I'm sorry to admit but I've never changed the jets in the "Green Machine"(86 Kawasaki Tecate) or even given them a second thought in fact. I have some mild porting done and a DG pipe and silencer. I believe the carb is stock. I took it out a few weekends back after my two year rebuild project and it ran great for a while then started to bog out occasionally. After I realized what was going on I decided to "adjust" the carb using the little screw on the side and now it idles so fast that I can't even run it at all. The electrics are all new and everything else is fresh so I'm assuming that two years of inactivity has gummed up the works in the carb(the only part, stupidly, that I didn't check out). Anybody know anything about jetting that can give me a place to start jetsize wise based on the mods I have done...Thanks in advance....Todd

First, turn your idle back down... :wink: Second, take your carb apart and clean it, then worry about jetting. With the porting and a DG, you should only have up a size or 3 at most.

bigger or smaller? the cylinder is ported too though so would that change it too? what about the needle valve hoohaa thingerbob? :?

Bigger, and the needle I would put in the middle to start.

ahhhh, I guess that makes sense. you increase the breathing capabilities of the motor so therefore it needs more fuel..and start with the needle in the center clip? now when I remove said carb how do I figure out what size the jets are? and do you have to increase all the jets or just the main one?

Right, needle in the center clip. You may not need to go bigger at all. I'd do a plug check run after it was all cleaned up and go from there. You want a tan color(slightly darker is fine). If its white or real light brown, then you're to lean. Dark brown to black is to rich.

the jet sizes should be stamped on the side.

RoostKing...

Roost beat me to it. I had a link to a DIY carb set-up page. I will need to find it for you.

~A

I would start by making sure the needle clip was in the middle position. Go up two sizes on the main jet, then turn in your air screw all the way in then back out 1 1/4 turns. If the bike revs hi at idle then turn the idle knob down tell it idles the way you want it. that should be a good start for any further main jetting adjustments you may have to do. :burn:

woo hoo got the big guys involved!! thanks for all the info guys. Now if I jet it to run right in Aliso Viejo will it be pretty close for Glamis? It has something to do with elevation right? Would it be smarter to just buy the jets, clean the carb and jet in Glamis on my next trip? In a clean place of course.

I would buy the jet kit and rejet it for Glamis. The air density is different in Viejo then glamis even thou they are both close to sea level.

You guys got lucky.. I was going to say the sizes are stamped on the jet, but got involved typing the rest of it and forgot..

ok so I pulled the carb and cleaned it good but it still idles way high with no way to control it, even with the air screw all the way in....supwidat??

do you have a twist throttle or thumb and if you look through is the slide all the way down if so then you got a leak in your intake or reed cage check those gaskets and see if they are fine

I was kinda thinking it might be a leak somewhere. Never did check the slide to make sure that's all the way down but it crossed my mind at around 4:30 this morning(doh, I have to take it apart again???) I need to check the cable to make sure it isn't pulled too tight also. Thanks guys.

just start the bike and take off the air cleaner and look through to see the slide and if it is not all the way down then you have some adjustment on the cap to move it down but if it is all the way down then check the cable for binding if not then you got a leak in one of those two spots.

so before messing with checking for leaks I should make sure I don't have the cable to tight to allow closure. If I have that right then I should start messing with leaks. yes??

yep check the easy first then go for the hard stuff after it could just be that and then all you need is a new plug then check your jetting.

oh I almost forgot, when I had the carb apart, the needle was in the top notch and the guy who worked on it said that it had been running rich so I moved the needle into the center notch. Right move, yes?

yes good point to start off with then you can adjust after it idles ok

OK lastnight I started tinkering around and re-routed the throttle cable so that it doesn't bind up at all(it didn't snap back to closed throttle) so now I know that's not the prob. I need to start it up and see if that was my idle problem, I hope it was...if not that then I'm guessing the gasket between the cylinder and reeds is bad since the rubber boot is only a season or two old....also misplaced the original hose clamp deal for the boot to carb joint so I have a regular hose clamp there now so maybe it doesn't seal right..troubleshooting is soooo fun.... :?

Hey start the bike up and with a can of WD-40 spray around the intake boot. If you have an air leak the the bike will change idol speed. If no change in idol then it's something in the carb.