Carburetor Rebuild

Two days ago Jim and I sat down with the parts we got in the carb rebuild kit. We were resolved to start getting this done. We had previously ordered the shop manual for the bike, which sadly assumes that you already have a clue as to what you are doing. That's a big old check mark next to no for us.

We sat down and looked at all the bits we'd gotten in the rebuild kit and then at the carburetor that we'd taken off the bike by fumbling through the manual. Have you ever tried to put together a jig saw puzzle with no picture. Yeah, it kind of felt a lot like that. We finally got the main bit put back together with all the new little shiny bobbles and got it all cleaned up about an hour after we started. Then came the tricky part of where the hell do the left over bits go.

Turns out those parts went onto the bike itself.

Everything is exactly as it should be now and I'm happy to say that after a bit of fiddling with it, it starts up and runs fine. That makes me really happy.

I can't help but wish that Motorcycle manuals were written by the same people that do the Ikea instructions, no such luck though.

:)

So here we go...

Normally, I would just put everything over in my devArt account, but Jim really wanted me to keep track of the restore project of my motorcycle someplace else.

Recently, I got a 1975 Kawasaki KS125 in relatively good condition for only $500. ( Woo-hoo Craig's List! ) Now it doesn't really need a whole lot of work, but since we're going for quality here and a full restore to original condition, there will be a lot of work that goes into this. This weekend for example, I'm going to be sitting down and reading the factory repair manual so that I can see what's needing to be done.

This is not a fast bike, nor is it one of those chopper styles that have garnered so much attention in the last ten years or so. This is Kawasaki's answer to the cafe racer style of bike that was so very popular in Europe. It can travel both on and off road with no issue and has a top speed of 68mph. This is obviously not something suited for freeway travel, but it is fun for around the town.

Right now the list of things that need to be fixed isn't so very long. We have already replaced the battery. The left turn signal in the back needs to be replaced, the Carb needs cleaning, the Jet and Float assembly needs replacing, the headlight needs to be replaced, and the points need to be cleaned. I'm also going to need to check the regulator, try to find the problem with the oil mix system, and repaint the bike, though I do think I know where to find the original decals that came standard on the bike.

This is going to be a lot of fun and I will be posting lots of pictures of how I'm doing things and in what order. Obvious in the title, there will also probably be other little random bits of my life including whatever recipes I make up that I want to share as I love to bake and experiment with different ingredients.