New member intro

[guami007]

Greetings. This is not the intro that I imagined making. First, a little background. I am 43, married (read: family jewels firmly enclosed in wife's purse :friendly_wink, with children (2 girls), residing in the land of 10,000 lakes - Minnesota. I have been browsing and reading. I have perused through all 242 pages of the Custom GS thread and have to say that there are some real beauties on that thread.

Back to intro thread that I imagined making. The post that I imagined making would have been to post a few pictures of my new (to me) 1980 Suzuki GS750E and then shooting the $hit with you guys. But noooooooo, I have this pesky little issue that I can't figure out. It is fuel related for sure. Petcock related from what I can tell. I have been around mc's enough to be dangerous at times (1980 CB750K restore) but this has not happened to me before. A day after riding mc back home, I went out to garage, turned it on, let it idle a bit and then this began to happen.



Good thing it happened in my garage as I was doing a final check of things prior to riding out to the lake which is 2.5 hours away from my home. The aftermath of this little mishap was a crankcase full of gas as seen here.



The PO is a cool guy. Been around mc's his whole life, took very good care of it for the 5 years that he owned it. I contacted him, he replied back indicating that he thought it was a petcock issue and that he had ordered a new OEM petcock from some ebay outfit out in Everest, WA. Fast forward to oil/oil filter change and new petcock install. Turn mc on, runs fine, turn off and walk away. Come back next day, look in oil indicator and see that there is gas in crankcase again but not huge oil/gas puddle on garage floor (as he scratches head). Not sure what to look for at this point. There is a very small (as in a handful of drops and only after mc sits for a while) of gas coming from right around bottom guide plate of carbs, specifically carb # 2 right where insulator boot mounts to carb intake. New oil filter and oil forthcoming for round two of this. Should I remove new petcock again? What about an in-line shut off valve and do these come in some other configuration than manual shut-off?

Any feedback would be appreciated gents.

 

[huntb]

I'd pull those carbs apart and check your float needles to see if they are sticking. And welcome!

 

[dorkburger]

Welcome to the site.
Sounds like a petcock issue to me as well. No personal experiences with petcock issues yet, but is sound like it may be leaking thru the vacuum port. Ive read here that aftermarket petcocks / petcock rebuild kits are a bit of a gamble quality wise.
If you pull the vacuum hose off and theres signs of gas there, that will tell the story.
Good luck.
Not sure if yours has a prime position, but make sure it wasnt left on prime if it does.

 

[guami007]

Welcome to the site.
Sounds like a petcock issue to me as well. No personal experiences with petcock issues yet, but is sound like it may be leaking thru the vacuum port. Ive read here that aftermarket petcocks / petcock rebuild kits are a bit of a gamble quality wise.
If you pull the vacuum hose off and theres signs of gas there, that will tell the story.
Good luck.
Not sure if yours has a prime position, but make sure it wasnt left on prime if it does.

New petcock does have a prime position that I can turn to with a small flat head screwdriver. It did not come in prime position from this ebay vendor.

 

[jeffgs]

Welcome to the site.
Sounds like a petcock issue to me as well. No personal experiences with petcock issues yet, but is sound like it may be leaking thru the vacuum port. Ive read here that aftermarket petcocks / petcock rebuild kits are a bit of a gamble quality wise.
If you pull the vacuum hose off and theres signs of gas there, that will tell the story.
Good luck.
Not sure if yours has a prime position, but make sure it wasnt left on prime if it does.

X2 on this one.

 

[Ray916MN]

I'm in the Twin Cities area too. My guess would be stuck float valve and/or bad float.

The valve sticks so gas keeps pouring into the float bowls until it reaches the level of the carb throat and then it runs out of the throat into the cylinders. Likely the float bowl overflows are blocked or pinched as normally the gas just ****es out of the overflow lines and never reaches the carb throats.

 

[eil]

Agree with what the others say, but this part concerns me:

Come back next day, look in oil indicator and see that there is gas in crankcase again

For two reasons:

1) Oil will always be above the F mark on the sightglass when the engine has been off for awhile. Doubly so overnight. See your service manual for how to check the oil level. (Hint: You have to run the engine for a bit, shut it off, wait a little bit, and then check it. On the center stand, on a flat surface.) Bottom line: If the oil level is normally visible when the bike has been off overnight, you don't have enough oil in there.

2) The best way to check for oil in the crankcase is to take off the fill cap and give it a good whiff. If the oil is not new, it will smell a little bit like gas and exhaust but if you've had gas draining into your crankcase, it will really reek of gas in there--you won't miss it.

 

[Rob S.]

Sorry to hijack

Sorry to hijack

Oil will always be above the F mark on the sightglass when the engine has been off for awhile. Doubly so overnight. Bottom line: If the oil level is normally visible when the bike has been off overnight, you don't have enough oil in there...

Is this true?

Can those who know please chime in?

 

[dorkburger]

My 1150 manual states check it a minute after shutdown. Should be at F.

 

[eil]

My 1150 manual states check it a minute after shutdown. Should be at F.

Yup. And it will go plenty beyond F after that minute is up, which is perfectly normal.

 

[Buffalo Bill]

You need the right OEM Suzuki petcock, not some knock off from china.
The carbs should hold it but not for long, it's gonna flood out everywheres.
Instead of running to get your camera, you should run to order a new Suzuki petcock.

 

[guami007]

Thanks for all of the responses gents. I just returned from the lake and decided to take a look at carb # 2. I've seen a lot of stuff on older bikes but this takes the cake. Pretty bummed out since I was hoping to go on a Lyons for Sight ride out west in two weeks and between work and life, not sure that I can get this running again. If anyone in Minneapolis area has a lead on some decent functioning carbs without the creative engineering on these, please PM me.

 

[dorkburger]

Dang, that sucks. Im pretty sure Ive heard of members using JB Weld to repair this pain. The carb looks pretty clean from the pic otherwise.
Is the float hanging from that repair? Im still not convinced thst the petcock isnt the problem, but that pic would definitely cause me to look further into the carbs.

Evidenced by your signature, you at least have a sense of humor about it...

 

[guami007]

The carbs are quite clean. That little travesty there is magnified when carbs are turned right side up. That whole post basically collapses on itself which causes the float to go all kitty-wumpus. The float does not stick at all otherwise. I thought about JB Weld and will think about it some more. I swear I have a frickin monkey on my back and his name is King Kong

 

[Ray916MN]

Give Sport Wheels (Jordan, MN) a call and see if they have a used set in stock, or bid on these http://www.ebay.com/itm/Suzuki-GS-750-carburetors-used-/141702947439?hash=item20fe27626f&vxp=mtr and wait for them to arrive.

 

[dorkburger]

http://www.thegsresources.com/_foru...ing-broken-float-towers&highlight=broken+carb
A little info on the repair subject if you choose to attempt that.

 

[jbird7262]

Welcome and if you don't know but the 1980 GS bike had an on/prime petcock with no reserve, also it is vacume operated, if the screw setting is vertical it is on prime and after shutting down the bike, you can end up with the fuel filled crankcase. The screw should be horizontal for run, mine looks like it is 35 yrs. old seeps a little around the screws, no big deal, but works fine. I have a new one waiting for my new tank. You can find that petcock from George Fixs on ebay 50mm spacing, under $50.00 www.[B]georgefix[/B]s.com

 

[guami007]

http://www.thegsresources.com/_foru...ing-broken-float-towers&highlight=broken+carb
A little info on the repair subject if you choose to attempt that.

Thanks for the reference db. Some interesting comments/ideas to consider.

 

[BigD_83]

My, that is a creative use of wire.

You can put up an add in the Parts Wanted section. I'm sure somebody on this forum must have a #2 body not designated for use

 

[guami007]

Creative use of wire is right. I went with the post option. Rode it out West this past weekend and it ran like a champ. Consumed a bit more gas than I was expecting but all in all ride was good. Thanks for all the feedback. Here is a picture of Gloria (she's a survivor ).