quick carb cleaning.

[wildgs850g]

I ran my 80' GS850G on the fuel reserve for a while previously (about 10 miles) and now the bike is running rough, bogging down around 3 to 4k rpms. I heard about a quick fix, to take the air box off, run the bike up about 5/6k rpm and smother the intake from air, pulling a hard vacuum- clearing out the carbs (hopefully). Anyone try this before, any other ideas which may work?

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. wildgs850g,

It is very difficult to get the 850 to run without its airbox.

It sounds like there was gunk in the bottom your tank and it got sucked into the carbs. The proper procedure is to completely disassemble your carbs and dip them in Berryman's or similar. You'll find the procedure in the "mega-welcome" below. If the blockage is not too bad, you may be able to get away with putting a good dose of Sea Foam in the tank and going for a good long ride. It sounds like you need to clean your tank too.

Now I'll shut up and just say "Hi".

Here is your very own magical, mystical, mythical, mind-expanding "mega-welcome". Please take notice of the "Top 10 Common Issues", the Carb Rebuild Series, and the Stator Papers. Now let me roll out the welcome mat for you...

Please click here for your mega-welcome, chock full of tips, suggestions, links to vendors, and other information. Then feel free to visit my little BikeCliff website where I've been collecting the wisdom of this generous community. Don't forget, we like pictures! Not you, your bike!

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Steve]

Had the bike been running well before your little mishap?

I ask that because there is no such thing as a "quick carb clean" that really works. Your little trick of using engine vacuum to draw extra gas through the carb might work to dislodge a small particle that is stuck somewhere, but it is just as likely to wedge a piece of crud even tighter into place. Another serious drawback to that method is that it can introduce a LOT of raw gas directly into the cylinder and wash all the oil off the walls, not doing the engine any good in the process.

If the engine has been running well before this, you likely don't need the full teardown and dip routine, but you should still take them off the bike and spray cleaner and compressed air through all the passages, in the reverse direction, if possible. Remove the petcock from the fuel tank to make sure the filter screen is not clogged. Might also be good to pull the inlet valves in the carbs to make sure that their filter screens are in good shape, too.

If your 10-mile ride was the first ride in a few years, there is no quick carb clean, you will have to resign yourself to completely dismantling them and dipping the non-rubber parts for each carb overnight, then re-assembling the carbs with new o-rings. Links to all that information can be found in BassCliff's welcome. Check out his site, bookmark it, use it often. He has collected virtually all of the collective knowledge available on this forum into one handy site.


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[wildgs850g]

Thanks for the replys! The bike ran wonderfully before turning to the reserve. Today I took off the airbox, started the engine and sprayed some gumout down the throats- it seems to have worked perfectly! Washed everything up, it needed a good cleaning. I LOVE that bike! almost 44,000 miles and runs like a dream!

[tkent02]

You think it runs like a dream now, take the carbs off and clean them correctly.