79 carb / 82 carb Help.

[Anonymous]

I had a small pool of gas under my 79 GS 850 this morning.
The bike is fairly new to me and have only put 1000 kms in the past week.
I must say that they have been the most enjoyable kms I have ridden.
LOVE THE BIKE
What might cause this puddle of gas. If I need to replace any carb parts needle etc. Will parts from an 82 (CV carb) work. needle etc. ?
While trying to start the bike after this gas leak I very quickly drained the battery I suspect this is telling me all is not well with the charging system.
The last check with a voltmeter showed 12.5 at the battery at 6000 r.p.m.
I am becoming obsessed with this bike and would like to have it right.
Please advise. I plan on being the owner of this bike for many years to come and hope to offer help on this sight as time goes by.

[Anonymous]

Did you put the petcock in "prime'' position? It should be ''on'' or ''res'', because it closes automaticly, when you shut down the engine.
As for the battery, voltage seems normal, a bit low perhaps, but my guess is (from a distance ofcourse) that you need a new battery.

[Anonymous]

Leak

H JoJo
I am quite sure I was in the run and not prime position.
I just went out and checked it after riding 50 km's to work and there is no
puddle yet.... Hopefully this does not mean engine is filling up with gas.
The battery is supposed to be new.
Can I splice into the regulator ground and go to the neg. post on battery as well as the existing ground.
Kevin

[Anonymous]

In that case, I think you have a problem with one of the carbs. Each of them has a little overflow hose connected to the carb bowls. Try to figure out from which carb the fuel comes from. You should be able to narrow down the problem easily.
As for the battery: splicing the lead should not be necessary. If all the contacts are clean, the battery should get charged, providing you don't have a problem with your charging circuit.
You could also have a bad battery though. It happened to me: battery, only six months old, broke down for no reason...

[SqDancerLynn1]

if you are reading 12.5 at 6k rpm some thing is wrong. You are only reading the battery voltage. You should be reading 13.5-14 I would recomend that you clean and repair the connections for the stator and regulator, also add a heavy wire from the monunting bolt of the reg to the neg terminal of the battery. Then recheck your voltage reading at 6k rpm If you still only read 12.5 V go to the stator pages for steps to trace the problem

[SqDancerLynn1]

Additional note The 79GS850 has slide type carbs just like my 79GS850 Starting with the 80 models they changed to the BS or vacuum carbs and they are completly different

[Anonymous]

Back on track

Thanks to the input and info on this site I am back on track.
After cleaning regulator ground and also running grounds to negative on battery I am now in the high 13's at 3000 rpm. A dramatic improvement over what I had.
The carb has not leaked since but I am under the impression that the float bowl needle may be compatible between the 2 carbs. Hope I don't have to find out.
Thanks again for all help. I can now go on hoilidays with a certain degree of confidence in my machine.
See you in 4 weeks.....
Kevin
79 GS850
82 GS 850L