81 gs850g carb question

[soupsandwhich]

hi,

new to the forums. just got the bike from a friend who bought it new and is getting to old to ride. he let it sit for the past two years. said that everything should be good to go, but might need some carb work from sitting so long.

well had to bypass the starter solenoid but started right up, but.... the carb boots on the intake box side were leaking fuel like a waterfall. . I have taken carbs apart for some other bikes and that isn't to hard. my question is where, if i can, buy new boots for intake and airbox sides?

the fuel tank looked like it had some gunk in it so i found a "like new" one on ebay to fix that. then just a starter solenoid and a good bath and she will be road worthy. Ill put up some pictures soon.

thanks
Kyle

 

[Nessism]

Part Shark has good prices on Suzuki parts.

cycleorings.com sells carb kits for cheap. Don't forget to order new O-rings for the carb boots while you are there.

My signature has links to some good info about carb rebuilding and newbie mistakes. Well worth the time to read though these.

Good luck and welcome!

 

[Flyboy]

Welcome to the nut house, sounds like you got a sweet deal there, Nessim is right, take the time to do the carb rebuild properly as pr his excelent tutorial, and go through the list of newbie mistakes.
Basscliff should be along shortly with his welcome wagon, loaded full of GS information, do some reading and take care of all the maintenence items listed. Do that and your bike will serve you well for many years to come and reward you with many happy miles.
Oh and where are the pics, we love pics.....

 

[7981GS]

Ed made a fantastic carb tutorial.
Follow it to a T and all will be right in the land of GS Suzuki.

Daniel

 

[soupsandwhich]

Awesome definitely will read anything you throw at me. @flyboy I took off the seat and fuel tank so it's not much to look at but when I get home ill upload some pics.

 

[Flyboy]

Phhaa, gotta look better than mine when I started the rebuild.

 

[soupsandwhich]

just a little update.

I got the carbs off and am starting the cleaning process on that. thanks for the o-ring source. I still am in need of new or "in good shape" intake and airbox boots for the carbs. the ones I found online so far are like 200 for each side....... I was wondering if anyone on here had a better source for them I have tried ebay, bikebandit, partshark, and google. If I can't find them is there something I could put there in place of the boots or.....

the fuel tank I did some reading on and I think i'm going to try cleaning out the one I have. I don't think there is any large rusted out spots so I saw online that you can put 1/4 inch bolts in with some kind of acid and shake it for like half an hour. Has anyone had any luck with this method? I will try to get some pics up tomorrow when I have some light out.

@flyboy - pics of the bike are coming tomorrow with the fuel tank

 

[Steve]

I still am in need of new or "in good shape" intake and airbox boots for the carbs. the ones I found online so far are like 200 for each side....... I was wondering if anyone on here had a better source for them I have tried ebay, bikebandit, partshark, and google.

I thought you must have been looking at Alpha with those prices.

G&S Suzuki has the intake boots for $24.22 each, and the airbox boots for $10.25 each.

Your total would be $137.88, plus shipping.

Alpha has them for 35.83 and 16.66, for a total of 209.96.

.

 

[TheCafeKid]

just a little update.

I got the carbs off and am starting the cleaning process on that. thanks for the o-ring source. I still am in need of new or "in good shape" intake and airbox boots for the carbs. the ones I found online so far are like 200 for each side....... I was wondering if anyone on here had a better source for them I have tried ebay, bikebandit, partshark, and google. If I can't find them is there something I could put there in place of the boots or.....

the fuel tank I did some reading on and I think i'm going to try cleaning out the one I have. I don't think there is any large rusted out spots so I saw online that you can put 1/4 inch bolts in with some kind of acid and shake it for like half an hour. Has anyone had any luck with this method? I will try to get some pics up tomorrow when I have some light out.

@flyboy - pics of the bike are coming tomorrow with the fuel tank

What steve said on the boots. But, be sure you actually need all of them. Often the motor side boots can be ok, they just need the Orings behind them (between the motor and the boot itself there is a channel an Oring sits in. This seals the boot to the head. (heh, boot to the head) these nearly always need replaced unless they've been done very very recently) unless the boots are rock hard, or pulling or crumbling away from the steel flange they're moulded around, you might be able to salvage them. The airbox side boots will often dry out and shrink away from the motor, making a sure seal around te carbs difficult to achieve.

On the tank, the acid most comonly used is either muriatic or hydrochloric acid. I'd only advise this if you plan on repainting as if you get some acid on the paint, it's likely toast.
However, you should establish whether or not what you see is actually rust, or just varnish from years of gas sitting in the tank. If it's rust, and not horrible, a product called Evapo-Rust will work wonders without damaging the paint. It's sort of expensive, but a couple gallons poured in, with some BBs or bolts and shaken now and again, and changing the position of the tank every so often should take care of the majority of rust pretty quick. You can also try the electrolysis method, which is paint safe as well. (do a search, many threads on electrolysis) if it's varnish you're dealing with, some
Turpentine or something like that may help, but again, careful with the paint.

 

[soupsandwhich]

I thought you must have been looking at Alpha with those prices.
G&S Suzuki has the intake boots for $24.22 each, and the airbox boots for $10.25 each.

Your total would be $137.88, plus shipping.

Alpha has them for 35.83 and 16.66, for a total of 209.96.

.

mostly the intake ones are just hard and some minor cracks, but the airbox ones look like they were forced on the carbs and tightened down like that. is there a way to soften them up?

On the tank, the acid most comonly used is either muriatic or hydrochloric acid. I'd only advise this if you plan on repainting as if you get some acid on the paint, it's likely toast.
However, you should establish whether or not what you see is actually rust, or just varnish from years of gas sitting in the tank. If it's rust, and not horrible, a product called Evapo-Rust will work wonders without damaging the paint. It's sort of expensive, but a couple gallons poured in, with some BBs or bolts and shaken now and again, and changing the position of the tank every so often should take care of the majority of rust pretty quick. You can also try the electrolysis method, which is paint safe as well. (do a search, many threads on electrolysis) if it's varnish you're dealing with, some
Turpentine or something like that may help, but again, careful with the paint.

well I dont know if there really is that much rust. there is a yellowish gunk all over the bottom that I assume is varnish. is the acid with bolts good for that?

 

[Flyboy]

Apparently ATF is good for softening rubber bits, Chuck is busy messing with it as we speak, I wait in anticipation for his results and feedback.

Also, vinagar is good for derusting tanks on the cheap, a bunch of bolts or aquarium rocks and a few gallons of cheap and nasty white vinigar from Wal Mart apparently gets the tank looking brand new inside, It will be the way I go if my tank need it. But just be warned, when you drain the vinigar, it will flash rust almost right away due to the exposed, unprotected metal, the way to stop it, is to spray a good misting of Q20 or WD40 into the tank as soon as you have drained the vinigar, to protect the bare metal.

 

[soupsandwhich]

photos....because everyone loves photos

the bike apart dont have any of it together sorry.

here are some pics of the inside of the fuel tank. they turned out better than I thought they would. all these are from my phone.

I still dont know if you can really see the gunk in there but its not rust.

here is some pics of the boots. after a close inspection I think I have to spend the money and just get new ones.

links to the rest

http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab174/soupsandwhich/IMG_20111124_110143.jpg
http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab174/soupsandwhich/IMG_20111124_104325.jpg
http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab174/soupsandwhich/IMG_20111124_104319.jpg
http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab174/soupsandwhich/IMG_20111124_104301.jpg
http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab174/soupsandwhich/IMG_20111124_104229.jpg

any advice and comments are appreciated.

 

[Nessism]

The tank has a failing liner inside. There are various threads in the archives on how to correct that situation, however I'll tell you now that it's a lot of work.


Good luck

 

[soupsandwhich]

could you point me in the right direction to one of the threads that topic I searched for fuel tank liners and failing liners and found nothing.