82 GS850L woes.....Help meeee.....Please

[argonsagas]

For losing a charge overnight, check the fluid levels in your battery.

You will probably find one or two cells are low. Refill as necessary using WATER only. Preferably distilled water.

As shown above check the corrosion levels in the bulb holders. You can rub them clean with fine emery cloth and a spray of light oil will help further cut the corrosion, and keep it away a while longer. Sand and spray the bases of the bulbs, too.

(contrary to those who say oil is an insulator and it won't work, it does.)

I had both headlights blow in my car this winter......still don't know why, but they went same day so I must acknowledge that it is possible to have two front bulbs go out at once, but it is definitely unusual.

Check the bulbs, and the connectors, but since both are on the front, and on different switched circuits, it is most likely corrosion.

[Anonymous]

I'll take a look at the insides of the blinkers for corrosion there. As for the grounds, I have not done anything with them except remove them to clean them and replaced them in the same spot.

Battery fluid is fine (new batt.). The trouble is if the bike sits for more than a day it looses just enough power to not start (will turn over though).

But the blinker trouble could just be causing this batt. problem, so I will dig into that further.

Thanks for the help.

P.S. Anyone else have the factory settings for the jets on this bike? I'd like to redo my carbs this summer and don't want to get into it without the correct settings for the jets this time.

[Anonymous]

I have an '83 850L, (cv carbs) and the factory settings are not necessarily the "correct" settings. The factory tunes the carbs for emissions, not performance. For example, when I drilled the plugs out to adjust the fuel meter screws (they are fuel, not air screws) my 2 inboard cylinders were 2 1/4 turns out. My outboard cylinders (1 and 4) were completely seated. Since the interior cylinders could not be run lean (they run much hotter), Suzuki made up the difference on the outboard side. No wonder it was cold blooded, and took forever on the choke. Ajusting the outboard screws a couple of turns out made for a much nicer running motor.