[RobBrooks]

I took my recently-aquired 01 ZR-7s to a local Kawasaki shop, as they said they could do a full inspection on it for $70. I suspected it would show the bike needed fork seals or brake seals, among a few other things, and possibly a carb cleaning & synch. The bike has run well for me since buying it, but I just wanted to be sure.
They had the bike for less than an hour, and indeed, they stated the bike needed fork seals, brake pads, air filter, etc., but most important, a carb clean & synch. They said it idled bad, sounded like it was firing on only 3 cylinders, and needed this asap- 5 hours labor, plus parts, for a total of close to $400. I was kinda suprised, since it didn't run bad at all when I brought it to them. I could not afford the work done right then, so I paid the $70, and drove home. The bike stalled in their parking lot, something that has not happened since I bought it. In fact, it ran terrible all the way home, stalling at a gas station, and took me 20 min to get going again. Everything they said was wrong, was manifesting all the way home. Yet none of it happened prior to my bringing it to them.
I called them back, leaving a v-mail message with the service manager, and followed it with a detailed email. I have not heard back from them.
Needless to say, I do not want to bring it back to this dealership. I don't know if they accidentally messed something up, or purposely tampered with something in the carbs, but the bike runs like crap now. I've changed the plugs, checked the rubber boots and hoses on all four carbs, drained the float bowls to see if there was debris or water, ran some Seafoam jet cleaner through the system, and have only seen minor improvement. I'm thinking I'll need to give it a carb cleaning then synch. I've seen the threads on synching, but looking for something on carb cleaning. Any help would be appreciated. I could also use a Kawa shop manual for it, since neither Clymer nor Haynes produced one for the bike.
Rob

 

[JonF]

Wow that sucks. Could be they disturbed something. Have you dealt with them before or know someone who has. Do they have a good rep? I'd hate to think some unscrupulous bastage sabotaged your bike.

 

[RobBrooks]

They have a pretty good rep, and I've bought parts and accessories from them before. Never had any work done by them before tho. Any suggestions on a good thread or site that can walk me through a carb cleaning?

 

[Wado750]

ZR-7 and ZR-7S Maintenance Manual Backup | jadz

Cleaning carbs is easy if your methodical and organised. I find it more difficult getting the carbs in and out. Personally I like to disassemble and clean them one at a time so I don't mix bits up. Use compressed air. If you don't have access to it get the air in a can. Don't blow compressed air with the diaphram still on. There are alot of ppl on this forum that have done this task so don't be afraid to ask questions if you get stuck. You will have to sync the carbs after cleaning and set the idle mixture screws to 2.5 turns out from fully seated. Also remember that nothing needs to be tightened up to gorilla strength.

 

[zr7_interloper]

If you're handy and have the time, here's a very good carb cleaning video from youtube.
I'm sure you'll be able to find one for synching the carbs too.
Like Wado says, probably helps to be methodical and organized
I think the clymer and haynes manuals for the Zephyr is probably usable for the zr-7

Carburettor maintenance - YouTube

 

[zr7_interloper]

In the other thread called "cold starting zr-7s", you had posted the following

http://www.riderforums.com/general-zr-7/72478-cold-starting-zr-7s.html

"I took the suggestions of "Ohio ZR", and she started right up. Took some time before I could completely back off the choke, did a little adjusting to the idle control after about 10 min on the road, and then all was well. I've always owned carbed bikes- an old Triumph as a college kid (80's), a Suzuki VS800 in the 90's, and still own a '98 Yamaha Royal Star, bought in '01. All carbed, the only one air-cooled prior to this ZR being the old Triumph. Gonna run some SeaFoam through it tomorrow, always seemed to help the other bikes. Glad to own this ZR-7s, already enjoying zipping around on it! "

You made the adjustment above after returning from the dealer...
So, what happened?! :confuse:

 

[TWOQUIDKEV]

I've just spent the last week doing some much needed maintenance on the bike (EGR Removal, Valve Shim Adjustment, Carb Strip Down and clean). There's a lot of information on the net to help, as follows:

for removal/reinstall of the carbs: Kawasaki ZR-7 - Jet Kit Installation

a could guide to the Keihin CVK32 (complete stripdown/rebuild) [quality info]: Keihin 32CVK Disassembly

I'm in the process of making word docs of these tasks so it's easier to print, I'll post them when done

 

[sh0rtlife]

ripping the carbs apart and cleaning them is pretty straight forward and simple..get a can of CRC carb clean..use lots of it..and follow up with blowing every port, hole, access point you can with 120psi of air..the trick is the carb clan will loosen stuff up the air will blast it out..rinse repeate

 

[Kwak-a-do]

Dude I know exactly what they have done... They have messed with the mixture screws!!... just follow the great advice you have got here already and I bet that the wee ZR runs great..

 

[TWOQUIDKEV]

ripping the carbs apart and cleaning them is pretty straight forward and simple..get a can of CRC carb clean..use lots of it..and follow up with blowing every port, hole, access point you can with 120psi of air..the trick is the carb clan will loosen stuff up the air will blast it out..rinse repeate

Good advice but I would also remove the pilot jets, main jets and air flow jets to clean with pin gauges or wire. Compressed air is not guaranteed to get all the ****e out.

 

[Wado750]

Good advice but I would also remove the pilot jets, main jets and air flow jets to clean with pin gauges or wire. Compressed air is not guaranteed to get all the ****e out.

Just be very, very, very, very careful or you will damage the small passages.

 

[TWOQUIDKEV]

I've just spent the last week doing some much needed maintenance on the bike (EGR Removal, Valve Shim Adjustment, Carb Strip Down and clean). There's a lot of information on the net to help, as follows:

for removal/reinstall of the carbs: Kawasaki ZR-7 - Jet Kit Installation

a could guide to the Keihin CVK32 (complete stripdown/rebuild) [quality info]: Keihin 32CVK Disassembly

I'm in the process of making word docs of these tasks so it's easier to print, I'll post them when done

Word doc is complete, from the resources here and ZR7.com I've compiled it all tegether, takes you from tank removal to carb stripdown and back again

follow here: http://db.tt/9YNX6tgJ

 

[RobBrooks]

No, that thread was prior to riding it to that dealership. Running awful now. I've checked out the YouTube vid that "zr7 interloper" posted, and I'm going to take a crack at it. Got some advice from a friend who has done it before on a Zephyr, and doesn't look too difficult. I'll post how it goes,

 

[RobBrooks]

Thanks so much, "Twoquidkev"! That is a fantastic, step-by-step instruction. Very helpful. It will be my guide, for sure.

 

[zr7_interloper]

It's also possible they "inadvertantly" messed with your mixture screws (as Kwak-a-do said).
If your bike was running fine before taking it in for the "checkup", then it might just be that.
You might want to just try adjusting the mixture screws before starting on the whole carb job

 

[RobBrooks]

There's three mixture screws, right? One for the 1-2 carbs, one for the 3-4 carbs, then one in the middle for them all, am I correct? The left side carbs, both of them, are the ones that have run rough since I got it back from the shop. Those are the ones that they said run rough, and they seem to have more blackened plugs than the right side plugs. I replaced them all with iridiums, but don't want to run the bike too much until I get this figured out, so as not to foul these new ones out. I'll start with the mixture screw for the left side carbs. Thanks Kwak and interloper,

 

[TWOQUIDKEV]

The reason I stripped my carbs down was the bike wasn't running right, just couldn't put my finger on it until I was washing the bike one day and when starting the bike up to burn off the excess water I noticed that header 2 wasn't as hot as the others

Now I'd already done the mixture screws to 2 and half turns and a carb sync earlier in the year or so I thought. Once I'd stripped the carbs off the bike I saw that carb 2's mixture screw wasn't turned out nearly half as much as the others, I put this down to it being awkward to set the mixture crews while on the bike and when adjusting I must have thought I'd turned 2 and half but in fact I must have turned it 1 turn instead.

I continued to strip down the carbs and found that the pilots on 2 and 3 were partially blocked as well as the mains and air tube, cleaned them all up adjusted the mixture screws and rebuilt, now runs like a dream, just a carb sync to do and it's all serviced up I think

Forgot to mention in the carb rebuild - once off the bike I used a full can of carb clean and a brush to get all the road grime off the exterior of the carbs and the throttle linkages etc. before I opened them up to stop dirt getting in. Then on the rebuild I greased all the choke and throttle linkages and lubed all the cables.

What a difference it's made, runs like a dream

 

[TWOQUIDKEV]

There's three mixture screws, right? One for the 1-2 carbs, one for the 3-4 carbs, then one in the middle for them all, am I correct? The left side carbs, both of them, are the ones that have run rough since I got it back from the shop. Those are the ones that they said run rough, and they seem to have more blackened plugs than the right side plugs. I replaced them all with iridiums, but don't want to run the bike too much until I get this figured out, so as not to foul these new ones out. I'll start with the mixture screw for the left side carbs. Thanks Kwak and interloper,

No bud there is a mixture screw for each carb, on the underside:

 

[welshbrummie74]

Fantastic work Kev. Ever considered writing a manual? Must have taken you a while to prepare that doc. Appreciated by many I'm sure.

 

[TWOQUIDKEV]

Fantastic work Kev. Ever considered writing a manual? Must have taken you a while to prepare that doc. Appreciated by many I'm sure.

cheers buddy, I can't take all the credit though as it's just a collection from here around the net, but it did take some time to collate everything into word lol