Tri Z replacement carb needed

[IneedAnATV]

I recently traded a van I had for a 1985 Tri Z. It had started when I first got it, ( took some time, I must admit ) and was told by the owner that the carb needed a rebuild. He had prior problems with said carb. I tried kick starting it for well over 20 minutes, and nothing. Is this a common problem for the Z? I am new to this as I haven't touched one of these since I was a young teen, (31 now) but instead of wasting time , I would rather get an opinion from someone who knows something about this. I had just ordered a manual, so til I get that, I will be askin alot of questions. If it is the carb, can I buy a direct replacement, perhaps bigger/better? Any of you Tri Z owners swap out the old one? What worked for you? I will be pulling the plug later, and looking at the fuel lines etc, to see if anything is wrong. Trying to get some tips, before I start getting into it. Thanks for any help in advance ;)

[x.system]

looks like a nice bike. I would check the plug first, its probably fouled by now if you have been kicking it over that long. Buy a couple replacement plugs because you will more than likely foul another one before you get it running. I would take the carb off and clean it, check what size jets are in it, where the clip in the needle is set at. Check the float, look for holes in it. These carbs are not that dificult to work with, more than likely you can rebuild the one you have. I would also check the air cleaner, clean it if it needs it. Get a new plug and check for spark. Another thought, replace the gas, you never know it could be old stale gas. If its the stock motor stick with the stock carb at least until you get it running real good.

come back with what you have found and I'm sure some tri-z guys will be able to help you more with your carb setup.

I recently had the same problem with a bike I just picked up. It ran but it was running so rich it would lug the motor. I cleaned the air filter, drained the gas, new plug, cleaned the carb and raised the clip on the needle one notch to lean it out, it runs alot better now but I still need to jet it right for this cold weather.

[03 ORANGE SHEE]

i bet the (diafram)fuel pump went bad,i made new gasket material out of 'OAKLEY' google tear offs, and i have blown a gasket in about a year,it 's the part where you turn the gas to reserve,has like 6phillips screws!

[wolfspider]

my first tip would be a brand new plug,secondly take off the pipe that goes to the second fuel tap,then kick the bike over repeatedly to make sure fuel is being pumped by the fuel pump, if yes reattach, take plug out and lay on cylinder still attached to plug cap and coil and kick again to check 4 spark.
if both of these are ok clean your air filter and your carb jets(compressed air for jets) and good luck. :-D

[TRI-Zbrian]

also do a compression test on it it might be getting low and not wanting to start any more and yes you can put another carb on it stock they coem with 32mm carbs i have a 38mm TMX flat side carb on mine and love it you looz a bit of low end by going to a bigger carb put you get a much harder hit in top end wich is fine with me because i dont put put around on mine i usualy ride in sand pits ware you need high RPM power to get up the huge hills just as long as you keep it on the pipe you are golden. :twisted:

[Tri-Z Pilot]

Yeah, I would check with the fuel pump as wolfspider said, mine wouldnt start, (I had a brand new carb on), and I couldnt figure it out. Well, I put some fuel into the floatbowl, (rigged a lines to a 2-liter soda bottle), put the fuel line back on, two kicks later, weeeeeeen, da da, weeeen. I think my fuel pump isnt giving it enough fuel when I kick it, but as soon as the engine starts pumping it into the carb, it is good to go. Another thing to check would be your float valve, make sure it isnt sticking closed. As for a replacement carb, I bought a 32mm roundslide mikuni out of denniskirk catalog, and I just changed the main jet, the pilot jet, a 2.5 cutaway valve, and a 1.5 needle valve. It seems to be working good, but havent given it a test run yet, but as tri-z brian said, you can go with a 34mm, or 36mm, or 38mm, or I have even heard of 40mm carbs being used. If you like to lug the bike around sometimes, I would stick with a smaller carb, so you dont loose too much bottom end.

[IneedAnATV]

Well I have decided to perhaps just keep the stock carb for now. I am looking all over for a rebuild kit, and no luck. I have tried www.denniskirk.com and nothing. By Monday or Tuesday I should be getting the K&N I ordered, and the Boyesen Reeds. I figured I would do everything at the same time so to speak. I would like to get a carb kit as well, to kind of keep all problems at bay. If someone can get me a link to a site that has one, that would be great. That way, I would feel a bit better. Thanks for all the help so far everyone , and today I got the Haynes Yamaha manual, so that does help as well.

[TRI-Zbrian]

www.bikebandit.com you can get all the OEM parts on the bike all the way down to washers and nuts right from yamaha it a very good sight but most major engine parts are discontinued but all the little stuff is still there you will have to buy the parts peice by piece but they are there

[droopie31]

LOL i had the same problem.....finally figured sumthin out Tri Z pilot i did the same thing and do it quite a bit....If i run outa gas i automatically put gas directly into the carb then get it started turn it off then i hook the line up and it runs good.....the fuel pump just has to get goin...



Good luck to ya

[TRI-Zbrian]

!!WARNING!! you guys with feul pumps not working the way they should you better be careful because some times when they get worn out they will suck air and create a lean condition in the engine and blow the engine because its sucking air bubbles in with the gas and leans the feul/air mixtures out. i have seen this happen before i think its the reason my last Z was at 80 over lol just wach out for that ive got a feul pump rebuild kit im throwing in mine just for the hell of it so this doesnt happen to me

[smokinp]

Looks like a nice Z 8)

[Tri-Z Pilot]

Where did you get the rebuild kit for the fuel pump? Bikebandit?

[TRI-Zbrian]

no it came with the bike when i bought it off the guy he didnt ned it any more so he was like oh here take this i have no use for it .
why are they hard to find or something??? lol it still has the price tag on it it says 12.99 the package looks realy old too like it was bought back in the 80s lol but the parts are all in a plastic bag so they are still good

[Tri-Z Pilot]

I'll have to check my yammy dealer, the fuel pump is still made, so I can probably get a rebuild kit pretty cheap.

[TRI-Zbrian]

yeha they prolly still do make them

[IneedAnATV]

Ok, here goes. I did the following, and to no avail. I put new gas/oil in, checked to see if the fuel pump was working as per this post, and it is. I changed the spark plug as the other one was black, and covered in gas. I tried feeding gas directly into the carb, nothing at all. Lastly, I cleaned the carb, and still no luck. Am I missing something here? This Z wont start at all. Perhaps I overlooked something? Any help at all would be great. Thanks!

[J.D.]

Have you made sure it's sparking when you kick it over?

If you want I have a stock Tri-Z carb I'd sell ya if needed. But first let's run through some stuff and make sure it's not carb/fuel related.

[Tri-Z Pilot]

Yeah, there could be something wrong with the electrical system, better check that out before you get all gung-ho about another carb.

[IneedAnATV]

I was told when I git the Z to clean/rebuild/replace the carb. Seems like someone told me a lil white lie. What part of the electrical do you think?

[J.D.]

Too hard to tell. First, take out the spark plug, ground it, and operate the kickstarter as fast as you can by hand. If it's sparking, you should be good to go. NExt step will be a compression test.

[Tri-Z Pilot]

Yeah, could be compression, but if it is electrical you should check the cdi box, stator coil, spark plug coil, and possibly the woodruff key on the crankshaft armiture behind your stator cover.