hope anyone can help, having trouble getting a 1977 z650 to start, have changed the plugs, leads and points, the bike sound slike it wants to start but just wont run any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

did ya clean the carbs? probally old fuel. welcome to KF

 

hi, not cleaned the carbs but the plugs are getting fuel on them if that means anything?

 

whats your timing set at? if it's trying to start, look first at that, being you've got points. if it's backfiring thru the carbs, try advancing a few degrees if it's off.. thru the pipe? retard a few degrees..

i'm not sure just how much adjustability you've got, but ya.. inspect timing first.. then certainly move to fuel. inspect float height. this'll do two things.. first off.. right off the bat, if theres any water in the bowls, you'll see it and it'll be gone.. ( i suggest always draining flosts into a clear plastic container for inspection..) and then you can see ( after refilling the bowls to get the level back up) where the gas is in the carb. that'll tell ya then if you're too high or too low.. adjust from there to get within +/-3MM (i think) of the factory height.

also, inspect (if you dive into the carbs) the needle, seat, float,and everything else that does anything in there.. i've see alot of stupid things happen inside carbs.

did you just get this bike? beware of wannabe tuners sticking their grimey fingers in places they don't belong and assembling stuff wrong.

keep us posted! good luck and welcome to KF!

 

Start by checking that you've got a good spark.
If the points are clean and gapped correctly the coil might need replacing - it's possible, but unlikely, that the timing will have moved. It just might need a really fast bump start to fire it up if it's been standing for a while.

I assume that you've put new fuel in? Worth cleaning the carbs as well.

I tend not to check anything complicated until the simple things have been exhausted. Apart from carbs getting gummed up (but you're getting fuel through to the plugs) most things stay the same as when the bike was last used apart from those things that can deteriorate through standing.

Rob

 

Compression check?

gammac

 

Drain the float bowls first to make sure there isn't any water at the bottom. Add RXP to the tank to prevent water accumulation in the tank. If the bike was running fine before, it's most likely water.