Progressive fork and shock review

[Guest]

New 1996 zl600 owner here!!! cant keep it running...

Hi all!

I bought a 1996 ZL600 last week and it has been stored for many years. It was yellow with purple flames on it (yuck!!)...Didn't care for the color but I couldnt pass this bike up the right side of the bike looked brand new!

Believe it or not...this bike had less than 800 miles on it. The previous owner had dropped it off the trailer and it crunched the left side of the tank...broke the headlight and signals....scraped up the left side of the exhaust...and bent the handlebars a little.

well.. I'm used to sportbikes and building cafe racers out of 70's and early 80's bikes...this is my first semi-cruiser type bike. so I'm excited to be working on this one!

I've already painted it solid black base and several layers of clear....fixed the tank....fixed the bars..put a new light and turn signals.....its almost ready to go! I'll post some before and after pics later today.

Well enough with the intro.....heres the problem.....with the bike sitting for so long...I knew that it needed to go thru the carbs so I pulled them out...took theem apart and gave them a thorough cleaning. I put them back in along with a new battery...pulled the choke....and vroom, it started right up! I was very excited to hear how smooth it idled.....but as soon as I pushed the choke back in it dies immediately....I have done some searches here on this problem and went thru the carbs 3 more times and still...the same result!

The intake boots (carb holders) look brand new and are as pliable as new ones as well...I did the wd40 test on the carb boots and it passed..

Did I mention what a PITA it is to get the carbs back on???? (4 times)

Sorry for the long post...

If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it!!

Thanks!

 

[ARCHIVE_kawasaki-krazy]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I know this sounds kinda basic but I take it you have checked the idle speed, turn the screw fully in and then work backwards to see if it will 'idle' at a higher revs without the choke, and that the mixture is right. For standard carbs the concensus is 2 and 1/4 turns out on the mixture screw.
Also, is it a standard air filter and what condition is it in? (mind you it must be standard if you were struggling to get the carbs back in. )

KK

 

[Guest]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I know this sounds kinda basic but I take it you have checked the idle speed, turn the screw fully in and then work backwards to see if it will 'idle' at a higher revs without the choke, and that the mixture is right. For standard carbs the concensus is 2 and 1/4 turns out on the mixture screw.
Also, is it a standard air filter and what condition is it in? (mind you it must be standard if you were struggling to get the carbs back in. )

KK

Thanks for the quick reply...

Already did the idle screw...

I didnt touch the mix screws because the last owner stored it 1 year after he bought it....so I assume they are at the factory setting

and I am running the stock airfilter (foam)....which I have cleaned and oiled

 

[ARCHIVE_vin]

Welcome aboard !
I think you have come across the 2 main bones of contention with Eliminators -
1) Carbs and settings etc
2) Inlet rubbers and repacing the carb rack
I know this may be a bit simple, but did you flush the tank out completely and replace the petrol with fresh gas ?
You could keep pulling crap theough to the carbs every time you start her up !
An in-line filter would also be a good move.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the replies....but I FIXED it!! Turned out the my vac line to my petcock and my fuel line were getting pinched by the tank....duh!!!

I'll start a new thread with some pics.

Thanks again to all that replied!

 

[ARCHIVE_vin]

Glad to hear you've sorted it out
Even better that it was something simple
Better yet, it didn't cost you anything
Best of all - you've joined this forum and found a lot of like minded (and very nice) people

 

[lowlife]

Put the fronts in about 2 months or so ago. Put the rears on 2day. Also lowered the front by 1 11/16".

Went for a 100 miler today on the twisty back roads of SE Mn, went to look at all the flood damage of the last few days. ( I earned the right as I have 50 hours overtime cleaning my town)

First thing that I noticed was how firm the ride was with the new rears. I figured since they were laid down more they may be softer. initially I set them on the 2nd softest setting, after 7 miles I set them down to thet lowest setting. I weigh 220#. They may soften a bit after break in. The handling was noticably better, it was a little more responsive in the corners and quicker responding when i screw around at speed weaving i and out of yellow dashed lines. (It would lay down quicker with counter steering) I am unable to say whether it was due to the lowering of the front or the rear shocks as I changed both things at the same time. The next thing I will be changing is the amount of air in the front. I may lower the air as I have always set my race vehicles up soft. Soft and smooth go together. Harder will plant better though in the corner entrance. Personal taste. :stir: I will also screw with oil volume as well to find the best for me. The handling of the ZL9 is in my opinion lazy, but I knew that going into the game and chose to play anyway, (style, grace, and brute force). I may also be having a brake hanging up on me too when I turn sharp.

Couple of small gripes, My kickstand now is almost too long as the bike stands far more verticle when resting on the stand, when coming to a stop I need to reprogram my brain that it is shorter to the ground.

I feel it was worth the cost of admission for no other reason than the look changed radically. Rears 212.00 delivered (ebay) Front progressive 45.00 (ebay). Roughly 1.5 hours to do the total package.

 

[lowlife]

Should probably add that the biggest bang for the buck was the front springs as They seemed to make the biggest improvement in ride and SOME in handling though I don't push the limits in teh corners anymore. i was able to reduce the pressure which helped the initial 1/4 of travel or so.

I also will probably playing with fork height too. I will try reducing the drop in front by 1/4' or so to start with. My gauges are rubbing and I had to use splicing tape to use as a buffer. though this stopped my tach from bounceing it started making my speedo bounce. If this proves to cause a handling issue I will build spacers for the gauges. Though I suspect that 1/4" will have little if any noticable affect.

 

[wuputt]

How bout posting a couple pics Lowlife! B4 and after would be nice!!!

 

[lowlife]

Will try to I am very computer challenged, need to take one first. i will try to pose it in the same position.

 

[zl900_moab]

Well, now that you know, it should be easy to do mine, I lowered mine in the front 1 1/2 inches by sliding it up in the triples, and I wanna lower the rear as well, 2 inches if I can, I will prolly make a set of struts for the rears this winter too so if I wanna go out on the town and really raise hell, I can.
moab...

 

[lowlife]

I suspect you can raise hell without the struts. things r settling down a little here. Put in 90 hours last week and a little better this week. So far just 11 hours 2day

 

[zl900_moab]

Keep me updated on your status...I am going up to the Cities this weekend, but free on weekends upcoming.
moab...

 

[lowlife]

here r some afters i don't have any b4's but you guys know what they look like. Also got Cree a 250 ninja. Sweet little bike.