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getting frustrated, bike wont start again.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Quest
  • Start date Start date
Q

Quest

Guest
I have a 81 gs550t. I had a problem where the bike would suddenly shut off and wouldnt start again.i took the carbs off cleaned them and and it didnt fix the problem. The i changed the RR got the jetting correct and it ran fine for a few days, better then ever. Everything was fine then it wouldnt start for some reason. I went out a couple days later and it started right back up once i jump started it. I went for a ride took it to the car wash and after washing it, it wouldnt start. It finaly started so i jumped on to ride it home and it just suddenly died and i had to push it home :/

If it has been sitting for about a day it will cough when i first try to jump start it but then nothing it just cranks and cranks. I checked for spark and it has spark, the carbs are getting fuel from the tank, what could be the problem? What do i need to check?
 
How did you clean the carbs? Spraying them with carb cleaner and removing the jets to clean them? Or a complete strip and dip? I say this because I thought carb cleaner would solve all my problems and I even soaked the jets in some! But it didn't help at all. I completely tore down my carbs and dipped them and lo and behold! it started right up no problem
 
Im not positive about much but im sure the carbs dont need to be recleaned it was running great and then boom it wont start. If the carbs needed to be cleaned im sure i would be able to tell be the way it was running, when it was running. Bit no i didnt completly take the carbs apart. The carbs looked very clean inside before i cleaned them. I doubt dirty carbs would cause the bike to run great then just shut off, it has to be something else.
huntb said:
How did you clean the carbs? Spraying them with carb cleaner and removing the jets to clean them? Or a complete strip and dip? I say this because I thought carb cleaner would solve all my problems and I even soaked the jets in some! But it didn't help at all. I completely tore down my carbs and dipped them and lo and behold! it started right up no problem
Click to expand...
 
Quest said:
Im not positive about much but im sure the carbs dont need to be recleaned it was running great and then boom it wont start. If the carbs needed to be cleaned im sure i would be able to tell be the way it was running, when it was running. Bit no i didnt completly take the carbs apart. The carbs looked very clean inside before i cleaned them. I doubt dirty carbs would cause the bike to run great then just shut off, it has to be something else.
Click to expand...

Well, you made mistake #1 looking clean doesn't mean clean. The only way to clean your carbs is a complete strip and dip as mentioned before. You'll need new orings get these at Cycleorings.com. You might need some new fuel bowl gaskets, it just depends. There is a tutorial for cleaning carbs on this forum, follow it to the T. You probably should inspect, clean any and all electrical connections, replace any that are burnt and do a quick test of the charging system. When were the valves last adjusted? Have you check the fuel flow from your petcock? See we be just getting started.
 
The carbs are clean the bime was running great and then.just shut off. How do I test the charging system?
mrbill5491 said:
Well, you made mistake #1 looking clean doesn't mean clean. The only way to clean your carbs is a complete strip and dip as mentioned before. You'll need new orings get these at Cycleorings.com. You might need some new fuel bowl gaskets, it just depends. There is a tutorial for cleaning carbs on this forum, follow it to the T. You probably should inspect, clean any and all electrical connections, replace any that are burnt and do a quick test of the charging system. When were the valves last adjusted? Have you check the fuel flow from your petcock? See we be just getting started.
Click to expand...
 
Just for the sake of completeness, what kind of car wash did you use to clean your bike? Jet sprays are not usually motorcycle-friendly.

I'm leaning toward something electrical, but at some point you really should strip and dip the carbs to get rid of any doubt on that front.
 
I used the jet spray but i dont think that is the problem because it was doing it before i took it there and started up afterwards then suddenly died. Im think it is something electrical too but i dont know what to or how to test to figure it out.

And thanks, for the tip about cleaning the carbs but again they are clean!
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the link. If i thought it was the carbs being dirty i would clean them i would literaly have no reason not to as i want my bike to run.
 
Start with checking the cranking voltage at the coils. If you are losing more than a volt from the battery to the coils, clean up all of the connections in that circuit. Voltages below 10ish may not be enough to give a good enough spark.

Work off the paradigm of fuel/air/spark. If you are missing one of these, or are not getting compression/spark at the same time, then it's not going to start.
 
Quest said:
Thanks for the link. If i thought it was the carbs being dirty i would clean them i would literaly have no reason not to as i want my bike to run.
Click to expand...

Nope, because never in the history of carb cleaning has some sort of dirt gotten missed and has gotten knocked loose and plugged passages. DIP YOUR CARBS!!!
 
What rpm's were you running when it died?
If you were at idle,it could indeed be some trash in the carbs.
If you were accelerating,I would look at the fuel tank/petcock,etc.
 
Quest, just to get it out of the way, when were your valves checked last? If they are tight, the engine will struggle to run, especially when it gets hot.

And +1 to checking the coils. I don't think it relates directly to your issue, but I had a 40 year old Honda that would run great for 30 minutes at a time. Once the coils heated up, they would crap out until they cooled down.
 
Big Rich said:
Quest, just to get it out of the way, when were your valves checked last? If they are tight, the engine will struggle to run, especially when it gets hot.

And +1 to checking the coils. I don't think it relates directly to your issue, but I had a 40 year old Honda that would run great for 30 minutes at a time. Once the coils heated up, they would crap out until they cooled down.
Click to expand...

Mine ran like a top, never quit. Once in awhile it would not fire a lick to start. Turned out to be a weird hot wire to the coils issue, completely random. I got ****ed and went to a Dyna S wired as a stand alone system, even uses it's own dedicated switch because now I always know I have ignition.
 
Clean the carbs properly, check the valves, do all the basic maintenance or you'll be hurting. With that said, what's battery voltage with the key off? on? when trying to start?
 
Okay the last few posts are pretty much the same things I had suggested. What say you now?
 
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