need help diagnosing coil thats shocking!!!

[dres0081]

hey new to forum and to gs's. just aquired an 80 something gs850 with 40,000 miles. when i first got the bike i got it started after a couple minutes of cranking. it ran but only with the choke all the way on. also it didnt sound like it was running on all 4 cylinders to see which ones were firing cylinders 2&3 were intermittently firing.

heres what i have done so far

checked the coil for cylinders 2&3, bench tested okay but i did notice that the plug boots feel looser on cylinders 2 and 3 compared to the others and if i try to touch the plug boot for 2 and 3 while its running i get shocked and if i put a screwdriver next to the boot it gets the arc from it

i pulled off and cleaned the carbs cleaning and checking all ports and jets as well as the floats a couple of the jets cleaned up well and now it idles without the choke. I also un plugged the crankcase vent on the airbox as it was completely blocked.

so now it will run and idle without choke but if i give it gas it seems to get stuck at higher rpm's 4-5000rpm.

I dont want to stick a ton of money into this bike until i know i can get it running decent so until then dyna s igntion etc is out of the picture just looking for advice or guidance. also wondering if anyone has had to done any valve checking or other maint with around 40,000 miles like this bike

[cowboyup3371]

Welcome to the site. Valve adjustments, PROPER carb dipping, and other basic maintenance must be done to get it running correctly which means you'll spend some money on it first.

Go to Basscliff's site (he's on vacation for Lent right now), http://members.dslextreme.com/users/Bikecliff, and read through all of his stuff paying particular attention to the Read Me, Carb cleaning, and valve adjustment sections. Make sure you replace the orings behind the intake boots as well as the boots themselves if they are hard.

[dres0081]

thanks for the info ive read through a lot of the threads on basscliff's site.

any suggestion on a good vendor for the intake gaskets and valve shims and carb parts...?

how about the spark plug wires and coil for piston 2 and 3 shocking me and arcing off a screw driver the other two wires dont do this just wondering if that could be one of my main culprits?

I am friends with the P/O and it was titled and running in 2008 the only thing he noted was was a little bit of black smoke unsure of it was just on start up or with throttle

[Tom R]

The plug caps screw into the ends of the wires - check to make sure they're screwed in tight - maybe snip a 1/4" or so off the end of the wire if it's chewed up too much to make a tight connection.

[cowboyup3371]

Many of us use Z1 Enterprises, Boulevard Suzuki, G&S Suzuki, as well as many others listed in that Read Me section on Basscliff's site. You can get your orings from www.cycleorings.com (owner is a member here), shims from the Shim Club (look under GS Services on the forum's main page), and Ebay or the rest of us under Parts Wanted or Parts for Sale for many other things you'll need.

[salty_monk]

The insulation has broken down somewhere... you need new wires.

[dres0081]

can you replace just the wires? it looks like the wires and coil are all one piece

[salty_monk]

Do a search there is a ton of info on this. You can chip away the epoxy & pull the wires out but not all of them will "let go" in a way that allows replacement, some will snap inside the holes.
You then just slide new wires in & put some silicon or new epoxy around the hole.