New (to Me) 2000 Kawasaki W650

So I performed the air mixture screw adjustment (3 turns out) and I really don't detect much of a difference at all. The bike still takes quite a while to get up to operating temperatures and I'm still getting a good amount of backfire/popping on deceleration. It's not performing poorly by any means, it's just not really the improvement I was looking for. I might try backing them out a tiny bit more, but I don't really want to sacrifice any fuel economy.

Also, I learned something pretty quickly this weekend. In addition to gripping the tank, the right kneepad keeps your knee at a safe distance from the Bevel Drive Cover. If you aren't careful when the pads are removed you can easily give that toasty cover a nice squeeze. It's not at all difficult to avoid, it's just something you need to be aware of.

zwish,
I am running three turns out just fine and others are at three and a half or more. That is the only mod to my engine except for the removal of the air injection system.

What other mods to the engine on your W650?

You might have a vacuum leak somewhere which is causing your engine to run lean. You might try the WD40 spray test to see if you can detect a vacuum leak.

Have you checked the balance between the two carburetors?

It shouldn't affect your fuel economy at all as the air screws only alter the mixture around idle speeds. Above idle it is the jets and needles which determine the mixture. They are pretty cold-blooded engines and there's not a great deal you can do about that; if it won't ride off with the choke still on after a minute or two (ie, while you put your hat on) then look to your plugs, main jets and needles. Check the air filter box, rubbers and filters haven't been tampered with as the factory jetting etc is set for the standard airbox setup. A bit of popping is normal for a big parallel twin on overrun but you'll get far less if you blank the air injection. If it is blanked off then you probably have an air leak in the exhaust header gaskets.

No other mods to the engine. I'll grab some starter fluid and check for a vacuum leak. Thanks for the tip!

You might run the same sorts of checks on the hoses for the air injection system too, if you still have it. Mine's there but blocked off. The hoses can deteriorate and split.

You might also want to consider shimming the needles.

Just tried to find the Cap't. Jake photo essay on doing it, but unsuccessful.

Gentlemen,

I just bought a 2000 W650 with 3500 miles. A gentlemen bought it as a collectors piece from the previous owner in 2004 and then mothballed it. He just retired and sold all of his bikes.

Before he sold the bike he had the oil changed and the pilot jets cleaned.

I drove the bike home and with the exception of a bad battery, that needs to be replaced, it ran fine... What general maintenance would you recommend doing for a bike that sat that long (lube chain, check/change break fluid, anything else?). He put 70 miles on in eight years.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated... just don't want to do somehting stupid on this awesome bike.

Thanks,

Matt

I think that's pretty much it, change the oil & filter (done already) and replace the brake fluid. Not much else to worry about on this bike. Maybe check as best you can the inside of the tank to make sure it's not rusty. Might be a good idea to put a transparent in-line fuel filter in between the petcock and carbs to catch any gunk that might get stirred up by all this new activity.

Probably needs new tires if it still has the original ones. If they are the original tires they are going on 13 years old and probably dry-rotted to hell. Get some new rubber on there and you should be good to go. Would suck to total such a pristine bike by having an old tire blow out on you. Not to mention getting injured or dead.

Keep an eye out for oil leaks, all the rubber gaskets may be a little dry/shrinky after so much time not being used.

Other than that, ride it and love it.

I appreciate the info. I agree and will work on that post haste. What a sweet bike.

You might also check out the Yahoo Group. While the posts can be, umm, entertaining, the files are a treasure trove of Dubya data. W650riders@yahoogroups.com <w650riders@yahoogroups.com>;</w650riders@yahoogroups.com>

Check the air filters haven't degraded before you run it too. You really don't want bits of them sucked into the carbs.

Thanks for the info guys. I definitely take it to heart.

Oh yeah good call. Especially the foam seals glued to the filter elements.

Finally got around to changing the tires, the new ones have been sitting in my garage for about a month. Wore the original 11 year old tires down to nothing at 6,000 miles.

The rear wheel came off relatively easy, and my friend having just bought a whole No-Mar tire changing setup, we used that. Surprising, it wasn't that easy to dismount/mount even with the changer.

The front turned out to be a problem. It requires a 12MM Allen wrench, which my friend didn't have. Neither did the other 5 places I tried, including 3 auto parts dealers, a hardware store, and a motorcycle shop. After spending an hour looking, I finally recalled a business that specialized in metric hardware, and they did have one, for the amazing price of only $3.

Still a problem, as the axle nut kept turning even after we tightened the pinch bolts in the fork legs. It required two Allen wrenches, one for each side. So I cut a 1 1/2" piece off the one I bought with a Dremel cut off wheel, stuck it in the hole, and put an adjustable wrench on it. Still took a lot of force to open it. OK, at least we had the wheel off. Back on the No-Mar, removed the old tire and tube, and put the tire half way on, and tried to get the tube in. Lot of problem getting the valve stem in, but finally did, and had to pull it through by tightening the nut on the stem. Not good, took too much pressure. Got the tire on, filled the tube, and heard the air rushing back out. FUCK!

Back to the motorcycle shop where I had bought the tubes that morning, and the woman at the counter looked at my face, and asked "pinched the front or the rear?"

I had brought the whole wheel, and had them do the change and new tube. Enough.

I hate changing tires!

I don't recall but did you look in Ws tool kit for an allen? My local Sears has metric allen bits to put on a ratchet . i bought a set but you can buy singles I am pretty sure.

You can often use on old bolt - lock a couple of nuts on the thread then put the bolt head in the allen key-hole and use that as a wrench




Done a bit more to my W - fitted a Baglux thingy that I got with the bike & yet another different set of bars (Renthal).......

.... also removed the hideously huge rear light assembly and fitted a genuine old skool rear light I got at an Autojumble - just cleaned it up & sprayed it.....







Not 100% sure I like the new (old) light, so may go for an old BSA/Triumph ally unit ? Whatever, looks much better without the "clutter" !


.

No 12MM Allen wrench in the tool kit, which is really quite sad. No Sears close.

Pigford said "You can often use on old bolt - lock a couple of nuts on the thread then put the bolt head in the allen key-hole and use that as a wrench"

That was my next step, getting a nut welded onto a 12MM bolt. There was so much torque involved, I didn't think just double nutting it would have worked.

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

So I'm going to try to tackle the headlight rattle this afternoon. I saw the writeup over at the Yahoo Group, but I was curious if any of you have given it a shot. They said that they used Vaseline, but I don't really understand how this would work. It doesn't seem like it would actually absorb any vibration or last long at all. I was thinking of using some type of foam tape, but I don't know exactly where the rattle is coming from, I just know it is persistent. Let me know if you have any tips or tricks. Thanks!

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.

Not mine. Nice 2001 W650 in Baltimore. Link was posted on W650 Yahoo group.

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/mcy/3265767820.html