1992 Kawasaki ZX-7R Fixin'er Up
A bit tricky to put one on there but not impossible. You have to make some spacers and compensate for the difference in the diameter of the swingarm bolt. ZX7 is 25mm and the ZX10 is 20mm. There is a guy in So Cal that has done it several times. You can find one of his bikes on CL. Ping him, he had some spares at one time.
It's been a long, hard road fixin up this Kawi ZX-7R. After hearing this thing run for the first time I went out with some friends and had some drinks. It was a big deal to get this bike running! Now I just need to tune the carbs some more and then move on to fixing the hydraulic clutch and brakes. 
I can actually see this bike driving down the road in my mind now. Feels a lot better to know it RUNS.
I can actually see this bike driving down the road in my mind now. Feels a lot better to know it RUNS.
Last edited by Smithers on Sun Dec 05, 2010 9:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
A quick suggestion. Not a good idea to twist the throttle on flatslides without it running. They have accelerator pumps and will dump raw fuel down the cylinders. Issues with fouled plugs and worse, washed out cylinders can happen. At least you started right away, but you should check your plugs to see if they are fouled. I love my flatslides, but they are temperamental.
Oh yeah I was opening them up to prime the cylinders 
. It starts up and idles ok but the moment I open the throttle up it wants to die. Kinda like a vacuum leak. But it's probably the needles need to be raised? I have to do some more research on this. Any suggestions? I'll get a better video showing it. You can see it at the end of this video.. and you can also hear the engine rpms increase without me even touching the bike.
. It starts up and idles ok but the moment I open the throttle up it wants to die. Kinda like a vacuum leak. But it's probably the needles need to be raised? I have to do some more research on this. Any suggestions? I'll get a better video showing it. You can see it at the end of this video.. and you can also hear the engine rpms increase without me even touching the bike. The reving is just the enrichment circuit (choke) catching up as the bike warms up. I saw that you had to pull the cable back to get it back down. Normal. I would swap the plugs just in case and put on the airbox. The airbox is needed to provide the proper backpressure it sees normally. Makes it run lean without like you are seeing. Not a guarantee, but worth a shot. What color are the plugs?
I can tell you flatslides eat plugs best to keep a set around to test. I have so many sets of flatslides I am getting a spark plug cleaner (blaster for plugs). Too damn expensive to replace just because of fouling.
I can tell you flatslides eat plugs best to keep a set around to test. I have so many sets of flatslides I am getting a spark plug cleaner (blaster for plugs). Too damn expensive to replace just because of fouling.
The plugs were dark but didn't seem fouled. I used them to check spark on every cylinder and they worked great. I'll have to mess around more with this bike over the weekend. I'm thinking there might be some unpure fuel trapped in them from the fuel tank that I didn't flush out. Carbs were super clean but I didn't fully flush the tank and it was really bad fuel. I eventually ran the fuel pump with the jumper wires to make sure the fuel was clear but I had already pumped some of the not-so-pure fuel into the carbs. Shame on me. 
Dark plugs are rich, and still may be fouled. I pulled a set that were so bad I could not start the bike, but I could still see spark when testing coils. Swap them anyway. If not the issue you can keep the others for when you will need them.
If you need to wrap the throttles to start it you need to adjust the idle mixture screws. I realize the choke circuit in flatslides suck, but you should not have to do it even when cold.
If you need to wrap the throttles to start it you need to adjust the idle mixture screws. I realize the choke circuit in flatslides suck, but you should not have to do it even when cold.
Ok I put new plugs in the bike just to be safe. It runs the exact same and when I put the airbox back on it got a lot better. It just doesn't have much throttle response at all and the rpms go up and down when you use the choke but nothing is very consistent at all. These carbs need to be tuned by someone with some experience so unless some magic book falls into my hands about how to tune these things I'm going to be looking for someone to take it to in order to make it run nice and smooth.
Also this bike is owned by a friend so I'm not going to be dumping any money into it myself. So we'll see if he wants to continue on with this project. I would rather get started on my own 1994 ZX-7R that I have waiting for me to pick up.
Also this bike is owned by a friend so I'm not going to be dumping any money into it myself. So we'll see if he wants to continue on with this project. I would rather get started on my own 1994 ZX-7R that I have waiting for me to pick up.
But if anyone is interested in giving some advice:
The bike starts great but when you give it throttle it wants to die - but sometimes while playing with the choke you can use that to help the rpms come up and it will rev to like 5 grand maybe but it will cut out if you give it more throttle. And the response is horrible. It won't idle without the choke and if you adjust the idle screw it will want to die just like if you turned the throttle.
The bike starts great but when you give it throttle it wants to die - but sometimes while playing with the choke you can use that to help the rpms come up and it will rev to like 5 grand maybe but it will cut out if you give it more throttle. And the response is horrible. It won't idle without the choke and if you adjust the idle screw it will want to die just like if you turned the throttle.