• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

82 GS850L dies after 20 minutes, calling guru's

  • Thread starter Thread starter Blue Falcon
  • Start date Start date
B

Blue Falcon

Guest
OK, I have negotiated the purchase of an 82 GS850L, the problem with the bike, dies after 20 mins, can sit for a minute start right back up and dies after a few minutes. The guy says " I am not putting anymore money into the bike" From the list he gave me, new boots, orings, fuel lines, carbs rebuilt, new stator, new R/R, new shocks/tires/brakes, new paint job. He said nothing about the petcock. it is 100% road ready in every other way. Would I be safe in taking a few tools and a gas tank to drain the tank and fix the petcock on the spot and ride that baby home? Might even be the tank cap. Or should I get the truck and trailer for the 5 hour round trip.

From conversation it appears to cut out at speed and die, then wait a minute and starts right back up for little bit.... sounds awful lot like a bad cap or petcock.

Guru's what are your thoughts? I am getting a great deal on the bike.


Oh.... $500 for the bike, clean title.
 
A 2.5 hour trip on a bike that only runs for 20 minutes at a time could take.....a long time.

If it was me I'd take the truck. Sight unseen, there could be a whole lot more wrong with that thing that I wouldn't risk riding it that far without a good going over in the garage first.
 
hillsy said:
A 2.5 hour trip on a bike that only runs for 20 minutes at a time could take.....a long time.

If it was me I'd take the truck. Sight unseen, there could be a whole lot more wrong with that thing that I wouldn't risk riding it that far without a good going over in the garage first.
Click to expand...

what I was thinking .... but I have huge cajones and I am always up for an adventure. On that note...

Anyone in the Orlando, FL area wanna make some cash on April 30th? Need truck or trailer transportation to pick up the bike in Tampa, FL and bring it back to Orlando. I will buy breakfast/lunch/dinner, pay for gas and give some cash for the time.

PM me
 
Failing coil. After it cools down it works again for a bit till it heats up. I had a dyna coil do that too.
 
azr said:
Failing coil. After it cools down it works again for a bit till it heats up. I had a dyna coil do that too.
Click to expand...

I had considered that until he said "it stars right back up after a minute". Like enough time for bowls to fill up. When I get there I'm going to put the petcock in reserve and see if it shuts off. With all he told me I am leaning towards the petcock....and gas cap.
 
The igniter will act up also before it dies completely. I'm replacing the one on my sons 700ES so we can put it up for sale. He was having the same problem untill it quit completely. hjfisk is mailing one out this morning, I hope it's the fix. We're looking to sell it, he want to buy the 1000G I have and I want to buy a cheap 2004 1100 V Star we have at work.
 
Don't rule out the old blocked venting in the tank trick.....or if he's running an inline fuel filter it might be restricting flow as well.
 
Spray some carb cleaner in the air box, if it fires it's getting spark and no fuel. If it doesn't fire on the spray, there is no or a very weak spark.
 
hillsy said:
Don't rule out the old blocked venting in the tank trick.....or if he's running an inline fuel filter it might be restricting flow as well.
Click to expand...

This would be my first guess too and the easiest to fix. Just ride it steady with a half tank of juice and the cap loose for a while and see if it cuts out.
 
Just curious since I have not run into that problem, but how do you ride for twenty minutes with a clogged vent then all of a sudden only a minute at a time? 20 minutes is a long ways to go on a bowl of gas if the vent is blocked. Is it taking that long for the negative pressure to build up in the tank?
 
throw the cap in a butter tub full of white vinegar over night and use lots of air to spray it the next day. The vent channel is molded into the top base metal and is right under the crimped on chrome top cover. lots of ir ll around the seam of the chromed top cover should get air forced down the vent channel.

You can also remove the black cap on the inside and then youll see brown plastic deal with a ball bearing in it. If you remove the brown deal youll seethe vent hole under that..blow air down that way too if you wish to disassemble things from inside.
 
I had considered that until he said "it stars right back up after a minute". Like enough time for bowls to fill up. When I get there I'm going to put the petcock in reserve and see if it shuts off. With all he told me I am leaning towards the petcock....and gas cap.
Click to expand...

It's unlikely bowls will fill back up unless the tap is at Prime position......anyways, It's often ez enough to get fuel line off tap and test for flow...at Prime or by sucking on the vacuum line..partial flow could be rust etc as you say but why can't the bike continue to run slowly if that was the case?

I'm going to put the petcock in reserve and see if it shuts off
Click to expand...
Likely this is what you meant? : "Put the tap to PRIME and see if it shuts off"

I've not seen a tank vent fail, even if that's only because these bikes are so aged the gaskets don't seal anymore. But that's pretty easy to check too.
 
I will be picking her up on Sunday, I will know more Sunday evening. If I can't figure it out... I may be paying Rick to fix it lol.
 
That would be my thought too, I had a Triumph do that. I've also had fuel pump relays do that in cars (It may have the coil relay mod). I've also had electronic ignitions do that.

One thing worth checking that I have never experienced, is a plugged air vent in the gas cap.

azr said:
Failing coil. After it cools down it works again for a bit till it heats up. I had a dyna coil do that too.
Click to expand...
 
OK, here is the symptoms. Rode the bike for 5 hours yesterday...no issues, I had taken the petcock apart and discovered it NEEDED replacement and ordered a new one. Rode it today and after 10 minutes... started cutting out, sputtering, backfiring, popping and died. Tried to restart, would not start, turned over, had spark no fuel. Pulled the plugs, I had spark. Luckily I was close to the house, found the petcock diaphragm stuck in the seat hole, turning the petcock to prime had no effect on removing the diaphragm from the seat.....

The guy I got this from said he dumped "a ton of money" into the bike, kept taking to a mechanic in Tampa to fix it. How did they not replace the petcock??

Other issue, fuel smell in crankcase, either that or my nose was corrupted by the petcock. Compression is ~145 in all cylinders and holds. I know the 850 has breather tubes on the carbs, my question.. do these overflow tubes for the carbs...they were positioned up towards the gas tank. I thought these were overflow tubes and routed them down as such. The carbs were all set 5+ turns out all cylinder rich, actual varnish glaze on the spark plugs.... set them to 2 1/2 and the engine purred. Need to replace the plugs. Holes drilled in airbox and open holes left from bracket on top, sealed all of them. Aaaaaand finally, the gas tank level gauge is waaaay off. I'll wait til I repaint the tank before messing with it.
 
The tubes are float bowl breather tubes, not overflow tubes - hence they are routed under the seat / tank to keep them out of the weather.

If your fuel tap had problems being stuck shut it may well have had issues NOT shutting off which would then potentially dump fuel into your crankcase via the cylinders.

Change your oil.
 
Well, it sounds like you have solved that mystery. One of the petcock failure modes allows the fuel to be sucked into the vacuum line to the carb bank, and may be causing the fuel to get into the crank case.
 
Last edited:
I think you'll be very happy with the upgrade in power over the 450. My wifes 450S was a hoot to ride, but nothing beats cranking the throttle on a big four. Next you'll want a 1000 or 1100 to stick in there.;)
 
hillsy said:
The tubes are float bowl breather tubes, not overflow tubes - hence they are routed under the seat / tank to keep them out of the weather.

If your fuel tap had problems being stuck shut it may well have had issues NOT shutting off which would then potentially dump fuel into your crankcase via the cylinders.

Change your oil.
Click to expand...

oil change is a given...waiting for new petcock before doing that. Thanks for the breather tube confirmation. Back where they were before. Someone had opened the petcock before and removed some of the innards. Does. Not matter where you put the setting, nothing changes on the inside of the petcock. Gas cap vents very well, soaked it overnight just in case, covering all angles here...hoping that it is just a fuel issue. All things are pointing that way, but I like contingency plans.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top