Kawasaki 550Ltd stutter

[xssiveone]

1984 Kawasaki 550Ltd and it has a pronounced spitting from the left exhaust (spit, stutter, miss?) It's not a backfire, and it doesn't seem to hinder the performance at speed. (Finally, first ride of the season!!! )

Brief history:
20,000KM (12,000 miles?)
New:
float valves
bowl gaskets
plugs
tank etched and coated

fresh carb sync

Carbs were just cleaned (full of rust particles) and ran great last year, outside of the rust in the carbs. Any ideas as to what is causing the spitting?

[cbird]

It could need new points and condensor if it isn't electronic ignition. Cycle-Recycle II is where I get them for old Yamaha.

[xssiveone]

Thaks David, but it is electronic, not points. It "seems" to have cleared itself up, for the moment at least. I put about 250 miles on it yesterday and it is running great now. Plugs are a nice gray colour so it looks like I might have got the carbs dialed in as well.

[schpiff]

shhh....dont let any one hear this..nice little bike you got kinda fun to pound around the block. Sounds like it "cured itself

[Geezer]

You may have burned out some bad gas or cleared out a little crud. It often helps to run some fresh fuel through an engine that has been sitting.

Geezer

Originally posted by xssiveone
Thaks David, but it is electronic, not points. It "seems" to have cleared itself up, for the moment at least. I put about 250 miles on it yesterday and it is running great now. Plugs are a nice gray colour so it looks like I might have got the carbs dialed in as well.

[xssiveone]

Originally posted by Geezer
You may have burned out some bad gas or cleared out a little crud. It often helps to run some fresh fuel through an engine that has been sitting.

You may be right Tony. The spitting is gone, and it starts pretty easy so think you may be right about the crud. Not bad gas tho as the tank was just washed and coated. I still don't think it's running as good as it could, so am going to re-visist the sync gauges again when time permits. It's got lots of power, no flat spots or hesitation at all, right up to about 90mph and still climbing... (Yes, I DID chicken out at that point) It's just when it's sitting at an idle it seems to "roll" a little bit instead of being steady and smooth. No RPM fluctuation that I can see, just something I can hear.

[Geezer]

It wouldn't hurt to check the air filter while you're in there. The old KZs had a long snorkel on the air box intake. I used to cut them off on my KZs and they sure ran better but they also had more intake roar.

Geezer