Rarely dies on Idle. What is your idle RPM?

[verboseone]

My bike has been running great since I replaced the coils and what not in my signature.

Since it is growing warmer my bike has died twice at idle before it is completely warmed up.

It always starts right back up, and I don't have an issue afterward.

Note: My petcock is on prime because the guy the cleaned my carbs messed up and left something that blocks the vacuum occasionally that leads to the pet cock.

I have my idle set roughly 800 rpm. I'm sure I could bump it up to 1200 rpms and not have any issue. I'd rather have a bike that works right. Is 800 just to low? Or do I have something wrong?

Could it be my fuel/air mixture was right for the cold weather driving, and now sucks? If so can you point me toward a thread that explains how to adjust the properly? I don't mind opening my carbs. I do not have a vacuum gauge to adjust them all at the same time.

I also currently have dyno jets installed for the main jet. I plan to put that back to original. I don't know much about carbs, could that be all my bike needs?

[mike_of_bbg]

Did you read the manual? I thought spec idle was 1100+/-100 for all models, or at least close to that.

[verboseone]

Seems like my mechanic fed me with a lot of BS. He's the one that told me it should be so low. I've been slowly undoing most of the stuff he did (rejetting) etc.

[chuck hahn]

I would spring for a petcock thats functional too....the right way.

[verboseone]

I believe my petcock is fine. I replaced it with a brand new one less than two years ago. The problem is my carbs aren't pulling a vacuum on the hose to the petcock.

[chuck hahn]

Got the vac hose on the right nipple and not on a vent nipple?? Dont want an open vac and that could be a problem with the idling as well..

[tkent02]

Fix that, it's important. Make sure the oil has no fuel in it, leaving it on prime usually fills the crankcase with gasoline.
Synchronize the carburetors. Set the mixture screws correctly, fastest idle method.
Set the idle to the right speed.
And of course, if it hasn't been done, or if your BS mechanic did it incorrectly, adjust the valve clearances first.

[Killer2600]

It's good your bike can idle at 800 rpm but that is quite low, the spec is in the 1100 area as already pointed out.

I can't fault your mechanic, different bikes run different idle settings and these old bikes rarely get worked on by a current day mechanic so it's something new for them. So cut em some slack for not innately familiar with a 30 year old bike, especially if the guy is younger than the bike

[Big T]

It's good your bike can idle at 800 rpm but that is quite low, the spec is in the 1100 area as already pointed out.

I can't fault your mechanic, different bikes run different idle settings and these old bikes rarely get worked on by a current day mechanic so it's something new for them. So cut em some slack for not innately familiar with a 30 year old bike, especially if the guy is younger than the bike

Bah, that's why service manuals exist. If the mechanic can't read, then I'd never take the bike back to him.

[Guest]

A bike that will idle that low without a studder sounds great to me. But somewhere I did read a warning about low idle speeds, and basically it's this, the bike needs to idle fast enough for your oil pump to work properly and pump enough oil to the cylinder heads, cams, and such on the top end.
Definitely adjust your idle up to the required range.

[Darin Jordan]

My bike idle is set right at about 1100 RPM... I read somewhere here that it's a good idea to keep it above 1000 to assure that oil will be circulating (low pressure oil system) while sitting at idle. Mine never dies, and it doesn't "feel" like it's idling too high...

[Guest]

You can download the owners manual here.

http://www.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/GS1100GL_OwnersManual.pdf

About the fuel cock, "petcock" you might want to read that caution about leaving the petcock on "Prime" page 16.
(If you pull the vacuum line off the petcock while it's running you should feel the vacuum on the end with your finger, also will probably cause your idle to change with it off. If you don't feel any vacuum, you might want to see if it's even hooked up, or maybe the wrong line hooked to that petcock).

The recommended RPM range is 1050, plus or minus 100 rpm (got that out of the service manual also on BassCliff's site., simple adjustment, no tools required, just turn the adjustment screw underneath the carbs, do it when the engine is warmed up, page 39, owners manual, page 2-11 in the service manual.

Also a service manual, Chapter 5 explains the fuel cock, carbs, shows the vacuum line going to No. 2 carb.

http://www.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/GS1100G-L-K_Manual.pdf