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Carb Rebuild Kits (K&L) - Are they really bad?

londonboards

londonboards

Forum Sage
Past Site Supporter
All over this forum we hear that non-oem carb parts and kits are no use. The carb rebuild kits are particularly panned.

Now that I have my shiny new K & L carbs kits I really want to know the truth:

P1050461a.jpg


I also have K & L brake pistons:

P1050469-001.jpg


As far as I can tell these packs do not contain needle valves made from chewing gum or O rings made from chocolate or other material that will immediately explode on contact with gasoline.

If anyone has used them and has specific complaints, please let me know. I doubt that in the next 20 years my refurbished bike will cover any more than 5 to 10,000 miles, so longevity should not be an issue either.

What I am interested in is stuff like:

"used a K & L gasket once and my bike immediately blew up"

or

"after 2 weeks of using it the 125 pilot jet became a 175 pilot jet"

If you can help it, try to avoid stuff like:

"I don't like them" or "they're useless"

Greetings
 
On two different occasions I struggled with bad K&L brake system parts, wasting major time in the process. Bought OEM parts and the problems were resolved immediately.

K&L carb kit parts may be better than their brake system parts, but then maybe not. I'd use them if your OE carb parts are unusable. Otherwise, I'd stay with the original Mikuni parts.
 
The K&L carb parts are ok - you seldom need them as usually your old stuff cleans up ok. Gaskets and O rings are all that's usually needed unless you break something.

The rubber boots in the K&L kits are rubbish. They swell up if you even so much as touch them and don't fit. The pistons will be ok (but I buy stainless where I can which is job done forever).
 
i dont know about the brake parts but i have used the carb gaskets and air screws and they have been fine.
 
You want specifics? I'll give you specifics...

You want specifics? I'll give you specifics...

1) The needles and seats are low-rent imitation garbage. For example, the spring-loaded "nubbin" in the center is usually quite weak and/or sticky compared to stock stuff. The seat isn't made with exactly the same contour and depth as stock. You'll never be able to set float height correctly and the needle usually won't seal against the seat correctly.

2) The float bowl gasket is OK.

3) The random assortment of o-rings won't be the correct sizes for anything, and you don't get all the o-rings you'll need.

4) The jets in the kit may or may not be marked with the sizes you need, but they are definitely not manufactured with the precision of OEM jets. What you end up with is rather random. If you install this garbage, your bike won't run right until you put the stock stuff back.

5) The air screw will fit, but isn't the same as the stock part -- compare them closely side-by side and you'll see some of the differences. It can actually work OK, though. The o-ring that comes with it (the smallest o-ring) will be the incorrect size, so you'll need to get o-rings from Robert Barr or re-use your stock ones.

6) The black rubber passage plug might be OK. Some K&L plugs I've seen just fall out, some stay in and seal OK. Flip a coin.
 
FOR SALE - 4 x GS1100G (1983) K & L Carb Kits. One careful owner. Unused in original packaging. No returns. No guarantees.
 
When I got my 850, I cleaned the carbs and installed the K&L carb kits in mine. Got them all adjusted, seemed to run Ok untill I done a plug-chop. All sections of the carbs were VERY LEAN. After a 42 mi.ride, the plugs were still white. Found the OEM jets in a zip-lock bag, cleaned and installed them, bike runs great. Plugs are a nice tan color. Here is a good example, the pilot air jet in the back of the carb is supposed to be a 170, the kit had a 180 and a 185 in it. I measured the main jets with drill bits, the K&L jets were 1 size smaller than the OEM. Just my 2cents worth.
 
When I rebuilt my carbs, 2 of my main jets were destroyed on removal and one was a completely different size than the others. Also a couple of my needle seats wouldn't come out either so they got replaced as well. I basically used nothing but the brass and bowl gaskets that came with the kits and as for o-rings i used only Robert Barr's stuff. I didnt ride the bike but around 15 miles before I tore it down for rebuild but during that time it ran a million times better. Once I get the bike back together I will do plug chops and see how it does.
 
Never had a problem with K&L brake kits, or O-rings. They were a perfect fit for the cb900, and GS750. I actually had a clogged relief-valve, and it was putting tremendous pressure on the brake components for months on end, and the rubber parts never "exploded" or leaked on me.

I did have leakage with a brand new set of float-bowl gaskets though. But that
could have been due to not tightening it down enough.

I've also had OEM gaskets leak too!

If you buy aftermarket mixture screws or anything up that alley, don't expect to back it out 2 1/2 turns like your OEM stuff, you'll probably have to tweek it a little bit.
 
I've seen needle jets with an 'offset'. The needle was offset on the base so that'll never work properly or will just catch and bend as soon as you try screwing it in.

For o-rings I use Robert also, gaskets I go OE and so far I've had good results with the brass from Z1Enterprises.
 
Paul said:
can you suggest any 38mmx 38mm stainless pistons.... the only ones I can find dont have a recess for the boot to fit into
Click to expand...

Send an email to Nick Chambers - he does them (get his details from this Ebay ad):

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Suzuki-rg...98?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item5ae8a52f4a

Having said that, if you go stainless you don't need the boots anyway. In this case they just keep the grime off the pistons making fitting new pads a bit easier rather than having to clean the crap off.
 
These are from a thread another member just posted here.

Not sure if these are K&L but they are non oem replacements.
The old dirty one is stock, has over 100,000 miles on it.
The clean shiny ones are the replacements, they have only 5,000 miles on them.

attachment.php



What parts do YOU want to rely on?
 
I've used several of tha brake kits with no issues. Never used any carb parts.
 
Thanks Richard, but I like the idea of stainless ...... I've seen that supplier before, but always wondered why they would call their company Serious Con Inc....:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
Well you could always get the old one machined down and hard chromed to the correct dimensions. Anyone who refurbs forks should be able to do it.

Greetings
 
Paul said:
Thanks Richard, but I like the idea of stainless ...... I've seen that supplier before, but always wondered why they would call their company Serious Con Inc....:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Sirius, as in the dog star, the biggest star in the constellation Canis Major and the brightest star in earths sky.

Yes, I'm serious.

Also that company, Sirius Consolidated Inc, has been stellar in service, prices and shipping every time I have used them.
 
that sound great, I might just get the blacksmith to cut in the recess with a lathe and stick with boots....it will only cost a few pounds to do
 
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