I was generously gifted a Holeshot Stage 1 kit and comp1 slip-on for X-mas this year. While I greatly appreciated the gifts and was very eager to get rid of the OEM muffler, in spite of the fact that I've installed 2 Bandit Stage 1 kits (with help), I had a fair amount of apprehension about this install. The FZ1 is a more complicated bike and more difficult to work on, the carburetors had never been out, and procedures of this complexity always offer plenty of opportunities to turn a decently-running bike into salvage. I had a 4-day weekend over the New Year's holiday to do the install so I convinced myself now or never. My schedule allowed plenty of time to proceed slowly and cautiously: day 1 for carb removal, day 2 for kit install, day 3 for carb reinstall, and day 4 for the slip-on.
Prep
To prepare I read the Holeshot kit instructions, the carb removal and disassembly procedures in my Clymer manual, and the excellent carb removal and Ivan's Jet Kit installation procedures on Pat's FZ1 site. The Holeshot Stage 1 kit appears to be easier to install than Ivan's with less drilling required. While it appears less comprehensive I was mainly interested in adjusting the mixture to safely run the Holeshot slip-on, with peak performance being a secondary consideration. I didn't feel I needed the added performance or complexity of Ivan's kit.
 |
| Stage 1 kit and instructions |
Carb Removal
Even with Pat's excellent instructions this proved quite time-consuming. The FZ1 is tightly packed and doesn't allow a lot of room to work. There are a total of 6 vent hoses and 2 coolant hoses into the carburetor, as well as fuel tank vent hoses, AIS, etc. A lot to keep track of. One of the air box bolts is inconveniently behind the fuel pump, and Yamaha likes to threadlock everything. Not to mention that my FZ1 has a lot of miles and has been to the Salt Flats twice so there is corrosion to deal with.
First the easy stuff: remove seat, side panels, tank, battery, and air box covers. I got stuck early on, apparently Yamaha used red threadlock on the 3 screws retaining each air box cover. Why??? The air box covers were nearly impossible to remove and I stripped one of the screws trying to get it out. Note to self, use impact screwdriver next time. Fortunately I had long ago been gifted a Desmoparts stainless steel fastener kit which had replacement air box cover bolts I never installed. Saved a trip to the hardware store.
 |
| Tank, battery, and side panels removed |
 |
| Top hoses removed |
Next up, loosen air box and move it as far back as possible. There are 3 bolts total, one on top and one on either side, plus the 4 clamps that hold it to the carburetor.
 |
| Fuel pump, air box with side cover removed |
Next, the coolant hoses, one on each side. The manual says to drain the coolant, but Pat's procedure said the hoses could be blocked instead. I clamped them with binder clips before pulling them off the brass carburetor fittings.
 |
| Right side coolant hose, binder clamp |
Next, two lower vent hoses on the left side of the bike. I carefully marked one of the hoses and its fitting with white-out to make sure I got them back on in the right order.
 |
| Left side vent hoses |
Next, the throttle cables have to be loosened, both at the control end and the carburetor end. Pat notes only the top adjuster on each cable needs to be loosened at the carb end. I put a piece of masking tape on the rear cable, although they are color-coded and the adjusters are different from each other.
There is a big white electrical connector that has to be disconnected, then I loosened the intake boot clamps. This required a special long-handled hex driver to reach the inner clamps. I used the Holeshot driver which works really well. Then sprayed a generous quantity of Tri-Flow at the opening of each boot.
Finally there are two vent hoses clamped to the underside of the carbs. I was able to reach under there with a long needle-nose pliars to slide the clamps down the 2 hoses. This was difficult and took a long time.
After all that the carbs were ready to slide out the left, note that the throttle cables and 2 lower vent hoses are still connected. Per experience with the Bandit kits carburetors can scratch off frame & engine paint as they're moved around so I covered all surfaces with soft rags.
 |
| Carefully sliding carbs out the left side |
 |
| Carbs out, finally |
In total it was about 4.5 hours to get to the point where I could open up the carbs to install the kit. But I was beat so I decided to get a fresh start the next day. So ended day one. Note that the Holeshot instructions say the kit can be installed right next to the bike without removing the throttle cables. This sounded precarious to me so I fully disconnected the carbs and brought them to my work bench. Note that the float bowls are full of gas and will vent gas everywhere as the carbs are rotated. They can be manually drained by opening the drain screws, or by rocking the carbs back and forth, which will drain the carbs out the two vent hoses.
 |
| Carbs out, engine side |
No comments:
Post a Comment