GS 850 Road Worthy Project

[Deshlock]

So I am attempting to get an 850 into shape to be daily driven. The bike was given to me to pay off a debt and I have been working tirelessly to get it up and going. Here are a few pics of the base.



Notice the tape around the shaft lol




This was right after I pressure washed the engine and trans. Still need to degrease it. But it does look much better.




Here is a broader pic of the bike without the tank.





Take a look at the springs. The previous owner decided it was a good idea to cut the springs. Then wind them back into what was left. Don't understand it but there it is.




I should have more pics to come tomorrow. Putting the carbs back on to see if I can get it fired. Wish me luck...

 

[motorjon68]

Good luck! Get to work!

 

[boingk]

Good stuff mate, definitely get some new shocks on her.

If you don't have the airbox for her then try pods, I used to have mine running well with the needle raised two slots (clip lowered) and a 130 mainjet. That was with a 4-1 though, so perhaps a 125 would be a good start.

Cheers - boingk

 

[Guest]

Man wish you were closer, I'd give you a frame and the rear shocks. Someone sure got hacksaw happy.

 

[Deshlock]

Good stuff mate, definitely get some new shocks on her.

If you don't have the airbox for her then try pods, I used to have mine running well with the needle raised two slots (clip lowered) and a 130 mainjet. That was with a 4-1 though, so perhaps a 125 would be a good start.

Cheers - boingk

Yea so going back to this. So I got the carbs back on today and no surprise it doesn't like a stock setup. The petcock is bad so I put in new order for one of those. Did get it fired but it will only idle. Give it gas and it dies down and might backfire. There is no choke and will idle all day but will not rev at all. So I'm sure I'm going down the route of needing to rejet. Boingk any help or wisdom you may have would be much appreciated. Or if anyone else has a good general area to start put me in the direction.

 

[850GT_Rider]

When you say "stock setup", does that include the airbox and filter? If you don't have some kind of restriction on the carb intakes, it probably ain't going to run. If there's no filter(s), and with the wide open exhaust, you're in for a l-o-o-o-n-g exercise in jetting.

 

[Deshlock]

When I say stock I mean that the carb is back together in stock jetting and specks. It does have pods on it along with an open exhaust so I'm sure it needs rejetting. But I would think that it would still be able to rev some. But when you give it gas it on responds by either dying or backfiring. I do have oversized main jets I could put on it but doesn't only effect the top end gas supply.

 

[Triam]

When I say stock I mean that the carb is back together in stock jetting and specks. It does have pods on it along with an open exhaust so I'm sure it needs rejetting. But I would think that it would still be able to rev some. But when you give it gas it on responds by either dying or backfiring. I do have oversized main jets I could put on it but doesn't only effect the top end gas supply.

My KL600 had this exact problem. It'd start, but the smallest bit of throttle would kill it. I made the mixture richer and it fixed everything. It was awesome after that. I'd move the clip on your needle down a notch and switch out the idle jet just to get it running (normally you should only adjust one thing, but oh well. This is what I'd do, but I'm impatient). Once you can actually ride it some, it's easy to dial in a carb. Just keep going up a size until it starts to bog down the engine, then go back one size. Remember to first set your idle/slow jet, then your clip position, then your main jet. I put marks on my throttle at 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% so I can easily see what range needs adjustment. Put the marks on when the bike isn't running. I know it's stupid I say that, but I've seen it attempted.

 

[Steve]

All those suggestions to "lower your clip a notch or two" have to be taken with a grain of salt. Your '82 bike did not come with needles that have multiple notches for the clip. Instead, you will have to remove the thick plastic spacer above the clip and replace it with a couple of thinner washers that are about half as thick as the plastic spacer.

Too bad you only got part of a bike.
That parts that are missing make the bike SO much more practical.

What is your location? One of us might be close enough to lend a hand.

.

 

[Deshlock]

I'm in Destin Florida. Ok so I got the bike running reasonably well. It ended up having water in the tank. Put moisture remover in it, drained it refilled it and put more moisture remover in it. Seem to run pretty good now, enough to ride a bit to dial it in. So it idles fine, will rev fine but when riding at say 15 to 40% throttle it missiles and pops back out the carb, once you hit wot it pulls like a bat out of hell though. I did put my oversized main jets but I'm pretty sure I need to go up a couple sizes on the pilot jet, since it controls mainly the mid range. If anyone has any more suggestions throw them out their, I'm always trying to learn more. Oh, also I just got in my tool to do a valve job so I will be getting that done in the next few weeks before I tune the carbs fully. Just to make sure that isn't contributing to the problem.

I'll throw some pics up here soon, I have a friend that paints autos and bikes so once I have it running really reliably I'm gonna get the bike stripped, sanded, and painted. Does anyone have any suggestions for the engine though. I have it degreased and it looks a ton better but it still looks grimy. I'm not wanting to part it out and get it blasted though, how can I get it cleaned enough to have say engine colored paint put on it so it looks clean, but won't flake or look shotty. If that's even possible without having it blasted.

 

[Guest]

You can soda blast the engine in the frame, just some simple newspaper and tape for the parts you don't want blasted. I've done it a number of times. Then tape and paint away. There are a number of threads on here or instructions from paint manufactures about how to cure the paint by running the bike for a short period of time, let it cool, run it again, let it cool ect...

 

[Deshlock]

You can soda blast the engine in the frame, just some simple newspaper and tape for the parts you don't want blasted. I've done it a number of times. Then tape and paint away. There are a number of threads on here or instructions from paint manufactures about how to cure the paint by running the bike for a short period of time, let it cool, run it again, let it cool ect...

Thanks for the tip. I never had an idea of what people were saying when they said that. I'll try it out and hopefully I won't even need to paint it. Do you think it will take care of the rust around my exhaust studs?

 

[Triam]

I'm in Destin Florida. Ok so I got the bike running reasonably well. It ended up having water in the tank. Put moisture remover in it, drained it refilled it and put more moisture remover in it. Seem to run pretty good now, enough to ride a bit to dial it in. So it idles fine, will rev fine but when riding at say 15 to 40% throttle it missiles and pops back out the carb, once you hit wot it pulls like a bat out of hell though. I did put my oversized main jets but I'm pretty sure I need to go up a couple sizes on the pilot jet, since it controls mainly the mid range. If anyone has any more suggestions throw them out their, I'm always trying to learn more. Oh, also I just got in my tool to do a valve job so I will be getting that done in the next few weeks before I tune the carbs fully. Just to make sure that isn't contributing to the problem.

I'll throw some pics up here soon, I have a friend that paints autos and bikes so once I have it running really reliably I'm gonna get the bike stripped, sanded, and painted. Does anyone have any suggestions for the engine though. I have it degreased and it looks a ton better but it still looks grimy. I'm not wanting to part it out and get it blasted though, how can I get it cleaned enough to have say engine colored paint put on it so it looks clean, but won't flake or look shotty. If that's even possible without having it blasted.

If it's popping at 15-50% throttle you can start with the pilot jet, but you may want to put some thin washers under the needle to raise it up a bit. That controls the mixture at about 50%. (sorry steve, I thought it had the other needle)
It ought to run awesome after a valve job and everything.
I'm excited to see that engine paint job.

 

[Deshlock]

Ok guys, I got the valve job done today, so that's another item out of the way. Stuck a fan to the engine, cleaned the plugs and let it idle for about 20 minutes. Shut it off to pull the plugs and the number 2 plug boot came completely apart from the wire. It's not supposed to do this right? So I felt all the boots and the number 2 3 and 4 plug boots were very hot. While the number one plug boot was pretty cool to the touch. So I pulled the plugs and low and behold cylinders 2 3 and 4 are black with fuel and cylinder 1 has a slight brown color to it. So I'm assuming the other cylinders aren't getting good spark.

So my question is, where can I find 2 replacement coils or after market coils that will work?. Or can I fix the ones that I have? Haven't dabbled in any of this before so it's a bit of a learning experience.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[Deshlock]

If it's popping at 15-50% throttle you can start with the pilot jet, but you may want to put some thin washers under the needle to raise it up a bit. That controls the mixture at about 50%. (sorry steve, I thought it had the other needle)
It ought to run awesome after a valve job and everything.
I'm excited to see that engine paint job.

Oh and to respond to this, yea I already put in order for various sizes of bleed through pilot jets so that I can dial it in. But as I said in my previous post I have a new issue that has stopped me in my tracks for the moment.

 

[boingk]

Hi mate eBay is a goldmine for NOS or aftermarket items. Bikes are parted out for sale here in the 'For Sale' section, too.

Do not idle any aircooled bike for more than 5 minutes while sitting. You will overheat them, fan or not. An overheating bike will be rich at idle, too, so I wouldn't put much stake in the black plugs... but new coils would definitely help.

Cheers - boingk

 

[eil]

You probably do not need new coils. They rarely go bad (so I'm told) and when one does, you lose spark on two cylinders. Coil #1 fires cylinders 1 and 4, while coil #2 fires cylinders 2 and 3.

It's more likely that you bad plug boots on 2, 3, and 4. The reason they're hot is because there's arcing going on inside the boot, weakening the spark inside the cylinders. New boots are not expensive. Look for the NGK ones with a 5k Ohm resistor inside.

 

[Deshlock]

Ok, so I did end up just replacing the plug boots. Also went ahead and ordered 42.5 45 47.5 and 50 pilot jets. Once I got the new plug boots on it fired right up no problem. So it still runs with the 40 pilot jet but is very lean. Popping through the carb real bad once warmed up. So I upped to the 42.5 and it bogs immediately when throttle is applied. Tried going up to a 45 and it does the exact same thing. So I'm not sure if I'm going in the right direction or not here. Seems like every time I get one thing fixed I find something else. It is an enjoyable learning experience though. So any thoughts on it? From what I can find on the net a bog indicates it is still lean. It's odd though because it would rev with a 40 just not well. Go above and it will not rev at all. This is turning out to be tricker than I thought lol.