Odd Carb Jetting setup...or so it seems!

mowerman53 · Post by **mowerman53** » 04:40 pm Jan 11 2015

I have been tinkering with my 1989 E1 for some years now and have done a few mods and used this forum for just about everything as it is the "font of all KDX knowledge".

I race my bike in Timecard Enduro's and also in Hare & Hound Events and thoroughly enjoy the whole experience, so much so that I have now got rid of all other colour bikes in my garage!

Along the way i have picked up cheap a 1990 E2 in poor condition but it does well as a donor for spares when the E1 takes a beating when racing. So to the point of this question, having stalked these pages and the knowledge base of information I am truly confused as to my bikes current jetting. In the 5 or so years i have had it, there have been no problems or issues as far as i could tell with fuel delivery or bike response. The usual spooge (at least usual to me anyway in quantity) but having not delved into the carb and recently needing to check the float setting i thought i would dig a little deeper. This is what I have found:-

Pilot = 42
Main = 160
Airscrew = 1.5 turns out
Float = 16mm
Needle = N1EE
Position = 2nd from top

This looks a real long way from what I believe is stock of
Pilot - 48
Main - 150 or 158
Air screw - 1.5 turns
Float - 16mm +/- 1mm
Needle - 4th clip from top

So for me im thinking may be i can get even more life outta this thing, to help in my decision I am going to follow the jetting guide and do chop tests as soon as i can but want to be ready with a sensible starting point with the likley jets in my toolbox ready to change.

To help a little i am in the UK, ride in temperatures from freezing to 70F, altitudes from sea level to maybe 1500 ft.

The bike is modded with no air box lid, boyeson 607's, FMF fatty, standard end can, recent new piston/rings, KIPs fully working and generally is very reliable. The rider is fat, over forty and rides like a girl ! (competant clubman)

So what jets for the toolbox, your suggestions are appreciated

Perhaps 40, 45 and 48 pilots
Perhaps 145, 148, 150, 152, and 155 Mains

Any suggestions on the Needle too. What does the N1EE profile give me? linear response or snappy response to throttle opening ( i have a R1172N i could try)

cornishwrecker220 · Post by **cornishwrecker220** » 04:56 pm Jan 11 2015

R1172N needle should be correct for your bike...cant say ive heard of the one you are currently running ?

Your pilot 42 also sounds ok , as you have removed the air box lid you could try a 152, 155 or 158 main jet & go from there ( I would run the needle in the mid position )

What part of the south UK are you from ?

Theres a guy on ebay uk selling billet kdx 200 resonator spacers, these help with performance & are an easy bolt on part.

mowerman53 · Post by **mowerman53** » 05:27 pm Jan 11 2015

Winchester - Hampshire area.

I Ride SEEC events

I have seen the spacers on ebay, do they work then?

mowerman53 · Post by **mowerman53** » 05:29 pm Jan 11 2015

Thanks for the jetting tips, now to find somewhere i can do the chop tests and get a mortgage for a box of spark plugs!

cornishwrecker220 · Post by **cornishwrecker220** » 05:41 pm Jan 11 2015

I like Winchester ( I spent a lot of time in Colden Common back in the early 2000s, still have friends in southhampton ) I`m in Cornwall now.

Yes the resonator spacers work, when the powervalve opens it increases the volume in the resonator chamber giving a slight increase in power ...theres one on ebay now as we speak for £20 ..

When doing your jetting make sure you have fresh fuel, spark plug & a clean & oiled air filter....an aftermarket tail pipe should also help with some power gains too.

tannaj2 · Post by **tannaj2** » 08:57 pm Jan 12 2015

Well not sure what other mods you plan on doing i am still learning about carb settings but what i can say is that if you go with new reed set up like i did you have to have the orginal carb boot. for example this is what i bought http://www.ebay.com/itm/Moto-Tassinari- ... 48?vxp=mtr. I cant use that one until i find an orginal cab boot which they are not currently selling. I did find one on ebay but the rubber was cracking bad so i wont be buying that one. I bought a new carb so i cant wait to put that on and see what happens. if you are curious about what carb i bought i bought a KEIHIN PWK 35 AIR STRIKER CARBURETOR, CARB 35MM.

Post by **KDXGarage** » 01:25 am Jan 13 2015

How in the world do you have a 42 AND a 160??

6 Riders · Post by **6 Riders** » 07:21 am Jan 13 2015

tannaj2 wrote:Well not sure what other mods you plan on doing i am still learning about carb settings but what i can say is that if you go with new reed set up like i did you have to have the orginal carb boot. for example this is what i bought http://www.ebay.com/itm/Moto-Tassinari- ... 48?vxp=mtr. I cant use that one until i find an orginal cab boot which they are not currently selling. I did find one on ebay but the rubber was cracking bad so i wont be buying that one. I bought a new carb so i cant wait to put that on and see what happens. if you are curious about what carb i bought i bought a KEIHIN PWK 35 AIR STRIKER CARBURETOR, CARB 35MM.

Interesting, I have the Boiseen rad valve and it does not use the stock carb boot. I guess if you're willing to spend the money, it could be a cure for your problem.

tannaj2 · Post by **tannaj2** » 08:43 am Jan 13 2015

Well when I bought the Moto Tassinari Delta 3 Reed Valve System it showed the boot so I assumed it came with it. It wasnt until i got it I found out you have to use the original.

mowerman53 · Post by **mowerman53** » 02:19 pm Jan 14 2015

Jason wrote:How in the world do you have a 42 AND a 160??

Jason I did say that the jets we're odd.

From looming at everything else on here the carb I have been running for years is WAY OFF.

I don't have plug failures or fouling but a fair amount of spooge and frankly the throttle response has never seemed sluggish or particularly lacking in many an enduro competition !

That's why I asked for comments and help really.

Post by **Julien D** » 03:51 pm Jan 14 2015

Could it be that a PO has fattened up the main jet to compensate for an air leak or other mechanical issue?

adam728 · Post by **adam728** » 04:25 pm Jan 15 2015

Fat main and the needle dropped down to compensate? Only issue would be rich at wot, and without testing other main jets back to back most riders would be hard pressed to tell.

Some people get to weird places with jetting. My YZ 250 would normally have 45-48 pilot and 172-178 main. I bought it with a 58 pilot and 150 main. First ride out I knew something was wrong. Horribly blubberly rich at low throttle and so lean it would bog and die if you tried to go wot for more than 2-3 seconds. But actually ran ok if you stated in the middle of those circuits.

Gotanubike · Post by **Gotanubike** » 07:28 pm Jan 15 2015

150/42 is a good place to start at standard elevation I think or so I've found with my '90 E-2. At 300ft here, with factory jets 158/48, idle was difficult to find, some misfire/sputter through the middle of the powerband and producing some sooty plugs even after a hard run.

At 1500ft you would be ok dropping one more size. I would keep the pilot where it is and drop the main to a 148, 150 with airbox lid removed.

Post by **Julien D** » 11:27 am Jan 16 2015

If the bike is seemingly running well with a 160mj, there must be a reason for that. Best figure it out before dropping down that far. Whatever is leaning the bike out enough to run well with a 160 could very well bite you in the ass if you throw in a 150 and it turns out to be overly lean. Just my 2 cents....

Compression and leakdown tests would be a good start. Check for air leaks around the head/base gaskets, etc. Condition of reeds?

As for needles, Keihin CGK and DGK needles are a good match for the E series carbs.

mowerman53 · Post by **mowerman53** » 04:43 pm Jan 16 2015

Thanks for the extra thoughts and advice. I'm certain there are no leaks at gaskets and the reeds were installed by me early on in my ownership with 607's.

It may well be that PO did have issues that I am not aware of. The engine has been completely stripped and rebuilt by an ex MX GP mechanic and rebuilt with new mains rod piston rings gaskets etc and reported all well with cylinder no plating or Boring required. I put engine back in frame and she has run well for me.

Everybody mentions just how much smoke and spooge she puffs out but from posts on here I have always just thought that is to be expected. Perhaps my perception of normal from those posts is misguided.

Will run a 158 first before I rush off to a 150 or lower just for safety sake and see what the chop tests show.

Will report back on my findings once I can find somewhere to do those tests.

Gotanubike · Post by **Gotanubike** » 06:27 pm Jan 16 2015

Good luck. One more thing, you'll notice on http://www.kawasaki.com/parts that the 158 main was only used for '89 models. After that they dropped it to a 150 for the remainder of the series run('90-'94). Could be after some testing they concluded that 158 was too rich for the bike.

All the bikes are different, but if you are running a newly rebuilt motor and at nearly 2000ft of elevation... I have a 150/42 @300ft with factory slide needle, clip in middle position and probably still have room to lean out some. I did say the same thing, tried 155/45 first but settled on 150/42. Bike seems to perform better the leaner I go, but like you I'm a little reluctant to lean it out too much

mowerman53 · Post by **mowerman53** » 08:23 am Feb 14 2015

Ok guys this gets even more weird now. I have just put the carb off my 89 E1 back to back with the 90 E2 carb as i was going to use the best slide (condition) in my 89 carb. slide on the 89 is so much bigger than the 90 so i have checked the carbs for identifying marks.

The 90 carb is a PWK V564 which checks out to be stock 35mm carb.

The old 89 with what appeared to be odd jetting is a PWK V886 and i can find nothing to tell me what it is.........does at least point to the strange jetting!!!!!

Anybody out there that can tell me what a V886 carb is? bigger than 35mm.

How do i tell an airstriker from a standard PWK, i may have just got lucky and the PO paid for that??

As usual your help appreciated.

GI_JO_NATHAN · Post by **GI_JO_NATHAN** » 09:20 am Feb 14 2015

Looks like it's a 94 KX250 carb.

mowerman53 · Post by **mowerman53** » 09:43 am Feb 14 2015

So back to the drawing board.

Will the 89 E1 i have, run better with the carb it has been on for the last few years or should i go for putting on the E2 carb and continue with re-jetting process to suit my bike.

I'm out in competition next weekend so i think i will let sleeping dogs lie for that one and find a day to do a back to back carb change/test.

It does however answer the questions on strange jetting and the amount of fuel i seem to use on a 4hr timecard Enduro.

Thanks again to all for the assistance i would be nowhere without this Forum.

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