fuel starvation/bad gas mileage

[davidduarte]

remarkably enough, when I got home tonight, I grabbed my trusty Vice-Grips, and I was able to turn 3 of the 4 screws. The only one I couldn't turn was the right inboard screw, and I couldn't really get a good grip on it, even with needle-nose Vice-Grips. I may pull out the airbox (if I can) and try a regular screwdriver on it.

 

[davidduarte]

took the carbs to a friend's house today, where we took them apart, and he cleaned them with his parts washer. Replaced the O-rings on the main jet and on the drain plugs for the bowl. Went to a local Suzuki dealer and got new gaskets for the float chamber bowls, and reassembled. There had been a lot of red, gritty gunk in the bowls (I wonder if this is from Stabil, which I no longer use), and also what appeared to be hair around the filter for the needle valves. I have new intake boots, screws and O-rings, I'm waiting on the airbox boots to get here, then I can put the carbs back in. I'm going to try to get the rust out of the tank if I can, but either way I'm installing an inline filter between the tank and the carbs. If all goes well, I should be back on the road in a couple of weeks.

 

[teddux]

Can you post a picture of your air inlet?
Seal it.

I think the megawelcome mentions weatherstripping, but I'm not really sure what I should seal up or what I should use to seal it.

The air intake is a CALIBRATED ORIFICE, that's where ALL the intake AIR needs to come from (and maybe the air-box drain).
Any (other'n drain) air leaks between this and carbs. obviously defeats the purpose of any calibration in the system.

You then have to sync carbs.

 

[Clone]

The red gritty stuff is rust from your tank, you need to clean the tank. Also check the screens above the float valves.

 

[davidduarte]

I bought some washing soda at Stop & Shop today (I thought I'd have a hard time finding it in any store anywere, but lo and behold, it was right there in the cleaner aisle). I'm waiting on the airbox boots still; once I get those, I can put the carbs back on, then start the electrolysis on the tank. I'll post some pictures of the bike in a bit.

 

[davidduarte]

Here are the carbs, cleaner than they've been in 30 years:

 

[davidduarte]

Just installed new intake boots:

 

[davidduarte]

Here's what the airbox looks like:

without filter:

with filter installed:

the airbox cover underside:

the cover in place:

 

[davidduarte]

here's the grungy inside of my gas tank:

and some of the crud I shook out of the tank:

 

[davidduarte]

the intake boots do not have ports on them with which to synchronize the carbs like the 850. I'm wondering if the screws you can see near the boots is what you would remove to do said syncing.

 

[Spyderman]

the intake boots do not have ports on them with which to synchronize the carbs like the 850. I'm wondering if the screws you can see near the boots is what you would remove to do said syncing.

yes that is exactly what there for
by the looks of them i would remove and replace them with allen head bolts so that they can be removed with ease when you need to sync the carbs which should be done on a regular basis
so removing those old beat up screws will be beneficial to you for future syncing of the carbs
it will be easier to remove them now with the carbs out you'll need an impact driver with the right sized bit to get them out
be sure to use those copper washers that are on the screws now with the new ones as they seal up the ports from intake leaks

 

[davidduarte]

grrrrrrrr...BikeBandit has "cross-shipped" my order. Apparently that means each part is coming from a different warehouse, so they may not even ship until April 8! Maybe I'll put it back together using the old airbox boots and see how it goes. I don't want to have to wait that long to start riding again, especially since we are supposed to have really nice weather this weekend!

On a different note, with regards to electrolytic rust removal, is it necessary that the charger have a specific amount of amps for it to work properly? One charger I have is 1.5 amps, the other is 2 amps. My dad might have one with a bit more huevos than that, the question is, will he let me borrow it for this purpose

 

[vista461]

grrrrrrrr...BikeBandit has "cross-shipped" my order. Apparently that means each part is coming from a different warehouse, so they may not even ship until April 8!

That happened to me on my clutch cable. They said it would add 1-4 days, after a week they still didn't have it by them yet, I was sick of waiting and cancelled my order and ordered it through a local place. Should be here tomorrow

 

[davidduarte]

I dropped off the tank today to have the rust inside removed and then lined. I should have it back within a couple weeks. I hope by then I'll have the airbox boots. I'll have to order a new petcock too. Looks like there's a light at the end of the tunnel!

 

[davidduarte]

Yippee! The airbox boots arrived today. Installed same, got the carbs back in, throttle hooked up, new gas line attached, airbox screws back in, everything tightened up. Put the battery back in, along with the new battery cover and "bottle fitting" (that strap that holds the battery in) that were missing when I purchased this bike. So now I have to sit and wait for the tank to come back. Pardon me while I drool in anticipation Here are some more pictures of my progress:

New airbox boots on left, old on right:

carbs back in:

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

I'm wondering who will have their bike on the road first, you or me?

Nice work. :clap:


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[davidduarte]

the trickiest part was getting the airbox lined up so I could get the screws back in. Again, I used my trusty mallet, using the handle for leverage to persuade it into the right place. It's a beautiful thing, being able to work on a machine like this. Nowadays, you get engineers with CAD stations (at least with cars), moving everything around virtually, "hey, the battery will fit here". Then the poor bastard/end user ends up having to bring it to a dealer because he can't work on it himself. I think anyone who designs mechanical things should be required to maintain one for a certain period afterward, then such things wouldn't happen.

 

[davidduarte]

tank still not back yet, and waiting on the new petcock. I'm praying that it will get here soon, as we had 2 days this past week in the 90's!! It's not nearly that warm now but still plenty warm enough to ride. I'm jonesin'!!

 

[davidduarte]

my order from Bikebandit with the new petcock has finally shipped!! I should have that in a few days. Now I just need that tank back, and this Friday would make 2 weeks. The shop told me it would take a week to 10 days, so I should have it back by the weekend! Woohoo!

 

[davidduarte]

the new petcock (along with some other small parts) arrived today! I just need that tank now!