged and the needles are covered in goo. So hopefully it will run now and not fill any cylinders. I just discovered the float assembly is completely plastic on these except the valve. Does this mean its not adjustable or rebuildable?

[92xjunker]

All kat floats are plastic, the metal tang can be manipulated. If you don't take care of the rust now, you will be doing it all over again very soon after you get it running and fuel filters are not recommended on the pre katana. Vapo-rust works great and is available at most auto parts stores, you'll need a minimum of 4 small bottles or 1 large one, the more you fill the tank with it the better and faster the work. Vinegar works also, just takes longer. Electrolysis works also but, could be pricy if you don't have a proper power supply, if read some using a car battery. I don't recommend using a car battery, if it direct shorts, the results won't be good.

[captain.willard]

I researched some and I might fill it full of vinegar cuz I cant justify 5 gallons of that other stuff. I threw the carbs back on a half hour ago and filled the lines with 2 stroke gas cuz its what I had haha. .....it runs tho!!!! Just not very good..... It won't run at all with the choke off. I think the valves are probably pretty carboned up cuz the more i rev the better it gets. I am a little concerned tho cuz I have 2 hot pipes 1 warm pipe and one that was ice cold for the first couple minutes but finally got slightly warm. Will carbs 101 help me here? And also do i need to start a different thread for this info elsewhere? Thank you for your time

[92xjunker]

You don't need 5 gallons, 2 bottles would work, you just need to roll the tank around. That is either the carbs are still dirty and/or you need to sync the carbs.

[captain.willard]

Changed my mind I am definitely going to try that evapo rust stuff! Reviews are all good! And the carbs could still be dirty cuz I just pulled the jets and the needle and cleaned all the holes I could find. Do I need to pull the emulsion tube? Also would the petcock vacuum line being left open cause a cold hole? I forgot to plug it

[92xjunker]

Umm it will for what ever carb that line is connected to. Did you follow carbs 101? It should be noted that carbs 101 is flawed, you need to disassemble the carb to bare body and soak them in carb dip, like Berryman's carb dip or Gunk carb dip. Canned cleaner doesn't work well.

[captain.willard]

I will try plugging it next time haha silly mistake. And no i didn't read it until after I cleaned them but I've usually had good luck with cleaning jets and such so I figured I would try. If it still runs terrible I will invest in some carb dip. Is it common for the starter bendix to hang up on whatever sort of flywheel or ring gear it turns in there? I think I might have that problem

[92xjunker]

Solenoid (starter relay)? No. There have been some with starter to starter gear clutch problems, easily cleared by retorqueing the starter clutch nut.

[captain.willard]

The starter has a clutch on this bike? Or it drives a gear on the clutch? I think the gear is stuck in the kicked out position cuz Im getting some whining noise while it is running. Would retorqueing this nut fix that? Or maybe just a little grease on the gear or the shaft?