• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

Stinky bike?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

Guest
Ok..... now that I've solved my high idle mystery (warped butterfly valve on the #3 carb), it's on to the next issue. As my signature says, buying this 850 is my way of rekindling an old enthusiasm for these bikes. I bought the twin to my current GS850G when it was new in 1981. Back then, emissions controls were still pretty rudimentary - especially on motorcycles. Nowadays, cars (and bikes) don't pollute - or stink - hardly at all (thank God!) due to MUCH improved emissions controls. Both of my bikes now (my GS850G and my '81 Honda CB900 Custom) smell of raw gasoline when they run - as though they're running rich. So my question is: should I expect them to NOT smell that way, or is it just the way they are, even when they're perfect, and I never noticed it 36 years ago when I had a NEW 850?
 
I'll be watching for an answer as both of mine smell of gasoline also.
 
Both of my bikes now (my GS850G and my '81 Honda CB900 Custom) smell of raw gasoline when they run - as though they're running rich.

If you are running the airbox, stock jetting and stock exhaust and they stink then they aren't as perfect as you think. My 1100E smells a bit rich on cold start up but it doesn't once warm and I know the mixture screws are a touch on the rich side. That's with pods and Kerker 4-1 pipe, not the OEM setup. Stock shouldn't smell at all with the choke off and warmed up.


Mark
 
If you are running the airbox, stock jetting and stock exhaust and they stink then they aren't as perfect as you think. My 1100E smells a bit rich on cold start up but it doesn't once warm and I know the mixture screws are a touch on the rich side. That's with pods and Kerker 4-1 pipe, not the OEM setup. Stock shouldn't smell at all with the choke off and warmed up.


Mark

Hi Mark. Thanks for that input. Yes, I am running the stock airbox, jetting and mufflers. So assuming all that is correct, then the only other thing to adjust is the mixture screws - is that what you're telling me? I have them set at 2.5 turns right now, and want to make sure I don't get it too lean. I've heard that the way to adjust the mixture screws is to adjust them for maximum idle speed, then correct the idle speed as needed with the idle adjustment screw.
 
One reason the bikes smell different is that the gas itself is different. Virtually all the gasoline available has a bunch of corn in it, instead of gasoline. Stock settings on the mixture screws were set with a machine at the factory for the optimum mixture that would meet the new EPA standards. The bikes did not run very well on that lean mixture (remember all the complaints of hard starting and long warm-up times?), so a slightly richer mixture helps that a bit. Parts in the carbs have worn a bit over the last 30+ years, which might require a slightly different mixture. And all that corn (ethanol) in the gas reqires a bit more liquid to flow, because ethanol has fewer BTUs per volume liquid.

Bottom line, your 2 1/2 turns might have you pretty close. Might require 2 3/8 or even 2 1/4, only some experimentation will tell, unless you have access to that machine that Suzuki used. Your "highest idle" method is close. To optimize it a bit, find your highest speed, then lean it out a bit until the speed starts dropping. Basically, you are looking for the leanest mixture that will idle cleanly, without misfiring.
 
Hi Mark. Thanks for that input. Yes, I am running the stock airbox, jetting and mufflers. So assuming all that is correct, then the only other thing to adjust is the mixture screws - is that what you're telling me? I have them set at 2.5 turns right now, and want to make sure I don't get it too lean. I've heard that the way to adjust the mixture screws is to adjust them for maximum idle speed, then correct the idle speed as needed with the idle adjustment screw.

Have a look at BassCliff's site for carb adjustment along with so much more: http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

Datsa Noydb also lists other reasons for it, including different fuel formulations and a few decades of wear on your carbs.


Mark
 
Back
Top