81 GS850 carb problems

[roac91]

i recently aquired a 81 gs850. the bike has not been run since 1999 and has sat since. i changed the oil and filter and put a new battery in and tried to start. the bike starts but then dies but will run if throttle is held bcak.

first thing i noticed was the fact that there was a fuel smell and smoke. i found that the bike was spitting out massive amounts of fuel. i found that the fuel was coming from two hoses. these hoses seem to be attached to the carb specifacly the two fuel connectors going between the two right carbs and the two left carbs. the hose runs from these two fuel connectors up aruond the top of the aircleaner down the back side of the airbox and then are just open ended.

so my question is what are these hoses running to? why are they spitting out fuel? and how to fix this problem.

it does not idle u have to keep it above 1200 rpm to keep the bike running

please help me i am very intrested in keeping this bike running as i have read up on it and it seems to be a very reliablle cruiser and worth keeping around espcially when i heard 120000 miles is not uncommon for themm.

thank you for your help

[Steve]

Those two hoses are vent hoses and should not have any fuel in them. Apparently the floats are stuck and not shutting off the fuel when the proper level is reached in the float bowl. Sounds like it's time to take them off, give them a thorough cleaning and a new set of o-rings. While you are at it, check the condition of the intake tubes (between the carbs and the head). If they are not pliable, it's time to replace them, too. In either case, you will probably want to replace the o-rings between the intake tubes and the head.

The reason you have to hold the idle up is that it is getting too much gas and you have to hold the throttle to give it a bit more air to match.

Here are some links to help you:
Carb cleaning
Carb and intake tube o-rings
Just in case you need them: intake tubes (go to Parts Finder in the left column, select your bike, go to Cylinder Head fiche. You need #25 and #26)
New hardware to attach the intake tubes is available from the o-ring supplier mentioned above.


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[Nessism]

Edit: Steve posted while I was typing. Sorry for the redundant information.

Fuel is overfilling the float bowls because, most likely, you have gunk in the needles. When the fuel overfills the bowls it flows into the overflow vents where it gets out.

You need to pull the carbs and do a rebuild. Follow the link below to the rebuild information.

http://www.thegsresources.com/gs_carbrebuild.htm

I strongly recommend you order an o-ring kit from http://cycleorings.com/ and maybe order some bowl gaskets as well. And don't forget the rubber carb runner "boot" o-rings - information available on the cycle o-rings site.

Good luck and welcome. Rebuilding your carbs is the right of passage. You can not properly enter the GSR community until you pass the carb rebuild test.

[Steve]

Rebuilding your carbs is the right of passage. You can not properly enter the GSR community until you pass the carb rebuild test.

Good thing you didn't mention the pop quiz on stators and regulators. :shock:


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[salty_monk]

If it runs & you want to try a quick fix you could try putting neat seafoam through it with the throttle open... It may work, may not. You would then want to run Seafoam in the gas for a long time to keep up the cleaning process. You may be lucky. My friend had luck doing something similar with GUM OUT max strength on a Honda.

What the others are suggesting is definitely the "correct" way though.

[BassCliff]

Hey howdy hey!

Mr. roac91,

Let it be known that on this day you are cordially and formally welcomed to the GSR Forum as a Junior Member in good standing with all the rights and privileges thereof. Further let it be known that good standing can be improved with pictures (not you, your bike)! :grin:

Thanks for joining us. Feel free to visit my little website (click link in sig) to download a manual for your bike. Keep us informed. Give your bike a little TLC and she'll run for a very long time.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
(The unofficial GSR greeter)

[roac91]

thank you for the help i will buy a rebuild kit for the carbs and rebuild it. i already have the repair manual for it so hopefully i can get this done and get this bike running.

were is the best place to get a rebuild kit for it?

i will post pics of the bike soon.

one more question right now it has the bubble cruiser front end and i am wondringif there isany place to get the regular headlight and turn signal assembly?

[Steve]

thank you for the help i will buy a rebuild kit for the carbs and rebuild it.....

were is the best place to get a rebuild kit for it?

i will post pics of the bike soon.

one more question right now it has the bubble cruiser front end and i am wondringif there isany place to get the regular headlight and turn signal assembly?

Whatever you do, don't go running to eBay for the rebuild kits you see there. Follow the links I gave you in my first post.
99% of the time, all you need is some carb cleaner (dip and spray), compressed air and a bunch of o-rings.
Links to the best supplier for the o-rings and the carb cleaning tutorial are given in my first post.

Note that the words "dip" and "spray" above are also links. They lead you to the chemicals to help you clean the carbs, just like the other blue highlighted words lead you to the other links.

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[roac91]

thanks steve i checked out your earlier post and ordered the rebuil kits.