Hard starting, and Hello!

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  • Tofuball
    #1

    Hard starting, and Hello!

    Hello!

    Here are two pictures of when I first saw the '82 GS850L:



    It did not run, it had been sitting outside for a long time and the battery was dead. Fuel was leaking from somewhere when the petcock was turned on . . .



    . . . So I bought it for $400 and took it home. The fuel lines were flared, so after replacing them and putting new clamps on it (and replacing the battery) the bike ran, very, very well.

    Well, at least it idled and revved very well, I didn't have a license to drive it yet. A month and a half passed, every other week I'd start it up and let it warm up, it would start right up and sounded awesome.

    Now that I have my license, I went in to start it last night, and it had trouble starting, ran like crap for a bit, then died.

    Now I cant even get it to start. It's got compression, fuel, and spark, so I'm guessing the carbs might not have been so happy after all, but why would that change this much overnight?

    I don't even know where to start looking on this thing really, so I thought I'd ask here. I guess it detected that I can legally drive it now and it wants no part in that.

    Any ideas?
    Tags: None
    • Steve
      GS Whisperer
      • Jun 2005
      • 35925
      • southwest oHIo
      #2
      Did you move the petcock to PRI before trying to start it? Could be that the carbs were low and just did not have enough in them to run properly yet.

      And, yes, these bikes are like good horses...they can tell who is on their backs. 8-[
      Just act like you really know what is going on (hopefully you have taken a safety course and really do know what is going on) and it won't buck you off. :shock:


      .
      sigpic
      mine: 2000 Honda GoldWing GL1500SE and 1980 GS850G'K' "Junior"
      hers: 1982 GS850GL - "Angel" and 1969 Suzuki T250 Scrambler
      #1 son: 1986 Yamaha Venture Royale 1300 and 1982 GS650GL "Rat Bagger"
      #2 son: 1980 GS1000G
      Family Portrait
      Siblings and Spouses
      Mom's first ride
      Want a copy of my valve adjust spreadsheet for your 2-valve per cylinder engine? Send me an e-mail request (not a PM)
      (Click on my username in the upper-left corner for e-mail info.)

        Comment

        • Tofuball
          #3
          Originally posted by Steve
          Did you move the petcock to PRI before trying to start it? Could be that the carbs were low and just did not have enough in them to run properly yet.

          And, yes, these bikes are like good horses...they can tell who is on their backs. 8-[
          Just act like you really know what is going on (hopefully you have taken a safety course and really do know what is going on) and it won't buck you off. :shock:


          .
          Haha, if it's something that simple I'll be quite happy and unhappy.

          Happy cuz I got the bike going, and unhappy because it just shows how clueless I am :P

          yeah, I hadn't ridden it because I took an MSF course before I'd take the bike on the street.

          Thank you in advance for the advice!

            Comment

            • Tofuball
              #4
              Well, you were right! Back to running fantastic again. Thank you very much! Now I have to get to work on the wiring harness :P

                Comment

                • Gravity Tester
                  #5
                  Seafoam
                  if it is new or used run some in it from time to time helps keep the inners clean.

                    Comment

                    • Tofuball
                      #6
                      Originally posted by Gravity Tester
                      Seafoam
                      if it is new or used run some in it from time to time helps keep the inners clean.

                      Run it in the wiring harness?

                      I'm a big fan of taking things apart and cleaning them out by hand. I don't see how a chem could match that

                      Besides, how can Seafoam clean something thats brand new?

                        Comment

                        • Steve
                          GS Whisperer
                          • Jun 2005
                          • 35925
                          • southwest oHIo
                          #7
                          SeaFoam is an additive for the fuel system, but they say it can also be used in the oil. The factory-recommended ratio is one ounce per gallon of fuel for "normal" cleaning. If you are experiencing problems, it does a bit better if it is stronger. For "spring cleaning" purposes, I will put about 6 ounces in my wife's bike (850L) and the other 10 ounces in my bike (GoldWing), then we ride until the tanks need to be filled and go home.

                          SeaFoam is also very good for winter storage. I have used StaBil for years on all my bikes, lawn mowers, snow blowers, etc. It works very well, but stinks when you fire it up. With the added cleaning properties of SeaFoam, I am switching over to it for storage.

                          SeaFoam is not something to be used with electrical wiring. You said "I'm a big fan of taking things apart and cleaning them out by hand. I don't see how a chem could match that." Assuring clean, tight connections is probably best done by hand, but if you put a bit of dielectric grease in the connection when you are putting it back together, it will seal the connection from the elements and keep it in good shape. I have seen little squeeze packs of the stuff near the registers at most auto parts stores. It's not real cheap, but it doesn't take much to do the job, maybe 2 or 3 packs, for under a buck each?


                          .
                          sigpic
                          mine: 2000 Honda GoldWing GL1500SE and 1980 GS850G'K' "Junior"
                          hers: 1982 GS850GL - "Angel" and 1969 Suzuki T250 Scrambler
                          #1 son: 1986 Yamaha Venture Royale 1300 and 1982 GS650GL "Rat Bagger"
                          #2 son: 1980 GS1000G
                          Family Portrait
                          Siblings and Spouses
                          Mom's first ride
                          Want a copy of my valve adjust spreadsheet for your 2-valve per cylinder engine? Send me an e-mail request (not a PM)
                          (Click on my username in the upper-left corner for e-mail info.)

                            Comment

                            • Tofuball
                              #8
                              Alright! Update time.

                              I checked and I was getting 25MPG. The bike also ran like crap.

                              So, I've been fixing all kinds of stuff on this bike recently. The wires going to the left side coil was barely on there, previous owner just wrapped bare wires around the terminals. Most of the wiring harness was similar to this.

                              After hours of soldering, I got the ignition and every light on the bike working properly, even the horn worked.


                              I took it for a ride and by the time I got back, the horn no longer worked, the left turn signal was intermittent (Probably that auto-shutoff 'feature') and the right one just stayed on (due probably to the shaky connection in the front right light)

                              I'm going to remove the auto-shutoff from the circuit, and re-solder the front right light fixture. I'll bet that will fix things.

                              But fixing the ignition made the bike stop running like crap.

                              When I stop the bike and lock the handlebars with the key, the rear light stays on. I looked it up in the wiring diagram and it says this is intentional. WHY??? :shock:

                              Whenever I go anywhere from half throttle to WOT below 6KRPM the engine bogs, after that it's fine. Sometimes I'll be cruising around at around 4K or 5K RPM and suddenly the power will start to come on, the power this bike was supposed to have if it worked right.

                              Man, this thing is FAST when it wants to be!!

                              I bought some SeaFoam as recommended, and poured it at the proper ratios in the gas an in the oil. I'll see how much that affects things. I'm still betting that I'll have to pull the carbs and rebuild them though, at least replace the O-rings, theres no way they lasted 25 years.

                              I'm also really skeptical about adding anything that thin to my oil.

                              Thanks for the advice so far!

                                Comment

                                • Tofuball
                                  #9
                                  SeaFoam is weird. I didn't even drive it, just left it for two days in the (10 mile) oil and I have this "milk" in my viewing window now. (When I took the bike off the kickstand and stood it upright the oil took the "milk" away)





                                  Anyway, a few more updated pictures of the bike. Still have a lot more work to do . . . :







                                    Comment

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