1982 GS300 Project - Where do I start

[Guest]

Mate like Razor said, more views than replies so someone's watching

The gaiters serve one very useful purpose that I like which is keeping the crap off your fork sliders and out of your fork seals... in addition to looking the part on a "scrambler" of sorts... haha

Don't forget if you really want to know what your carbs are doing properly, you'll need to do plug chops at different throttle openings from WOT down... just "reading" the plugs after a ride won't give you an accurate idea of too much...

 

[hjacobmiller]

This may be a dumb question Pete, but did you change any of your jetting?

I'll see what I can find in your thread.

Throttle chops indeed. Will do more reading.

First board exam on Thursday! ray:

Side note: Ducati project? Very cool. I'm definitely jealous.

 

[Guest]

This may be a dumb question Pete, but did you change any of your jetting?

I'll see what I can find in your thread.

Throttle chops indeed. Will do more reading.

First board exam on Thursday! ray:

Side note: Ducati project? Very cool. I'm definitely jealous.

Well.... yeeeeaahh I did... but that's a work in progress...

I'm hoping to go the expensive(ish) route for tuning with a wideband analyser... mainly because it's something new and cool to play with but I also want to get her running better.

Good luck for Thursday!

And yep, link in my sig. to the little Ducati project, although it's sitting idle at the moment due to lack of funds and time...

 

[razor02097]

Hey Pete... have you thought about picking up an infrared thermometer? That can tell you a lot for about 1/4 of the price of a good wide band setup.

 

[Guest]

Hey Pete... have you thought about picking up an infrared thermometer? That can tell you a lot for about 1/4 of the price of a good wide band setup.

I saw one once and thought about it... but that's as far as that went...

 

[razor02097]

haha I hear you

The only bad thing about O2 sensors is they only measure O2... If there is an ignition issue not all the fuel is burnt and the O2 sensor measures lean when it is actually rich. Adding more and more fuel until the O2 sensor reads right literally dumps fuel into the cylinder.

The thermometer isn't perfect either... if a cylinder is really cold it could be the cylinder is really really lean or really really rich. It takes some fiddling to get it right.

 

[hjacobmiller]

Would either one of them tell me why I can't get my carbs to synch up

I went to synch them up with the gauges today and had really funky readings on the right cyliner. Way down.

Didn't really have time to look into it. Not going to be able to ride for a few days I guess.

Any thoughts of what it might be?

I was thinking I didn't get the mixture screws right, didn't get the timing right on the Dynatek, or and I really hope this isn't a possibility, but maybe a burnt valve from when that exhaust was bent?

I wouldn't even know where to go if it was a burnt valve.

 

[razor02097]

Did you plug the vacuum line that goes to the petcock?

 

[hjacobmiller]

Did you plug the vacuum line that goes to the petcock?

Yeah with a golf tee.

Do I need to do the other one going back towards the airbox?

I didn't think to check if there might have been a leak in my hose gauges. I might start there when I get time.

 

[Guest]

Refresh my memory... have you done your valve clearances yet?

 

[hjacobmiller]

Refresh my memory... have you done your valve clearances yet?

Yeah. I've checked them twice. When I was having the issues with the ignition and diagnosing that I checked to make sure my timing was good and while I was in there I checked the clearances for good measure.

Update: Pete - do you have any suggestions for setting the timing on the Dynatek correctly? I have read over the static timing instructions a few times and I'm a little confused. How do I turn the engine and hold the rotor at the same time? Not a lot of room in there. I figured I might as well check this.

I also am thinking of ordering some exhaust gaskets. I don't think that is related, but they probably aren't in good shape. Definitely need to get a carb sync set screw as well. Turning it with needle nose is a terrible pain.

 

[Guest]

Cool, couldn't remember if you'd checked them or not.

Given you've been riding already, don't bother with the static timing and instead get a timing light on there.

You need to make sure at idle it lines up with the F line (I think) and at something like 3500 RPM it's at full advance.

From memory, only the right side of the mechanism on mine has an F mark, but both have an advance mark, and you need to check both sides.

Half asleep drinking coffee here so I hope that made sense...

If it's wrong that will have a big impact.

 

[hjacobmiller]

Cool, couldn't remember if you'd checked them or not.

Given you've been riding already, don't bother with the static timing and instead get a timing light on there.

You need to make sure at idle it lines up with the F line (I think) and at something like 3500 RPM it's at full advance.

From memory, only the right side of the mechanism on mine has an F mark, but both have an advance mark, and you need to check both sides.

Half asleep drinking coffee here so I hope that made sense...

If it's wrong that will have a big impact.

I have no idea what a timing light is or how to use one. I'm going to do the static timing for now and see how that goes.

It could be something as simple as there was a leak in one of my vacuum gauge hoses. I didn't realize there were supposed to be restrictors in the lines and I noticed that there was a split in one of the ends.

Any tricks for getting it warmed up without having to take it for a ride? I don't really want to have to put everthing back on to just take it off ten minutes later, but if I have to I guess I have to.

What are the signs of a burnt valve? I'm really worried about it being that.

 

[razor02097]

Timing light....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YTb6JGCXH0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

To check for a burnt valve hold a dollar bill to the exhaust and see if the engine sucks it to the exhaust.

 

[hjacobmiller]

Timing light....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YTb6JGCXH0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

To check for a burnt valve hold a dollar bill to the exhaust and see if the engine sucks it to the exhaust.

I'm guessing thats a joke?

 

[razor02097]

Nope. The burnt valve actually causes the cylinder to suck air through the exhaust. You can use a rag if you want.

 

[hjacobmiller]

Nope. The burnt valve actually causes the cylinder to suck air through the exhaust. You can use a rag if you want.

OK I thought you were pulling my leg for a second there. Like the guy at autozone that told me all I needed to replace a clutch was a new clutch and "mechanic in a can." I was sixteen and didn't know any better ha ha.

I'll try that tomorrow morning. Thanks man.

 

[Guest]

Nope. The burnt valve actually causes the cylinder to suck air through the exhaust. You can use a rag if you want.

I had no idea on that also... good to know!

 

[razor02097]

Hopefully the trick works on the smaller engines. I've actually never tried it on a small twin nor have I tried the trick with a dual exhaust. You might have to block one pipe or something the cross over tube on the bottom of the bike should provide sufficient flow for idle.

You want to watch the paper, dollar, rag to see the "puff" "puff" action. If it blows outward on each puff then you are good to go. If it sucks in it might indicate you have an exhaust cam timing issue or burnt up valve....although it could also indicate several other issues.

 

[hjacobmiller]

Well, not going to be able to check the $ trick today.

I tried to do the static timing but I can't seem to figure out how to hold the rotor in the full advance position and turn the engine.

Any tips Pete?

Well, while I was trying to figure that out, I just happened to notice that the exhaust manifold connector (don't know what it is called) on the right side wasn't seated flush. So I started to look into that.

Are these supposed to fit over the ring on the header?

I also discovered that my exhaust gaskets were practically non-existent.

Should I be concerned with the color of those valve stems?

I ordered new exhaust gaskets as well as a new sync adjustment screw. Should be here next week