'82 GS550L starting woes - Clean carbs, has spark, no vroom vroom

[Plutoid]

Sounds right. 6 out of 8 valves were too tight for my feeler gauge (thinnest is .04mm, or, .0015" as suggested above. I misremembered.) The other two were .06 and .08 or so.

I sprayed carb cleaner in all the holes, let it sit, repeated... Hmm.


Black silicone gasket maker. I was just told last night that that's a bad idea. :\ The boots must be replaced, eh? Those little buggers are expensive! Do y'all have some secret shop you guys go to for stuff like that? A quick google says that they're like $160. What about valve shims? Do you recommend a homemade tool or the Suzuki valve shim tool? Any ingenious improvisations?

 

[mike_of_bbg]

gssuzuki.com

boulevardsuzuki.com

Both of these vendors have great prices on OEM parts. The boots will run about $100 for a full set, new. Good to go for 25 more years. You can get new boot o-rings with your carb o-ring set from Robert Barr at cycleorings.com.

2 each of parts 18 and 19:

http://www.boulevardsuzuki.com/fich...y=Motorcycles&make=SUZUKI&year=1981&fveh=2112

Sometimes Boulevard will have coupon deals for free shipping or $$$ off orders over a certain amount, but I can't find one right now.

 

[mike_of_bbg]

On the valve shims, I like using the valve shim tool from Motion Pro as available for $15 at Z1 Enterprises or probably on eBay too. Some don't like the MP tool - Steve is one of those people. There is a risk that if the tool slips off of the bucket your hardened shim will be shattered and pieces will fly all over your open head. Never felt like mine would slip, but maybe there are variations in machining quality.

There is an alternative, which is to use the "zip tie" method. It involves sticking a folded zip tie between an open valve and its seat to not let it close fully and create a gap to remove the shims through. It's free and you probably have the materials necessary already. The main risk here is that if you don't use a tough enough zip tie it could break and leave pieces in your cylinder.

Make 100% certain you do not turn the motor over without a shim in every bucket! The buckets can damage the cam shafts!

Did you ever get your "Mega-welcome" from BassCliff? He has documents describing both processes on his site:

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/images/gs850valve_adjust.pdf

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/images/valve_tool_zip_tie.pdf

 

[Steve]

On the valve shims, I like using the valve shim tool from Motion Pro as available for $15 at Z1 Enterprises or probably on eBay too. Some don't like the MP tool - Steve is one of those people.

Yep, that's me.

There is a risk that if the tool slips off of the bucket your hardened shim will be shattered and pieces will fly all over your open head.

You think we are kidding about that?

This shim was in my Kawasaki, but the principle is the same. The tool slipped off the side of the bucket before the shim was fully seated in the bucket. I spent the better part of an hour fishing around the head with a magnet, then almost another hour re-assembling the pieces. I felt comfortable enough that the one little piece that I could not find did not pose much of a threat, so I went ahead and finished my valve adjustment.

.

 

[Plutoid]

Wowza! Maybe you could put a shim between the block and the bucket to hold the tool in place? Maybe a 2.65mm?

 

[Plutoid]

The zip tie method works like a dream. I tested the zip tie with a vise grips to make sure it wouldn't snap before attempting.

 

[exdirtbiker]

On various bikes / makes, I have experienced everything mentioned above, except the cracked shim.
And the ever-popular "runs good till it warms up"....
my smoking guns were:
bad float height
bad stator
bad CDI units { due to bad ground wire} ( 83 VF750C ate 3 pair ignitor boxes at $150/pr used before I found the actual cause of the failures )

I would do all the suggestions listed above... then check wiring again. Are you -sure- you still have good blue spark after it "died" ? not a wimpy yellow spark ?
I'm not convinced your problems are all fuel related.

 

[mike_of_bbg]

Their may be an electrical element to this. But, he knows his boots are junk and did say that his plugs were dry. If you're going to replace the boots anyway, those carbs have to come off. Might as well clean 'em while you're in there and see how it does after first. And since you have the tank off and the valves haven't been done in a while...

If you give a mouse a cookie...

 

[Plutoid]

Hmm. I think it was yellow. Did have an arc though.

 

[Plutoid]

I'm going to do those valve shims while I've got it all pulled apart. That's my first order of business. I'm gonna need, like, 5 or 6 of 'em. Where's a guy get some on the cheap?

Just a question, but has anyone here tried honing the valve shims down to the needed thickness and polishing them?

 

[mike_of_bbg]

There should be a post in "GS Services" forum about the shim club. There's a fee to join, and then you can exchange shims for needed sizes.

Z1 Enterprises sells shims for about $5 last time I looked. Of course you have to pay shipping - so pick up any other parts you might need from them at the same time. They're fast.

If you get lucky your local Suzuki dealer might have some and be willing to exchange for a fee - sometimes even a reasonable one.

Remember that Suzuki shims are 29.5mm in diameter, not the 29mm ones used on Kaws.

The shims are hardened, it takes special equipment and a lot of time to grind 'em down and keep a reasonably smooth surface. I think Ghostgs1 (the source of the shim club) used to leave them on a lapping machine for hours just to shave off a few hundredths of a mm.

Don't forget to inventory the sizes you have. All of my valves were too tight on the first check but I only needed to buy 3 shims. The rest got to shift to different places.

 

[slyone]

On various bikes / makes, I have experienced everything mentioned above, except the cracked shim.
And the ever-popular "runs good till it warms up"....
my smoking guns were:
bad float height
bad stator
bad CDI units { due to bad ground wire} ( 83 VF750C ate 3 pair ignitor boxes at $150/pr used before I found the actual cause of the failures )

I would do all the suggestions listed above... then check wiring again. Are you -sure- you still have good blue spark after it "died" ? not a wimpy yellow spark ?
I'm not convinced your problems are all fuel related.

I would tend to agree OP mentioned how "all of a sudden" it's running good..then dead....Though everyone elses suggestions are very helpful and informative too! I gotta do all this crap..I mean PM this winter myself..booo!

 

[Steve]

I'm going to do those valve shims while I've got it all pulled apart. That's my first order of business. I'm gonna need, like, 5 or 6 of 'em. Where's a guy get some on the cheap?

The absolute cheapest way is to look up user ghostgs1 and join the GSR "shim club".

Next cheapest is to get them from Z1 Enterprises. Quickest way to find them is to go to their home page, type "29.5" in the search box (red area in top left corner), then scroll down to find the shims you want.
How do you know what shims to get? Read my signature.

Just a question, but has anyone here tried honing the valve shims down to the needed thickness and polishing them?

Yes, as mike mentioned, it has been tried, but it is very time-consuming. Personally, I would rather stick with stock sizes, but that's just me.

Z1 Enterprises sells shims for about $5 last time I looked. Of course you have to pay shipping - so pick up any other parts you might need from them at the same time. They're fast.

They have gone up a bit, they are $6.60 now, but that's still less then half of what a dealer would charge. Do NOT waste you money on a full "kit", just get the shims you need.

Don't forget to inventory the sizes you have. All of my valves were too tight on the first check but I only needed to buy 3 shims. The rest got to shift to different places.

One more invite to read my sig.

It's just a handy tool to help you inventory your shims and determine what shims you will need.

.

 

[exdirtbiker]

I spent $16 each at my dealer. I needed them NOW... even though the bike hasn't moved 6 weeks later !!! ( ouch).
The yellow/blue spark thing... The resistance to jump a gap on a spark plug goes up by factors of 10 when there is compression in the cylender. If your spark is weak without compression, {yellow} you probably have NO spark at 125 psi.