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coolzzy

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Hey guys, just picked up a gently used 02 FZ1 with 7800 miles on it. Apart from needing new tires (i believe the BT20 on the front is original), i'm having an idle problem. When I picked it up to ride home, I had to have the choke half on to ride it home just to stop it from dying at every stop light, and even then i had to feather the throttle. So after getting it home and having a closer look i see the idle adjuster screw. But no matter what I do to it, the throttle will hang at 2000-2500 RPM, and if i let out the clutch a bit and then back in, the idle drops to 900-1000RPM and stays till i blip the throttle again. This is mildly annoying when shifting through the gears as it hangs at 3500RPM when rolling so it doesn't engine brake like it should.

So my question is is this just a hanging slide? I put some carb cleaner in the bike because it supposedly still has a tankfull of winterized gas and i'm hoping it will sort itself out. But I'm not sure where to set the idle screw or why it makes no difference when I turn it. I know its connected because I can feel it moving and hear a very slight increase or decrease throttle. A blip on the throttle though will send it soaring and then hang at 3k or 2kRPM until I put out the clutch a bit to return to "normal" idle. It sounds so soft, I can't tell if its running all cylinders at idle, but then I'm used to my FZR which was hella loud all the time.

The bike runs down the road like a rocket though from 2500RPM on up to red though and pulls hard, SO its just an idle adjustment and maybe a hanging slider? I don't want to tear into it if I don't have to but just wanted a second or third opinion. Sorry for the long post, let me know what you think!
 
lots of things it could be... stuck slide, bent rod on the choke assembly, bent rod on the idle adjustment... wayy too lean of a condition.... and god knows how many other things... one thing for sure... you need to pull the carbs to check and clean... check the air-box while you're in there... make sure there's no mouse nest... or anything like that...
 
Hi Cool, welcome to the group. Just the fact that its an 02' and only has 7800 miles on it, tells me that it has done a lot of sitting around. It doesn't matter how much you treat the gas in the tank. If the float bowls werent emptied, then theres a good chance that the carbs are dirty. It's not a big job to remove and clean the carbs. I will pass along a link for you to read. It's Pat's Motorcycle Page and has a wealth of info on the FZ. I have found it to be an excellent source of information. Pat's Motorcycle Page
Let us know how it goes. Also, you may want to try some Seafoam in the tank with some new gas. The Seafoam is great and does wonders for the carbs. At times if you get lucky, it's all you'll need. If not, spend one day and 2 or 3 hours and get it done. When the bike is running perfect you'll thank yourself for doing it. Welcome again. Pass along some pics when you get a chance. Billy.
 
Thanks, I'll check out that thread. I nearly bought an 06 FZ6 for the same price as the FZ1 just for the fuel injection. But in the end the raw power of the FZ1 won me over even if it left dreams of fuel injection in fairytale land for me. Does anyone else on here have trouble with the plastics on the nose rattling at lower RPMs? Its annoying and I can't pinpoint it, just wondering how common that is...

Attached are some pics, the bar-end mirrors are going away tomorrow. They look sweet, but I need function over form on a motorcycle, and i'll probably ditch the cat-eye blinkers in favor of the stock ones too.
 
Very nice Izzy. Looking good brother. I like the eliminator kit. I also kept the stock turn signals on my 01'. Everyone over here wants me to get the cats eyes but I like the stock signals. My friend insists that his cats eyes are brighter than my stocks but I am the one seeing his from behind in action and they definitely are Not brighter. Maybe he just bought an inexpensive brand or something as I have heard that some kits are really bright. Let us know what you find with the carb situation. Billy.
 
Looks, and I say this :nerd: b/c I may need glasses, like you have a double bubble windscreen. If you have the tabs that come back behind fairing, chances are you are hearing the contact from the screen hitting the fairing insert(s).

Welcome to the forum!

BroHay
 
It has already been mentioned that the bike has very few miles for it's age so it has spent much more time sitting than running and I'll bet a high percentage of those were in the most recent years. You can try "in service" cleaners like fuel injector cleaners that you just add to the fuel tank, but if those carbs have varnished up due to old gas sitting in them for extended periods the only way you will really get them cleaned is to tear them apart, totally clean them, and put them back together with new gaskets/O-rings. I've seen guys fart around for months believing their carbs will eventually clean out, only to end up doing a tear down to get the right.
 
you made the right choice in my opinion. I'd take a carb'ed bike over a Fuel Injected bike any day.... put a pipe on a FI bike, and you're looking at a $300 Power Commander and a bit of dyno time to get everything tuned right. On a carbed bike... well... I could tell you how to rejet your FZ1 for all of about $30.
 
va_rider said:
you made the right choice in my opinion. I'd take a carb'ed bike over a Fuel Injected bike any day.... put a pipe on a FI bike, and you're looking at a $300 Power Commander and a bit of dyno time to get everything tuned right. On a carbed bike... well... I could tell you how to rejet your FZ1 for all of about $30.
Click to expand...


My thoughts exactly.
 
Well I'm back to report. I poured a half bottle of carb cleaner in the tank and filled up yesterday. I've driven about 20 miles and it already is not hanging as long and idles better too. Tonight I removed the bar-end mirrors and reinstalled the stock bug antennea mirrors, LOVE them! They may look goofy but the view is great from behind the bars. The bar-end mirrors are supposedly high end, I think they came with custom bar-ends but I just removed the mirror part for now (they are really nice collapsible convex units that the previous owner spent some coin on, I just don't like the view). I also removed the front cat-eye blinkers and replaced with the originals with their integrated running lights. The rears are a mess of wire nuts and the actual original housings have been dissasembled to the smallest possible parts, that'll wait till another day.

The windscreen is a "SpeedScreen" I believe it says on its decal. I tried to re-position the plastics and tighten them down but its only marginally better, you hear nothing when cruising, just at idle when you blip the throttle. I let my neighbor take a spin around the block (we switched bikes so I could still keep an eye on it) and he got off telling his wife he now NEEDS to get one. He was coming from a Suzuki Maruader and there is just no comparison, it was pretty gutless in comparison, though its Vance&Hines exhaust sure sounded sweet. Whats up with the "silenced" stock exhaust on these things? I can hardly tell its running at a stop, I constantly am looking at the tach to make sure it hadn't died.

Anyhow, its late and I've typed up quite alot too much, enjoy the holiday weekend and please RIDE SAFE and wear a HELMET, too many squids out there in shorts, sandals, and sunglasses for my tastes.
 
Preachin' to the choir about gear and such.....just love the riders cruising around in their protective bubble smokin' cigars.

Click here for a stock mirror mod that will improve your rear viewing experience IMHO.

BroHay
 
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