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horrible acceleration and no more power?

  • Thread starter Thread starter jstone8952
  • Start date Start date
J

jstone8952

Guest
ok so after my latest fiasco im on to tackle my next. its a 1980 gs550l

when i got the bike it had problems leaking gas out when parked. i replaced the fuel line and added a cut off switch.
i was mocking up a new seat and sanding styrofoam and i think some may have gotten into the carbs...? not sure? just trying to diagnose the problem at inception.

whats happening is after i rode it in the rain (no rear fender, maybe water got in the carbs? has stock airbox on it) to work, which it rode flawlessly i may add, i started it up and it was acting sluggish. you have to rev first pretty high and slowly let out the clutch to keep it from stalling, and after that its just super slow. i probably top out at 40 or 50. is there anything i can run thru the tank or airbox to clean things up or unstick anything thats since gotten sticky? i just had to redo the ignition in an unrelated event. im just kind of getting sick of this one thing after another deal. it ran great for the first few months i owned it. now problems problems problems...
 
Check your air filter. By having no protection from the elements the air filter is probably clogged after your ride in the rain with no rear fender of any sort. It sounds like your bike is running way too rich, which it would do with a clogged air filter.
 
yeah i checked it- seems fine. pulled it out and ran with it out. same problem.
 
With no filter, it'd have too much air. The air/fuel mixture on these bikes is very particular. Too much air, it leans out real bad, too little air it'll be way too rich. In the rain, did you manage to dislodge the carburetor boots some causing an an intake air leak there? Another choice here is if your spark plug wires are wet and arcing, it'll run in the manner you described. Pull your plug wires, dry them out completely, inside the plug boots, dry the spark plugs, then when you've got it all good and dried out seal the spark plug boots (you can use an electrical sealing spray available at auto parts stores made by Gunk), or RTV sealant around the spot where the boot and the wire join to prevent water getting in. Make sure all your wiring is good going to the coil too.
 
What kind of maintenance have you done to the bike?
 
i can try reseating the lid on the airbox. i turned it backwards for the ride home this evening to avoid shooting water into it. plug wires seemed fine and dry. its been running like this for 3 days now. i thought that any problems caused byt the rain would be dried out by now...
 
jstone8952 said:
i can try reseating the lid on the airbox. i turned it backwards for the ride home this evening to avoid shooting water into it. plug wires seemed fine and dry. its been running like this for 3 days now. i thought that any problems caused byt the rain would be dried out by now...
Click to expand...
If the lid on the airbox isn't sealed, it's running too lean, getting too much air. Reseat it, make sure it's sealed, then see what happens.
 
Hi,

Your symptoms could be caused by a number of issues. Have you properly cleaned the carbs? Sealed the airbox? Is there rust in your tank? Are you using an inline fuel filter? Have you checked/cleaned all the wiring and electrical/charging system? Adjusted the valves?

Thirty year old motorcycles require a lot of maintenance up front in order to be reliable. After that it's just regular maintenance. What have you done to the bike? Have you gone through the maintenance lists in your "mega-welcome"? Keep us informed.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
BassCliff said:
Hi,

Your symptoms could be caused by a number of issues. Have you properly cleaned the carbs? Sealed the airbox? Is there rust in your tank? Are you using an inline fuel filter? Have you checked/cleaned all the wiring and electrical/charging system? Adjusted the valves?

Thirty year old motorcycles require a lot of maintenance up front in order to be reliable. After that it's just regular maintenance. What have you done to the bike? Have you gone through the maintenance lists in your "mega-welcome"? Keep us informed.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
Click to expand...

carbs scare me- i have not touched them (ran fine when i got it and im scared ill mess them up), airbox could be sealed better.... but ran great with it like it is now, charging system seems fine- it turns over great, dont know how to adjust the valves.

im just not a mechanic. i dabble and i can replace bold on parts. i just dont understand why it would run flawlessly then after being parked 4 hours run like crap? its hitting on all cylinders, no backfiring or missing- just extrememly slow. i dont get it.
 
Hi,

I'm just thinking out loud here. :-k

The rain could just be coincidental. If there is any grunge in the fuel system, it may have decided to pick that moment to get sucked into a critical area of the carbs. A fuel additive like Seafoam or BG K44 might help, if it is a dirty carb issue. Clean carbs are mandatory for proper operation.

Valve adjustments are also mandatory to ensure proper operation. It may not be the cause of your issue, but it could very well be a contributing factor. Many small maintenance issues, if left unattended, can accumulate into a bigger issue.

You can try easy/cheap fixes first. Change the plugs and plug caps, clean all of the electrical connections, things like that. But the best advice I can offer you is to go through the maintenance lists and take care of your bike the proper way. After all, it is 30 years old and chances are it has not been properly maintained.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
If you are near me, I would give you a hand figuring it out. Have you checked the fuel flow from the tank? Sounds like the screen on the petcock might be plugged. Plugged in line fuel filter? Are all 4 cylinders firing? Are all the exhaust pipes running hot? Ray
 
Pleas update your location. Go to User CP (upper left corner) and fill in the data, and we can see if someone is near enough to provide some assistance.
 
ill run some seafoam through it first.

i may have figured something out tho. while i had it running i decided to tough the top of the plug wires for some reason and one of them shocked the hell out of me. the rest dont shock me when i touch them but the one to the far left outside shocks through the top of the wire. possible problem found?
 
so seeing as how im a poor college student whos bike during this time has been my only mode of transportation to and from work ive obviously been riding it while it has these power issues. about a week ago i took over the overnight shift manager position at my drug store. my body hasnt caught up so as you can imagine working from 11 to 7 takes its toll. after i get off i go out to the bike and realize the kill switch has been left on. no big deal, just needs a jump and itl be good to go. i go in my store and NO ONE has cable. seriously? since i had my first car ive always had a set of cables just in case either i or someone else needed them. its like having a spare tire. anyway i walk 3 blocks down to the napa and get a set of cheapie cables and walk back. get a jump- ride the bike a block and notice its acting funny. as i ride its bucking and lurching (had to be electrical, no popping or bogging from the exhaust, a very clear on off kind of power loss and surge) and then on deceleration it just dies. i push it into a gas station- and try to click it over and nothing. then i notice a fuse is missing on the side. wtf? so i try to kick it into neutral without the gauge lighting working and am pretty sure i have it. get a guy to help me jump it. being the total squid i am i try to kick it over in gear. it falls sideways. ouch. stand it back up and get it running, but as soon as i let go of the throttle it dies. the guy is getting impatient (understandable) so i unhook them and he leaves.
i send out a mass text message to every person in my contacts list (im sure they all loved that) asking for help. nada. after 30 mins of waiting i decide to walk home.

oh. my. god.

i had no idea how far i lived. and after working an 8 and a half hour overnight shift i felt like i was going to die. i walk 12 miles home (googled it when i got here to see how far it was) with a backpack filled to brimming with tools and parts that i carry that seem annoying at best on a bike but killed my shoulders and my helmet. a little less than 3 hours later i get home. when im on my last street with < 5 mins left i get the first of several responses to the texts from 3 HOURS EARLIER. at least they responded. i get home and my feet are blistered and i feel like im going to die. and i have work in 3 hours.

F*ck My Life.
 
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Congrats on the new manager job. 11-7 ain't all that bad......

Do you have some other way to get to work and home ? Sounds to me like your bike is needing more work than can be done in one day.

Get a multi-meter..buy, borrow or steal....OK, don't steal, but, get one and go through the stator papers with a fully charged battery. Electrics are a problem on older bikes because the connections corrode and cause resistance, that causes heat, that cause failure.....

I'll ask the same question Ed did....What maintenence have you done to the bike since you bought it ? You're not going to have reliable transportation on MOST 30year old bikes, they need some upkeep and work. However, once these are accomplished they should serve you well for years with minimal work.

Clean/rebuilt carbs, valve adjustment and electrical.

Oh......it seems to me your life is fine. You have a job, a place to live and a GS.....we just need to fix the GS.:)
 
When your bike dies and there is no power is there a smell of gas coming from the exhaust pipe? A very similar thing happened to me recently and it turned out that the coils were not getting enough voltage to fire on all 4 cylinders. This could be especially true if your battery was weak or dead.

I would check the voltage at the battery terminals. Then check it at the orange wires going into the coils (test this with a full battery and the kill switch on) If the voltage is even 1 less then you read at the battery its a good bet you found your culprit.

IF this is the case then the Coil Relay Mod as detailed on Basscliff's site should work for you.

DISCLAIMER: I make no claims at being a genius with these bikes, I had a similar issue last month, and this is how I fixed it.
 
you know that makes sense.... i never gave the battery a second thought. its started fine with plenty of power for a while. then my car battery died intermittently and i was jumping it with the bike when i couldnt find anyone else. it seems to me the bike battery dies too quickly nowadays when im trying to start it and its flooded or something. like its under 2 mins of cranking when i hear the voltage drop and know ill need a jump.
 
yeah yeah yeah you guys and your pristine examples of gs's. mine started really good when i got it. cranked over once or twice before starting- idled high until you let the choke down. it just slowly got worse over time... i am running an inline fuel filter and a cuel line cutoff switch due to its occasional tendency to seep gas into the carbs when it sits.
 
Hi,

I'm really not bagging on you. I'm just trying to let you know that your machine needs maintenance. If you had to install a fuel cutoff valve that means your petcock needs to be replaced along with the float valves and seats in the carbs. Have you properly cleaned the carbs? Have you adjusted the valves? Have you cleaned the air filter? Have you changed the oil? Replaced the brake fluid? Checked the brake pads? There's a lot to do to keep your motorcycle safe and reliable.

My bike is far from pristine, but I do try my best to take care of it properly. If you did the same your bike would run better too. Honest. :)


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
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