Sins of the PO and reflections of a newb carb rebuilder of a BS32ss 1980 gs850gl

[Steve]

Carbs, valves and electrical issues are the three areas that tend to sideline a GS. Valve adjustment and electrical issues have to be done on the bike, for obvious reasons. Fortunately there is just a basic concept with each one that is relatively easy to master. Once you grasp that concept, it's easy to do the job. Valves are a bit trickier, because two of the three common manuals don't give you the complete procedure.

Carbs, on the other hand, have many parts inside them. Each part is just another opportunity for a problem. Toss in a bunch of adjustments on top of all those parts, you can see how easy it is to get it wrong. Each of the adjustments can, and usually does, affect all of the others, so a novice might not recognize the root problem. Sure, we can talk you through whatever problem you bring to the table, but what if you are not describing it correctly? Yeah, there is a bit of "fun" in learning, but it's also very easy to get VERY frustrated when you can't find the proper combination of adjustments.

Have fun with your learning curve, but we'll be here waiting for a success story or a plea for help. :encouragement:

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[limeex2]

No disrespect intended and sorry for making you feel that way.

 

[Guest]

No disrespect intended and sorry for making you feel that way.

I didn't take it personally (I rarely get "upset" about anything said on the interwebz) Tone does not come across well in in the typed word... We aren't all Tom Clancys when we write here...

 

[limeex2]

All good. I was a service manager at a 5 brand major metropolitan dealership from 1980-1999. I had brilliant tech's working for me. I've seen more issues that could be dreamed up here. I was not a working service Mgr, just a back yard wrench with good people and organizational skills, but learned many valuable lessons from my tech's. If I can pass them on, like others I will.

 

[Guest]

could be worse, I had to find another carb body after finding the old "glue the post"

 

[Guest]

Yep, that would be worse... Whenever I visit the Boneyard I'm tempted to pick up a few spares of everything I find that fits...

 

[Guest]

As mentioned in another thread. Steve mentioned the condition of the air box "snorkel" and that was a surprise to me, (SNORKEL!???) but the idea of smoothing the airflow into the airbox made sense to me...so after a couple of days looking on Ebay, and a trip to the Boneyard I found one. It's from a 1978 GS850g and has a couple of tears in the flaps that hold it on, that shouldn't affect the intake end once installed. I cleaned the 30+ years of grease off of it, added some rubber cement and a coating of liquid rubber to smooth the tears and it almost looks and feels almost like new. It fits just fine and looks like all the pictures I could find of the thing as it is installed on the airbox.

 

[Guest]

Carbs back on.... temp gas fed ... cautiously optimistic I gapped the spark plugs... charged the battery, and primed the carbs watching for overflow or leaks... pulled the choke (enrichment) cable and cranked................ fired up.... ... No airbox yet... but even without the airbox it warmed up and settled into a nice steady idle adjusted to about 1100...

This following advice and instructions just might be something to think about.................

 

[Steve]

... I found one. It's from a 1978 GS850g ...

Treasure that thing, because it's made of "UNOBTAINIIUM". :-k

The 850 did not come out until 1979.

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[Guest]

Treasure that thing, because it's made of "UNOBTAINIIUM". :-k

The 850 did not come out until 1979.

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Typo... it was from a 79 850... sorry. :ambivalence:

 

[Steve]

That's OK, I have fat fingers, too.

Then there's also that chance that the VIN tag says it was assembled in December, 1978, leading some to think that it's a '78 bike.

I have a copy of a magazine from 1979, don't remember which one it was, but they did a shaft-drive shootout. They gathered examples of all the shaft-driven bikes available at the time and did a comparison test. The test involved a ride from their offices in southern California to Daytona for the races. The races were in late February or early March that year, so the 850 that they had in that test obviously had to be assembled a bit before that, possibly in late '78.

That was an interesting test. The contenders were: Honda GL1000 Goldwing, Yamaha XS1100, BMW R100 (might have been R100T), Kawasaki KZ1000ST, Kawasaki KZ1300 and Suzuki GS850G. The overall winner was the GS850G. :encouragement:

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[Guest]

Cautious success.... went for a short ride and everything seems ok at first blush... a couple more shake down runs... but because there's some popping going downhill with no throttle.. sounds like both sides...so that's a plus... I'm guessing I'm still running a bit rich.. Might have to adjust the air screws a bit more...... thoughts?

 

[Steve]

Popping on deccel like that could be a perfect carb mix, but also include a leak in an exhaust gasket.

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[Steve]

Carbs back on.... temp gas fed ... cautiously optimistic I gapped the spark plugs... charged the battery, and primed the carbs watching for overflow or leaks... pulled the choke (enrichment) cable and cranked................ fired up.... ... No airbox yet... but even without the airbox it warmed up and settled into a nice steady idle adjusted to about 1100...

Yes, they will start and idle, even without anything on the intake side of the carb, but if you give it any thottle, it will fall flat on its face. When you have a helper available, hold a folded shop rag over the carb intakes and try it again. The idle will be a bit smoother, but when you apply some throttle, it will actually rev up like it should. If you could find a way to clamp the rag over the intakes, it will run well enough to ride around the block. It's just not a permanent condition that I would consider leaving in place.

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[Guest]

Popping on deccel like that could be a perfect carb mix, but also include a leak in an exhaust gasket.

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I'll pull the plugs when it stops raining... I went to Wright's to get a oil filter and on the way back the throttle cable broke.... Long story and a longer walk.... fixed now... left turn lights quit working.. I'd laugh if I wasn't so tired from the hikes today....

 

[Guest]

As I am making mixture adjustments there is popping like a backfire through the carbs. It's not rhythmic but rather intermittent. It seems I've been here before... trying to get the mixture right but I don't remember backfiring through the carbs... I'm going to clean the plugs and start again. willing to take suggestions. I'm working on the second method suggested in Bikecliffs website. http://members.dslextreme.com/users/storagecliff1/images/Adjusting_Idle_Mixture_on_CV_Carbs.pdf

 

[Steve]

I have not taken the time to go back and read through all the posts, what are you using for your starting setting on the mixture screws? :-k

I have always started a bit rich, with three full turns out from lightly seated. That is three full 360? turns, not three "flips" of 180? each. I have to specify that, because I helped on owner many years ago that insisted that his screws were out three turns. After I rode about two hours to get to him, I started turning the screws in to establish a base point and was surprised when they bottomed out at 1 1/2 turns. Yep, three "flips" of the screwdriver, which he called "turns".

Three turns out is more than is usually necessary. Because it is a bit rich, it will come off "choke" a bit quicker and is easier to work with.

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[Guest]

After my last test ride I found these things. Stuttering at cruise when maintaining steady input on throttle. Carbon fouled spark plugs. And the most worrying.. the airbox boots have moved and may not be making a seal... I started with 2 full turns (counter clockwise) off the lightly bottomed air screws. It was running really great as I left.. but got bad as I made the turn to come home (about 10 mile round trip in city driving) ... I'll fix the airbox issue and move back to where I was.

 

[Guest]

AIRBOX!!!!! grrr... I hope this works... I would like to find the tiny fingered guy that designed this style of airbox attachment!!!!!

 

[Guest]

Good news, bad news... trial and error after error,... Test ride results. airbox stayed in place on bumpy Salt Lake streets... Bad news bike ran like crap and fouled the plugs again. In (clockwise) to lean and out (counter clockwise to) richen ...right?) Less than two turns out and the bike dies when the throttle is "bipped".... Going back to school on the slide needles I left at the #2 slot.