Kawasaki Z550F part 6: Tanks for the memories!

Time for John to sort out that 550F’s tank issues, we think…

- JOHN VASSALLO

So, back on with the Z500F! With the carbs on I can now tell you about balancing them.

Tank and seat off (again), I rigged up my dummy tank, propped up with a length of wood, and tied to the bike with household electrical cable: which is very handy as it flexes into any position.

This is all new stuff to me so Dave was over (again) armed with his vacuum gauges. Hoses connected and fuel turned on, I fired up the engine with the battery connected. It ticked over okay, but revving was a problem. Coughing and spluttering. With those tiny air screw caps removed, Dave set them to the factory setting of two turns out. This did make some difference. Next were the carb synch screws: we made some progress, but agreed we needed professional help.

I made a phone call to Richie Knight at RSK 2 Strokes and took it to him the following weekend. It’s always a pleasure to visit this man’s business. Richie made further adjustments, found one carb was flooding and some coil connections were corroded. It then made 52bhp on the dyno! I was really happy with that, especially as they didn’t fully rev it due to its 17-year lay-up. So it could have made more maybe. I think these engines are rated at 55-60bhp, but it’s now crisp and revving hard!

Next was to look at those rear indicators which didn’t line up. On closer inspection it looks like the left-hand fixing point had actually broken. Hence it was moved forward. I removed both and painted the stems black. I moved the right-hand indicator forward drilling the existing holes bigger, using new fixings for good looks.