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1978 GS550 all stock jetting to remove lean conditions

P

prichmon

Forum Mentor
Can anyone help me with suggested jetting for an all stock gs 550?

It seems to be very cold natured even on 80+*F days. It takes upwards of 5 minutes to warm up. When it's cold it has taken closer to 20 minutes for the carb bowls to get warm enough to take fuel. It also seems to be running lean on top. It acts like it is runnning out of fuel.

I am ~600' above sea level.

Thanks
 
I had the Cleaned and rebuilt carbs by a old school tech with 25+ yrs. experience; upgraded to dyna s ignition, coils, wires with ngk boots and plugs in oem values. Stock jets. Stock airbox; uni oem replacement foam.

I have not done a valve adjustment.
 
You'll be wanting to check your valves, and probably adjust them. Clearances tighten over time, and the only way to know you're good is to check.

Do you have the standard exhaust, and is there a fuel filter fitted, other than the one above the petcock (ie in the tank) and the small screens in the carbs?
 
It's normal for bikes of that era to take a while to warm up, the low speed circuits are on the lean side. However, once warm it should run fine. If it doesn't, something is wrong and you should find and fix that problem rather than masking it with jetting changes.
 
prichmon said:
Can anyone help me with suggested jetting for an all stock gs 550?

It seems to be very cold natured even on 80+*F days. It takes upwards of 5 minutes to warm up. When it's cold it has taken closer to 20 minutes for the carb bowls to get warm enough to take fuel. It also seems to be running lean on top. It acts like it is runnning out of fuel.

I am ~600' above sea level.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Jetting is not your problem, unless your tech changed them. Your bike is set up lean, but should start immediately and warm up in a few minutes, regardless of ambient temperature.

Adjust your valves. Verify your ignition timing. If that doesn't work, time to clean the carbs (not the 1st person who needs to reclean the carbs)
 
I had a 79 gs1000L; 81 gs1100e; gs750 many moons ago. I recall them starting with full choke; revving to 3500-4000 for ~ a minute. shut off choke and ride. Colder weather I had to choke for longer time.


I will clean cabs, check valve clearance and report back in a coupe weeks. I work out of town during the week.
 
Do you have a stock exhaust without leaks? That would also be helpful to know.

(Not that it precludes a valve adjustment, just useful info if trying to clear a lean condition... )
 
prichmon said:
I had a 79 gs1000L; 81 gs1100e; gs750 many moons ago. I recall them starting with full choke; revving to 3500-4000 for ~ a minute. shut off choke and ride. Colder weather I had to choke for longer time.
Click to expand...
Wow, that scares me. :oops:

I would MUCH rather find the 'happy spot' where it takes the minimum amount of "choke" to start, then modulate the amount of "choke" to keep the engine speed below 2000. There is just something about a cold engine racing a 4000 that sends chills up my spine. It keeps the neighbors happier, too.

When everything is set up properly, I typically use about half "choke", get my helmet on and head out. Yes, that quickly. By the time I get on the road and into second or third gear, I will turn the "choke" off completely.

.
 
Steve said:
Wow, that scares me. :oops:

I would MUCH rather find the 'happy spot' where it takes the minimum amount of "choke" to start, then modulate the amount of "choke" to keep the engine speed below 2000. There is just something about a cold engine racing a 4000 that sends chills up my spine. It keeps the neighbors happier, too.

When everything is set up properly, I typically use about half "choke", get my helmet on and head out. Yes, that quickly. By the time I get on the road and into second or third gear, I will turn the "choke" off completely.

.
Click to expand...

That's exactly the same procedure I use. Well, other than the extra 30 seconds or so it takes to put my gloves on.
 
The issue is it won't take fuel. It warms up at 1500-2200. When I go to half choke it drops to ~750 and barely runs. If I attempt to give throttle ti dies.
 
Found the carbs full of junk. Seems to have fixed the bike completely after a thorough cleaning, set to specs and repair of a drain tube.

Thanks guys
 
Better check your gas tank for rust and such

If the mechanic cleaned them before, that junk came from somewhere
 
I went ahead and cleaned the tank. I used the Por15 tank sealer to reline the tank. We had found a pin hole on the side of the tanke when we were cleaning it.

Thanks guys.
 
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