There have been a zillion posts about the infamous "miss / hesitation carb needle replacement" issue. Well after talking to three different local dealers, I finally got the "right" answer. Turns out that Kawasaki is fully aware of this problem but it is UP TO the dealer to get the needles and get them installed. I'm so glad that I called the dealer near me that happens to be the furthest away of the three because these guys immediately said that they had needles on the way and have already fixed a bunch under warranty.

Whew.... this guy was friendly and assured me that it would be taken care of under warranty and not to worry about it. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

So then, if any of you are still chasing this issue down rest assured that it IS a warranty item. If your dealer says not, then tell them to take a hike. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img]

FYI: The dealer name is Soper Powersports in Farmington, NY

Mike

 

why does everyone keep saying needle, isn't it the JET that needs replaced. I only ask because I am trying to get a JET sent to me, do I need a needle too? thanks

 

no its the needle that is the problem

 

oh crap, I guess I looked like a fool at the dealer's lol. I did order by part number though, 16187-0156 is what I asked for, I just called it a needle jet.

 

Has anyone tried to shim the needles

 

i havnt but i saw in another forum that someone took theirs to the dealer and had them shim it but it did not work according to this person, i'm just waiting for my dealer to get the needle he said it was backordered, i'm not too worried since it really doesnt bother me too much(the miss).

 

Mine is smooth as butter with the NFKL needle in,you'll be glad you had it done.

 

Shim the needle - oh yeah.

I am WAY away from a dealer. My local mechanic and I put a 1/32" shim in the front carb piston and it worked PERFECTLY. My carb problem seemed to be on the bad end of the spectrum, with constant backfiring and popping in the carb from about 2 hours until 10 hours, when I finally couldn't take it any more. The troubleshooting led me to believe this thread had the answer - backfiring, popping, running lean, fine at WOT. Another note - near the end of the 10 hours I was having to put on full choke just to keep it running. I wonder how strange it is for this problem to creep up over a period of hours after working fine for the first couple of break-in hours. Any thoughts here?

Several Miami area dealers were unwilling to help me get the proper needle free of charge. "Bring it in" was the mantra - I guess they want those warranty repair $$$s.

Thanks to all on this forum who alerted us to the problem and fix. While the machine was clearly running lean, we may not have fixed the problem as easily.

 

it made no difference on mine. I think my dealer lied and didn't really put it in. it still misses at low RPM.

 

I seriously doubt a dealer would put a shim in the carb - at least as a permanent fix... Doesn't make sense - they may have fibbed... On the other hand, your problem may not be the same - carbs are funny things...