New (to Me) 2000 Kawasaki W650

[Pigford]

Originally Posted by Speedo66

Pigford- What is a "Baglux", and are those stock colors? Very nice, hadn't seen that combo before.

Speedo66, the tank bag thing has actually got a label that says "BAGSTER" - think it's made by BAGALUX? Came with the bike so thought I'd try it out


Decided I didn't lke that new (old) light - so bought a Lucas replica Triumph/BSA unit & put an LED bulb in it.....










.... also fitted some mini indicators

[zwish]

Originally Posted by rider929

If it is the same rattle problem that I had it was just a matter of bending the tab in a little that hooks to the head light housing at the top. Not too much or it won't fit back together.

So you're bending this tab to grab the headlight housing tighter, correct? I'm thinking of using some electrical tape/foam tape to pad the vibrations.

[rider929]

Originally Posted by zwish

So you're bending this tab to grab the headlight housing tighter, correct? I'm thinking of using some electrical tape/foam tape to pad the vibrations.

That is correct zwish. I tried the tape method as well but it tended to not last.

[zwish]

Cool, i bent that tab up to grab the headlight housing tighter, and sure enough, worked like a charm. I don't really understand the vaseline thing though haha. Thanks for the help!

[rider929]

Originally Posted by zwish

Cool, i bent that tab up to grab the headlight housing tighter, and sure enough, worked like a charm. I don't really understand the vaseline thing though haha. Thanks for the help!

[Speedo66]

.

Originally Posted by Pigford

Speedo66, the tank bag thing has actually got a label that says "BAGSTER" - think it's made by BAGALUX? Came with the bike so thought I'd try it out


Decided I didn't lke that new (old) light - so bought a Lucas replica Triumph/BSA unit & put an LED bulb in it.....






.... also fitted some mini indicators

Nice. I did something similar to mine, really cleans the back end up, and gives it a more vintage look.

[zwish]

Another question about the startup procedure for you guys. I know the bike is supposed to idle between 800-900rpm. If I try to start the bike without choke, it will start up but the engine will idle at around 200-400 until it warms up which seems to take quite a while (around 5 to 10 min). If I use the choke, when I start it, the engine will race up to 2500-3000 rpms which seems high to leave it sitting at for any extended period of time. When I use the choke I don't ever really leave it closed for more than 20-30 seconds because I've read that it's bad to just have the bike idling so high for more than a few seconds and it sounds like the engine is really racing. The only problem is that when I open the choke back up, the engine goes right back down to 200-400 rpms. So it didn't really do much warming up.

What I've been doing is using the idle adjustment screw to bring the idle up to 800-1000rpm and then riding off after a minute or so of warming up and then adjusting the idle screw back down as I come to stop lights.

Is this common practice? Am I doing something wrong? Do you keep the choke closed for long periods of time? What do you guys do? Thanks!

[ORexpat]

The choke seems particularly sensitive, though will warm up more quickly once the airscrew is adjusted.

I don't play with the idle screw. Just fine-tune the choke until the bike is warmed up. I don't want the bike to run at 3000 rpms on a cold engine. The oil needs to warm up and lube bearings and cylinder walls before mooing to high revs.

[zwish]

Originally Posted by ORexpat

The choke seems particularly sensitive, though will warm up more quickly once the airscrew is adjusted.

I don't play with the idle screw. Just fine-tune the choke until the bike is warmed up. I don't want the bike to run at 3000 rpms on a cold engine. The oil needs to warm up and lube bearings and cylinder walls before mooing to high revs.

I've got the air screws set to 3 turns out right now. Maybe I'll bring them out another half turn or something. I've still got that nice "POP" almost every time I pull in the clutch, so I'm considering removing the air injection system as well. Just being stingy and not wanting to drop the $90 on parts from CMSNL yet.

I find that the choke is kind of an all or nothing device on this bike. Very hard to have it at half choke. I just have the feeling that I was the only person fiddling with the idle adjustment screw all the time.

[The Jerk]

Don't do that.

The idle speed adjustment should be set only when the engine is fully warmed up, nice and hot.

When I start the bike, I pull the choke out fully and start the bike, then as you said, the engine races up to 2500 rpm or so. I ease the choke in until the idle speed is around 1500 rpm or so. How far in you have to push the choke to achieve this is dependent on the outside temperature and the engine temperature. Then I let it warm up there. I've found that after a minute or so of idling along at 1500 rpm, the engine will naturally slow down a bit to around 1000 rpm without me touching the choke and will idle there (albeit roughly).

So if it's cool out I ride it like that until it warms up. You know it's starting to get warmed up when you go to pull in the clutch to stop and the engine races above 1000 rpm or so. That's when I push the choke in all the way.

Then it will idle a little low (~500 rpm or so) for a while until it fully warms up but I've never had any issues with stalling or anything at the low idle speed. Once the engine gets hot it's right back up at around 1000 rpm.

This bike with stock jetting is really lean and therefore really cold-blooded. If you install larger pilot jets to get your idle/low-speed mixture a little richer (assuming you can not achieve desired mixture with the stock pilot jets) then you will notice much improved (i.e. shorter) warm-up times and much better driveability when coming off the choke - resulting in the ability to come off the choke earlier.

Originally Posted by zwish

Another question about the startup procedure for you guys. I know the bike is supposed to idle between 800-900rpm. If I try to start the bike without choke, it will start up but the engine will idle at around 200-400 until it warms up which seems to take quite a while (around 5 to 10 min). If I use the choke, when I start it, the engine will race up to 2500-3000 rpms which seems high to leave it sitting at for any extended period of time. When I use the choke I don't ever really leave it closed for more than 20-30 seconds because I've read that it's bad to just have the bike idling so high for more than a few seconds and it sounds like the engine is really racing. The only problem is that when I open the choke back up, the engine goes right back down to 200-400 rpms. So it didn't really do much warming up.

What I've been doing is using the idle adjustment screw to bring the idle up to 800-1000rpm and then riding off after a minute or so of warming up and then adjusting the idle screw back down as I come to stop lights.

Is this common practice? Am I doing something wrong? Do you keep the choke closed for long periods of time? What do you guys do? Thanks!

[zwish]

Great! Thanks for the thorough explanation. The bike is running great now, so I don't think I'll monkey around with the jetting, but it's good to know the correct procedure. I never really had to mess around with this besides on my old '71 CB500, but I was constantly fiddling with the idle adjustment. Looks like I'll be getting much better acquainted with the choke.

[Speedo66]

+1 on fiddling with the choke. Once I modded the mixture screw and shimmed the needles, it took way less time to warm up. Originally, in the dead of winter, it took several starts just to keep it lite. The carb mods made a huge difference.

[Barnone]

Originally Posted by zwish

I I'm considering removing the air injection system as well. Just being stingy and not wanting to drop the $90 on parts
I

Stick a marble in the hose up in the front. Takes about a minute or two, cost almost nothing, and does the same thing as removing the AIS.

[Duelsporter]

Originally Posted by zwish

Great! Thanks for the thorough explanation. The bike is running great now, so I don't think I'll monkey around with the jetting, but it's good to know the correct procedure. I never really had to mess around with this besides on my old '71 CB500, but I was constantly fiddling with the idle adjustment. Looks like I'll be getting much better acquainted with the choke.

I find that if I tap lightly on the black plastic portion of the choke lever with the end of my middle finger, I can move it in very small increments toward the closed position and get the cold idle speed to around 1500 RPM. It is difficult to modulate any other way for me.

[zwish]

Originally Posted by Barnone

Stick a marble in the hose up in the front. Takes about a minute or two, cost almost nothing, and does the same thing as removing the AIS.

Woah woah! Good news! Which hose in particular? Here's the picture from The Jerk's KCA removal guide, but I put some numbers on it for explanation purposes.