Newbie with starting issues...'82 550m

[triple6cafe]

Several issues
#1 After ripping down the carbs and giving them one hell of a cleaning, as well as reseting them to stock adjustments I now get fuel dripping out of the number 2 carbs venturi (going left to right). I have a couple of ideas on what it might be but im wanting to hear other options that i might not be thinking of.

#2 The bike turns over fine but thats all it does, it has yet to sound like it even wants to start, no sputtering not even a backfire, it will just crank and crank and crank until i let go of the start button, plug wires are firing fine, however it seems the plugs arent. Ive got new plugs for it but once again id like to know if im on the right track.

And finally after pulling the plugs to see whats going on i noticed that all the plugs but # 3 (once again going left to right) were bone dry, #3 was wet, im wondering if this could be related to carb issues?

Im pretty sure all these problems are easy fixes but i think the combo of not working on a carbed motor for years, and never working on a bike before have made me psych myself out. So any help would be greatly appreciated
Thanks

[Nessism]

If your petcock is leaking it will dump gas into the #2 carb. If this is not the problem, you need to check your carbs again - maybe crud from the tank is fouling the float needles? When you cleaned the carbs did you pull them all apart, soak the bodies in carb dip, and replace the various O-rings including the intake boot O-rings?

[nisom512]

you need three things to make an engine like your run.
1.fuel
2.spark
3.air

miss one and it wont run.

test your plugs by taking them out and keeping them connected to the plug wire and putting the tip of the plug on the engine(one at a time) turn the engine over and see if the plug sparks. that means you have good spark.

take off your filter and make sure the tube that runs up to the top of the engine is connected and all. and try to turn it over then.

on the fuel portion it sounds like you did a good job on the carb rebuild but maybe you should turn the carbs back to where there supposed to be and that will plug up the leak. I couldnt tell ya what is wrong from what you said.

Good luck
Jake

[Newbee]

CARB Probs

"#1 After ripping down the carbs and giving them one hell of a cleaning, as well as reseting them to stock adjustments I now get fuel dripping out of the number 2 carbs venturi (going left to right). I have a couple of ideas on what it might be but im wanting to hear other options that i might not be thinking of."

Make sure your carb vents are clear. I had simular problem on a number 4.

Come to find out I had a blockage in the vent T.

[triple6cafe]

Thanks for the quick replies
Nessism: The carbs were ripped down and spray cleaned but i havent done a complete dip and rebuild yet but (can only do a little bit at a time right now $$ wise) but hopefully a rebuild kit will be this weeks purchase.
Nisiom512: Carbs were set back to factory specs after i put them back together (but after 25 years those might not mean much).
Newbee:Hmm didn't think of that...
Tested the plugs and sure enough not to much was going on (sorta like the owners head today) getting ready to drop the new plugs in and see.
keep everyone posted.

[Nessism]

An O-ring kit is less than $20 from cycleorings.com This is typically all you need, other than a bucket of carb dip, to clean the carbs properly. Spraying out the carbs typically fails unless the carbs were basically clean to begin with. Short cuts are long cuts when it comes to cleaning carbs.

[bmt]

I just finished restoring an 82 550M and dealt with similar hard starting issues. I'm assuming the bike has sat for a while since it last ran...

1) carb spray doesn't cut it, believe me, I wasted a lot of hours cleaning the carbs with just spray. buy a $20 can of chem dip (auto store) and dunk each carb, after removing all rubber parts! chem dip will destroy rubber. getting the carb's pilot circuit clean is very difficult and affects the bike's ability to start and run at idle.

buy new carb float bowl gaskets, you will thank yourself after you rebuild the carbs the 4th time and they don't leak fuel at the bowls.

2) make sure your fuel mixture screws are set correctly. these are the screws on top of the carb between the carb and the motor. they are often covered by anti-tamper plugs that need to be drilled out. these need to thoroughly cleaned and make sure the o-rings at the end of the screws are in good shape (replace if you can)

If the o-ring is stuck at the bottom, the screw settings won't make any difference. also, this screw adjusts fuel flow, not air flow (like on many other carbs). counterclockwise = more fuel. set 2.5 turns out for this model, however for troubleshooting purposes you could turn it out 4-5 turns to make sure you are getting fuel.

3) i thought i had a 'good' spark too. make sure to check your voltage at the coils. i was getting 10.5 volts at the coils but still had a visible spark. this isn't enough to start the bike. The coil relay mod is really easy to do on this model and made a huge difference for me. search the forum for coil relay mod and you will find plenty of info.

4) try starting the bike on starter fluid. if it starts and will run while the throttle is open, but won't stay running or idle, you probably have a dirty carb pilot circuit and/or 'weak' spark. if it won't start on starter fluid you have some other issues to deal with, probably fuel flow.

5) make sure that battery is at 12 volts minimum. just running the starter motor a few times is enought to drain a fresh battery 1 volt and at 11 or 11.5 volts it just won't start.

6) keep in mind that then engine will run, maybe not well, but it will run without the air box attached. it is a heck of a lot easier to work on the bike with the plastic air collector sitting on the workbench until you've gotten to the point that the engine will idle.

7) while you have the carbs out remove the four rubber intake manifold boots attached to the engine and replace the o-rings. also check the boots for cracks as any air leaks here will affect the engine's ability to idle.

while i found local o ring replacements http://cycleorings.com/ is a great resource for carb and manifold o rings and a member of the forum. very good price too for what you get.

8) don't rush it. my bike hadn't started in 10 years when i got it and I thought I'd be riding around on it in a week. I ended up having to do a lot of work twice because i didn't take the time to do it right the first time or to really understand the fact that on a 30 year old motorcycle you probably have multiple issues that are causing a single symptom, i.e. not starting.

take lots of pictures, and check the parts fiches when working to make sure that you have everything that you are supposed to. In my case a previous owner had removed the spring and o ring around the carb mixture screws. one of many such reasons why my bike wouldn't run.

well, hope you learn from my mistakes. btw, the 550M is a great bike and it was worth all the work i put into it.

PM me if you have trouble finding replacement parts, the 550M is not very well documented but there are a lot of parts from other GS bikes that are compatible. i bought a lot of stuff from Z1 and BikeBandit that i couldn't find locally.

[Steve]

The carbs were ripped down and spray cleaned but i havent done a complete dip and rebuild yet ...

That could be considered one "hell" of a cleaning, all right, but it's not a "proper" cleaning. An overnight dip for each carb body and a new set of o-rings is the only way to go.

... but hopefully a rebuild kit will be this weeks purchase. ...

Don't waste your money on the rebuild kits. They typically have brass jets of questionable quality, only two or three of the six or seven o-rings that you need and a float bowl gasket that might be handy, but is available much cheaper separately. You can get a complete set of o-rings for about $18 or so from www.cycleorings.com. The owner of that establishment is a regular poster here, and many of us have used and endorse his products.

Carbs were set back to factory specs after i put them back together

Just because that's the way the factory set them does not mean it was right. They were set that way to meet emissions regulations, not because the bike ran better. Set the floats according to specs, but turn the mixture screws out at least two full turns from lightly-seated. Some riders go as much as three turns, but get the bike running, then adjust each screw slowly, listening for highest engine speed, then move to the next screw.


One other thing that can greatly affect cold starting ... have you checked the valve clearances? They usually tighten up with time/mileage and will make cold starting rather difficult. Adjusting the valves is not that hard a project. I have an Excel spreadsheet available that makes the math easier to help determine what shims you need. Just send me an e-mail with a request (not a PM) and I will send you a copy.

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