QuestionHi, I have a 1994 kawasaki zx600. Awesome bike for the money I paid for it. I
just have an annoying problem with the idle speed. When I start it up cold I
have to adjust the idle speed nob until the bike is warm. If I ride it- even if its
just a few blocks- and come to a stop, the idle speed becomes a monstrous
4500 rpm. So Ill reach my hand down and turn the idle nob until it drops
back down to around 12-1500 rpm. Drive another few blocks and its the
same problem except reversed. It will want to die until I bring the idle back
up... continuing throughout my entire trip. This is a constant problem that I
can notice even while im driving sometimes- the idle speed will jump up
when I pull the clutch in to change gears. I looked around for answers to this
but couldnt quite find one that seemed like my problem. Thanks for any
help you can give me!
AnswerEmerson, you aren't going to get a lot of real detailed answers about Kawasakis from me... MrHONDA.
First of all, bikes need to be warmed up. I think you have carburetors on your bike, so there is a choke system that must be used until the engine gets up to operating temperature.
http://www.bikebandit.com/houseofmotorcycles/kawasaki-motorcycle-ninja-600r-zx60...
Looking at the illustrations, you have an enrichener system, instead of the butterfly type chokes. When you pull on the choke, the enricheners open up fuel and air ports to give the engine more fuel and speed up the idle as long as the choke is on.
If you keep fiddling with the idle speed, it will do what you are experiencing... stall when cold and race away when hot. The idle speed setting is only set once the carbs are synched and the engine is fully warmed up. Cold running is to be controlled by the choke/enrichener system only.
If the bike doesn't idle at normal speeds when it is hot then the idle circuits are plugged up or there is an air leak in the intake system somewhere.
This all assumes that you have even compression on all cylinders, the spark plugs are fresh and the plug wires/caps are in good shape.
Weak spark due to coil or igniter issues or bad spark plug caps will cause the engine to run on less than 4 cylinders, which will cause it to stall out.
Give it a good tune-up, clean the carbs, synch them, ensure that the ignition system is fully functional and that should solve the problem.
Bill MrHonda Silver
