Greetings,

I'm attempting to restore an 82 XJ650 Maxim. This was a rare barn find. The bike had been parked for over 10 YEARS! Only has 2700 miles. But the carbs are in sad shape. After cleaning for about a week and 3 cans of carb cleaner, I ordered a K&L rebuild kit out of Dennis Kirk. It's the standard one for the bike and I see that most other sites offer the same kit. (p/n 18-5111).

But the parts are somewhat different. The float needle & seat are not the same. When installed, I noticed the clearance on the seat is lower than the origional. The stock seat has a screen on the end which cannot be attached to the new one. When I install the new set, the float seem to open the needle OK, but it allows the float to extend up to the point where it can touch the top of the carb. The origonal does not allow that to happen. Seems odd and I'm concerned that this would allow it to flop around and get hung up. The needle hanger is different too. The origonal is U shaped where the replacement is L shaped, seems like it could slip off.

Also, there is a small round disk which I have no idea what it is for. The description on the disk is "Pilot screw blind plug" What do I do with it? Any help, advice, instructions would be much appreciated.

Best regards.

Eric Hibar
Hotwires@yahoo.com

If the original parts are not worn that bad then use them again if possible. If the rubber is shot on the float needle then you may just want to send the rebuild kits back and get OEM float needles online or at the dealer.

The pilot bind screw plug is placed over top the mixture adjustment screw. Typically you remove the original metal over the adjustment screw and then tune the carbs after a rebuild. You can then install the new bind plug over the open hole to cover the adjustment screw.