Valve Adjustment Documentation?

[jinkside]

Having availed myself of the search function, mega-welcome, etc, and found nothing, I'm still certain somebody has documentation somewhere for adjusting the valve clearances on a 450. Could somebody point me in the right direction?

Also, I've got most of one of my carbs sitting in Berryman's at the moment. The plan is:

1. Finish carb cleaning
2. Reinstall carbs
3. Start bike, make sure nothing explodes.... too much.
4. Adjust valve clearances
5. Synchronize carbs

That seems to be the accepted order, but if somebody older and/or wiser has any suggested changes, I'm happy to hear them.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

I found this on some guy's website:


------------------------------
Valve Adjustment Video

Kerry Burton of GStwin.com has put together a very informative video chronicling the process of valve adjustment on his GS500. The procedure will be the same for all GS twins. The principle is the same for all 2-valve GS motors.

CLICK HERE to go to the Google video.
-------------------------------

That same website also has a Haynes and a Clymer manual for the GS450 and a carb rebuild guide.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi,

I forgot to give you your very own "mega-welcome".

Let me dump a TON of information on you and share some GS lovin'.

I just stopped by to welcome you to the forum in my own, special way.

If there's anything you'd like to know about the Suzuki GS model bikes, and most others actually, you've come to the right place. There's a lot of knowledge and experience here in the community. Come on in and let me say "HOoooowwwDY!"....

Here is your very own magical, mystical, mythical, mind-expanding "mega-welcome". Please take notice of the "Top 10 Common Issues", "Top 15 Tips For GS Happiness", the Carb Cleanup Series, and the Stator Papers. All of these tasks must be addressed in order to have a safe, reliable machine. This is what NOT to do: Top 10 Newbie Mistakes. Now let me roll out the welcome mat for you...

Please click here for your mega-welcome, chock full of tips, suggestions, links to vendors, and other information. Then feel free to visit my little BikeCliff website where I've been collecting the wisdom of this generous community. Don't forget, we like pictures! Not you, your bike!

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[jinkside]

Thanks a bunch!

 

[jinkside]

Well, I never thought I would manage it - feel free to laugh, those of you who do this for fun every other weekend - but the carbs have been dipped and reassembled and there aren't any parts left over!

Should I remount the carbs before or after adjusting the valves? I'd really like to avoid having to take the carbs off and putting them back on again if I can avoid it, but it seems like I should make sure it starts with the carbs the way they are now...

 

[tom203]

Yeah, remount carbs, but don't test run yet- get to the valves. There will be plenty of carb fiddling later to excite you. You do have new cam cover gasket standing by, in case you need it?

 

[cowboyup3371]

Have you emailed Steve yet for his spreadsheet? That's his name and username and you'll want that spreadsheet for tracking everything you have as well as the work you've done.

 

[Steve]

Have you emailed Steve yet for his spreadsheet? That's his name and username and you'll want that spreadsheet for tracking everything you have as well as the work you've done.

Here, I'll make it easy for you. Info is down there.

.

 

[koolaid_kid]

Before you remount the carbs, did you do a bench test for the needle and seats? You need to connect a fuel source and see if they seal or not. Much better to test on the bench rather than having to remove them again to correct a leaky needle and seat.

 

[jinkside]

Have you emailed Steve yet for his spreadsheet? That's his name and username and you'll want that spreadsheet for tracking everything you have as well as the work you've done.

Steve sent me his spreadsheet earlier this week, so I've got this one covered.

Yeah, remount carbs, but don't test run yet- get to the valves. There will be plenty of carb fiddling later to excite you. You do have new cam cover gasket standing by, in case you need it?

No carb fiddling would be the perfect amount. And no, I didn't even know there was a cam cover gasket. Z1, then?

Before you remount the carbs, did you do a bench test for the needle and seats? You need to connect a fuel source and see if they seal or not. Much better to test on the bench rather than having to remove them again to correct a leaky needle and seat.

I haven't seen any references to bench testing the needle and/or seats before. I bench synced them to make sure the butterfly valves were open more or less the same amount (they were). Near the end of the carb teardown tutorial by Nessism, he's got the carb hooked up to test the floats - same test?

I found the tutorial by Flaming Chainsaws much easier to follow. Of course, it's for a 450 and I have a 450, so that goes without saying. Surprisingly, the hardest part of the whole process so far was trying to reassemble the choke lever's screws. The thing has, what, six washers? I'm glad I took pictures during disassembly.

I'm hoping to take her out this weekend. I live in Vancouver, WA, and, well, a whole weekend without rain? That's like winning the lottery.

 

[jinkside]

Welp, I put the carbs back in and secured, checked the that everything was as close to it was before as I could get it. Set it to prime for a minute or two, got fuel to leak out. Forgot to attach the vacuum plug tube.

Attach. Prime, wait a minute, give it a start. I get one normal, non-igniting turnover, before there's a light clack. I immediately let go of the Start button, check to make sure nothing else untoward is going on, and give it another shot.

Annnnd... Another clack, and a thick cloud of white smoke comes from just behind the airbox.

Want to guess who just burned out his starter motor? Or something? I don't know, really. I mean, it couldn't have been active for more than 5 seconds. Maybe I seized the engine?

 

[surviverguy]

White smoke can be from a misfire. White smoke in airbox could have been from misfire.

 

[jinkside]

So... I should just try to start it again?

 

[surviverguy]

Heck yeah. Give it a go. Don't let a couple pops scare you... If it continues popping- I'd confirm my ignition timing and coil connections to be sure they haven't been wired wrong. My GS450 has coil connections which can't be mixed up. Yours may be similar.

 

[koolaid_kid]

Welp, I put the carbs back in and secured, checked the that everything was as close to it was before as I could get it. Set it to prime for a minute or two, got fuel to leak out. Forgot to attach the vacuum plug tube.

Attach. Prime, wait a minute, give it a start. I get one normal, non-igniting turnover, before there's a light clack. I immediately let go of the Start button, check to make sure nothing else untoward is going on, and give it another shot.

Annnnd... Another clack, and a thick cloud of white smoke comes from just behind the airbox.

Want to guess who just burned out his starter motor? Or something? I don't know, really. I mean, it couldn't have been active for more than 5 seconds. Maybe I seized the engine?

This is slightly confusing. Where did the fuel leak out from?

 

[koolaid_kid]

I haven't seen any references to bench testing the needle and/or seats before. I bench synced them to make sure the butterfly valves were open more or less the same amount (they were). Near the end of the carb teardown tutorial by Nessism, he's got the carb hooked up to test the floats - same test?

If you are speaking of page 62 of his Mikuni_BS-CV_Carburetor_Rebuild_Tutorial.pdf, the answer is yes, that is actually two tests in one, as he mentions. You are testing for float level height and to insure the needle and seat are working properly. He words it "to make sure your floats are sealing" which has the same meaning in different words.

 

[Guest]

Well, I never thought I would manage it - feel free to laugh, those of you who do this for fun every other weekend - but the carbs have been dipped and reassembled and there aren't any parts left over!

I can relate to that, never done this on the bikes, but for outboard motors, just chucked the extra parts over my shoulder and hoped for the best, no problem o.

 

[jinkside]

Heck yeah. Give it a go. Don't let a couple pops scare you... If it continues popping- I'd confirm my ignition timing and coil connections to be sure they haven't been wired wrong. My GS450 has coil connections which can't be mixed up. Yours may be similar.

On your recommendation, I gave it another go and, 'lo and behold, it started right up.

Thanks, I had nearly given up on her.

This is slightly confusing. Where did the fuel leak out from?

I wasn't able to track it down exactly, but it was almost definitely from the carbs. It only did it when it was set to prime, so I wasn't too worried.

 

[Guest]

One reason for that test is to see how well your float needles are sealing.

On prime you are letting full pressure of the fuel in the tank push on the needle and if they are leaking you will get gas coming out of the vent tubes or needle jet and leaking out of the carb.

When running you are also letting the same amount of pressure out and the only reason it might not be leaking then is because the vibrations are helping the needle to seat.

You can replace the needle and seats or try and polish them with a Q-tip in a drill and metal polish.

 

[jinkside]

Okay, so it looks like the leak almost certain came from my vacuum tube connector. It was on super tight and took about ten minutes with pliers of yanking to remove, but after soaking everything in carb dip, it now slides on and off with little to no resistance. I set the petcock to prime and sat and watched it for a few minutes and gas only came from the vacuum tube, which I currently have disconnected to drain the horrible six-month-old, Seafoam-saturated gas out of my tank.