exhaust, filter, carb combo

[dealjb]

Hey guys new to the board with a question. I have a 80 GS1100E that I am in the process of bringing back to its glory. It has K&N pods, supertrapp 4 to 1 exhaust, and it appears that the first owner put silicone in the air fuel mixture screws so they could not be tampered with. Bike has always purred like a kitten, but falls on its face right out of the hole unless you are ringing its neck. Suggestions? Find stock airbox and start over or stay with the pods and make carb changes? Supertrapp is not very attractive, thinking of replacing with Vance and Hines. Thanks for suggestions, will post some pics of the old tank soon.
While I have your attention. The fuel petcock is the funky slotted prime type that will not prime. Replace it with the same, or a manual one with on,off,res?

Thanks

[Nessism]

Path of least resistance is to get a Dynojet jet kit and stay with the pods and exhaust. I've heard of people having their old header blasted and hot jet coated - or some other high tech coating. Might be a good alternative to a V&H if your current header is mechanically sound.

Good luck.

[rapidray]

Also, get a Pingle petcock for it & you won't have anymore of those problems for a long time. The header issue is entirely a matter of preference. They BOTH make good power & look good when taken care of. I would look for a set of 33mm round slide smoothbore carbs or a set of 36 RS flatslides. Better performance but a little worse fuel mileage due to your right wrist wanting to be more active. One more thing, stock GS coils are notorious for being weak. Get a set of Dynatek 3.0 ohm green coils & their plug wires & install them. You WILL be happy with the upgrades! Ray.

[dealjb]

Thanks for info Ray. Do you happen to know what models of bikes the two sets of carbs you mentioned would come on stock? Either better than the other in your opinion?

[BassCliff]

Hey howdy hey!

Mr. dealjb,

I'm sorry I'm late. Here is your totally outrageous, totally verbose, world's most dangerous mega-welcome! \\/

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 your good standing can be improved with pictures (not you, your bike)!

Perhaps you've already seen these, but I like to remind all the new members. In addition to the carb rebuild series, I recommend visiting the In The Garage section via the GSR Homepage and check out the Stator Papers. There's also a lot of great information in the Old Q&A section. I have some documentation on my little BikeCliff website to help get you familiar with doing routine maintenance tasks (note that it is 850G-specific but many tasks are common to all GS bikes). Other "user contributed" informational sites include those of Mr. bwringer, Mr. tfb and Mr. robertbarr.

And here are some edited quotes from one of our dear beloved gurus, Mr. bwringer, with ideas on basic needs (depending on initial condition), parts, and accessories.

***********Quoted from Mr. bwringer************
Carburetor maintenance:

Replace the intake boot o-rings, and possibly the intake boots. Here's the procedure:

http://bwringer.com/gs/intakeorings.html

Here's an overview of what happens with this particular problem:

http://cycleorings.com/intake.html

You'll also want to examine the boots between the carbs and the airbox. There's a good chance these are OK, but check them over.
And finally, if things still aren't exactly right, you'll want to order a set of o-rings for BS carbs from the GS owner's best friend, Robert Barr:
http://cycleorings.com
Once you receive these rare rings of delight, then you'll want to thoroughly clean and rebuild your carburetors. Here are step-by-step instructions that make this simple:

http://thegsresources.com/gs_carbrebuild.htm

***********************************
Every GS850 has (or had) a set of well-known issues that MUST be addressed before you have a solid baseline for further troubleshooting. It's a vintage bike, and it's quite common (as in, every single GS850 I have had contact with) that there are multiple problems that have crept up and slowly gotten worse over the years. It's not like a newer vehicle, where there's generally one problem at a time.

These common issues are:

1. Intake O-rings (install NEW OEM or Viton only - common nitrile O-rings will quickly deteriorate from heat)
2. Intake Boots (install NEW -- these cannot be repaired)
3. Valve clearances (more important than most people think)
4. Carb/airbox boots
5. Airbox sealing
6. Air filter sealing
7. Petcock (install a NEW one)
8. On '79 models, install new points or Dyna electronic ignition (or at least verify that the old points are working correctly)
9. On all models, it's fairly common to have problems with the spark plug caps. These are $3 or $4 each, and often worth replacing if you're keeping the stock coils/wires.
10. Stock exhaust with NO leaks or holes -- good seals at the head and at the junctions underneath.
***************************************
OEM Parts/Online Fiches:

I would definitely double and triple the recommendations to use Cycle Recycle II and Z1 Enterprises as much as possible. These guys are priceless resources. Z1 tends to have slightly better prices, CRC2 has a wider range of goodies available. If you're near Indy and can bring in an old part to match, CRC2 has a vast inventory of used parts.
http://denniskirk.com - Put in your bike model and see what they have.
http://oldbikebarn.com - seems to be slowly regaining a decent reputation, but it's still caveat emptor. They don't have anything you can't get elsewhere at a better price anyway.
http://www.babbittsonline.com/ - Decent parts prices. Spendy shipping. Don't give you part numbers at all. Useful cross-reference if you obtain a part number elsewhere. Efficient service.
http://bikebandit.com - Fastest. Middlin' prices. Uses their own parts numbering system to obfuscate price comparisons -- can be very confusing for large orders. Cheapest shipping, so total cost usually isn't too bad.
http://flatoutmotorcycles.com - Slow. Cheapest parts prices, crazy shipping costs. Don't expect progress updates or much communication. Real Suzuki part numbers.
http://alpha-sports.com - Exorbitant parts prices. Different type of fiche interface that's quite useful at times, especially with superceded part numbers. Real parts numbers. Shipping cost and speed unknown due to insane, unholy pricing.

Stainless Bolts, Viton o-rings, metric taps, dies, assorted hard-to-find supplies and materials, etc:

http://mcmaster.com - Fast, cheap shipping, good prices. No order minimum, but many items like bolts come in packs of 25 or 50. Excellent resource.
http://motorcycleseatcovers.com - Great quality, perfect fit (on original seat foam), and available for pretty much every bike ever made. Avoid the textured vinyl -- it's perforated.
http://newenough.com - You DO have riding gear, don't you? Great clearances, always outstanding prices and impeccable service.
***************End Quote**********************
Here are some extra links:

GSR Forum member Mr. duaneage has great used upgraded Honda regulator/rectifiers for our bikes. Send him a PM.
New electrical parts:
http://stores.ebay.com/RMSTATOR or http://www.rmstator.com/

http://www.ricksmotorsportelectrics.com/index.php

http://www.electrosport.com/

The Rice Paddy (salvage/used)
http://www.ricepaddymotorcycles.com
Ron Ayers Motorsports
http://www.ronayers.com
MR Cycles
http://www.mrcycles.com
If all else fails, try this:
http://www.used-motorcycle-parts.org/
Lots of good info/pictures here:
http://www.suzukicycles.org
http://www.cyclechaos.com/wiki/Motorcycle_Wiki

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed of your progress. There's lots of good folk with good experience here.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
(The unofficial GSR greeter)

[Escobarclan]

BassCliff, you are most definately THE MAN.

[tkent02]

It has K&N pods, supertrapp 4 to 1 exhaust, and it appears that the first owner put silicone in the air fuel mixture screws so they could not be tampered with. Bike has always purred like a kitten, but falls on its face right out of the hole unless you are ringing its neck. Suggestions? Find stock airbox and start over or stay with the pods and make carb changes?

Why not try adjusting the screws?

[Ozmiander]

Hey dealjb, any chance you'd want to swap your supertrapp for my v&h, assuming they're interchangable 80 to 83? \\/

[seuadr]

pingle petcock sounds so dirty..