I'm thinking I need to tighten the air mixture screws down a touch bc when cold, it takes about 3-5 minutes to crank the bike. When I looked at one of the plugs, it was wet with gas. Or is there something else I need to check on first?
FIRST thing to check is your starting technique. Somewhere between half and full "choke", NO throttle, push the button. If it does not start in a few seconds, you really need to do some maintenance. Might be carb cleaning or adjustment (you said you changed o-rings, so I presume you dipped them, too?), might be valve adjustment, might be electrical connection cleaning.
Have you adjusted the valves? Do you have good voltage at your coils? Are you starting it by NOT turning the throttle just pulling full choke? Where did you set the pilot screws initially, about 2.5 turns (I think that's what the dynojet kit recommends)?
See what I said above? These are very basic items that HAVE to be right. Not sure about DynoJet's recommendation, but I have started using 3 full turns out on the mixture screws as my starting point. Keep in mind that they WILL need to be fine-tuned from there.
I haven't changed anything but the jet kit so far. I'm trying to make as few changes as possible before taking each additional step. The voltage is a lil low (12ish) at each coil but from what I hear should be fine. I have to tug the throttle a few times just a bit with about 1/4 choke on before it finally comes to life. And the screws are set at 2.5 turns out as instructed by Dynojet. Just making sure my dumb arse isn't missin anything too obvious.. lol
The most obvious thing you are missing is starting technique. Set the "choke" to between half and full, DO NOT TOUCH THE THROTTLE, push the starter button. DO NOT TOUCH THE TROTTLE TO ADJUST SPEED, use the "choke" lever.
For a cold motor try starting it by putting petcock on prime for about 3 minutes, not giving it any throttle, and using full choke. I think that is the "standard" way to start. If you've never adjusted the valves, pretty good chance hard starting is related to that. Should be next on your list, getting the valvews adjusted. Carb tuning will be an exercise in futility until the valves are properly adjusted.
Fully agree with everything except the "prime for 3 minutes" bit. If the bike has been run within the last week or so, you shouldn't need PRIME at all. If you
do find that you need it, 30 seconds is more than enough to fully prime the float bowls.
OK I'm looking into the posting on valve adj now. Thanks!
Lots of information on adjusting the valves in any service manual and BassCliff has a nice tutorial that helps a lot. If you are interested, I also have an Excel spreadsheet available that helps you do the math to figure out what shims you need. It will also help you keep track of what shims are in there for your next adjustment. See the last part of my sig for ordering information.
I sure hope ya'll don't mind my ignorant questions. ... , but I like to know WHY and not just HOW so that next time I might not have to ask so many stupid questions lol.
We are ALL ignorant, but in different areas. Thanks for actually asking the questions. It shows you are interested in learning.
Time for more dumb questions. To avoid my own confusion. I might still have to adjust the valves if my compression is good on every cyl? (approx 122psi- 4 psi total variance)
YES. Although compression might be good, you never know ... it might be better.
Well alright then! Heck that's more then I'd expected to get.. Again Thanks! Working on cars for a few years I do already know the basics, but hey, I'll take all information I can GET! lol.. Only thing that you didn't clarify for my ignorance is that, on bikes, even with great compression (only 28k miles on the bike- it had better be! lol) the valves might be out of tolerance (stuck open due to lack of clearance) to cause such a problem as I am experiencing? I know that when the clearance is nil and the valve stem touches the cam, it can leave the valve open which causes a loss in compression (just like bad rings, ect) Please understand that I'm in NO way challenging ya'lls expertise on this matter, I'm only trying to compare what I know with what I don't and to convey this to those of you "in the know" so that I can perhaps narrow down the gremlins to look for.
What happens (as the good doctor has explained) is that clearance is reduced. This also changes the valve timing by keeping the valve open longer than it should. With the very small clearances on a cold engine, some of the mixture that has been sucked into the cylinder might actually get blown back through the carb because the valve is closing too late. Air moving across the jets will pick up fuel (again). When the intake valve opens the next time, air gets pulled back across the jets (AGAIN) picking up
even more fuel. You might still have decent compression, but your fuel mixture will be so far off, it won't matter.
By the way, those engines that are so hard to start when they are cold and start so easily when they are warm are the ones that will benefit by a valve adjustment. Nobody really knows what the
actual valve clearance is on a running engine that is up to proper temperature, but you can bet it's not the .03-.08mm that is specified when the engine is cold. I am guessing that the clearance is a little more (due to the head expanding, moving the head of the valve just a bit farther from the cam), which delays the valve timing back into the "acceptable" range for running.
Also, I'll assume that I'm going to need a gasket for the valve cover for this huh? I think I'm gonna buy the whole gasket kit as it'll be cheaper then buying the 5 gaskets I know I need already individually. DAYUM this is gettin expensive! lol
Whoever promised you that it would be CHEAP was lying to you. I don't know if you ever mentioned how much you paid for the bike or what condition it was in, but you can usually figure on spending between $500 and $1000 to get a bike from "unknown" to "running well".
A whole gasket kit is highly recommended. At least get what is known as an "upper end kit". It will have everything from the cylinder and head gaskets UP, but will not include the gasket for the case halves. Some of the "upper end kits" will also include the oil pan gasket, most will have the cam chain tensioner gasket and valve seals.
lol.. I've not seen a full gasket set for my GS1100GKZ 8v.. is the GS1100G 16v the same size to use or do I need to look harder?
You will need to look harder, as there is no such thing as a 16v GS(any size)G.
Man ya'll must really love your bikes! LMFAO! Ya'll are instilling less and less confidence in my ability to get this done HAHAHA! I'm gettin slightly overwhelmed here.. Anyone want to buy a rough running 82 GS1100KGZ? LMFAO! Do ya'll know where I can get a full gasket set for my bike then? I've only seen them for the 16v engine types.
Yes, we like our bikes. Does it show that much?
I commute 130 miles round trip to and from work each day. I elected to buy this bike bc it was in the budget.. or so I thought.. I might be pizzin up a flagpole here aren't I? This isn't going to be the right bike for it I don't think? Or is it? I bought it for the gas milage. But perhaps I should start with something else huh? Perhaps a lil newer? Or am I just gettin scared here?
I think you're just getting a little scared, but don't think you are going to save much money by buying ANY vehicle just because of the gas mileage. What you should be considering about riding the bike is
Smileage. Yes, you will save a bit of gas, but unless you are driving a Hummer that gets about 7 mpg, you won't be saving enough at the gas pump to offset the cost of the bike and the parts to get it running reliably.
So what is the best material to make the gaskets out of? Composite? Cork? Reinforced fiber? Thinkness? Better to use a few diff types for different part os engine? (IE-cork for the oil pan, fiber for the gear oil cover, ect?)
You will be needing different materials and different thicknesses for the different parts involved. Personally, for all the time and effort it's going to take to make them all, I would say that the best material to make them from is CASH. As mentioned previously, $70-80 will get you a full set. You might spend $20 or so for various rolls of material, then you have to consider, how much of
your time is worth about $60? I will do a lot of stuff for myself for free, but if taking that time takes away from something that I can do and charge somebody for, it suddenly jumps in value.
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