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83 GS550 Carb Identification

  • Thread starter Thread starter aabickett
  • Start date Start date
A

aabickett

Guest
Hey eveyone, sorry to be a noob. I bought this bike recently, VIN says its an 83' GS 550. Having carb issues, so wanted to get a rebuild kit, however I cannot find out what carb it is. I have reason to believe its not the original because the last owner had lots of work done on it over the years building it as a track bike. The ID number I get off the Mikuni Carbs is 43440, which is not what should originally be on there. Only issue is I cannot find out what the carb is actually from/what year it is. Any help would be awesome, thanks!
 
aabickett said:
Hey eveyone, sorry to be a noob. I bought this bike recently, VIN says its an 83' GS 550. Having carb issues, so wanted to get a rebuild kit, however I cannot find out what carb it is. I have reason to believe its not the original because the last owner had lots of work done on it over the years building it as a track bike. The ID number I get off the Mikuni Carbs is 43440, ...............................................
Click to expand...

I was thinking it might help if you posted a picture.

Like this .... ??

4K3lWfs.jpg


Note: I had done a search for Mikuni Carbs 43440 and found this picture. It is from a posting on another mcykl froum a few months ago, posted by a "aabickett", so I assume is you.... and your bike.
..
 
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The '83 550 was the first year of the BSW30 double-barrel carbs. Not sure Mr. Barr has kits for them. :-k

.
 
Sorry, I thought I remembered seeing a post from him some time ago saying he had them. Maybe it was during one of my sleep forum days
 
Sorry for the repost

Sorry for the repost

Sorry for the repost, posted to Dotheton webpage for the same issue and didn't get any info, so I figured I would ask you guys too. Yep that is my bike!
Main question is that if the number 43440 on the side of the current carbs on the bike is for different that original carbs, what kind of carbs are these, and what do I need to repair them. Carbs look the same as original, but they have a different number stamped on the side. Original carbs should read 43410, while mine are the 43440.
Redman said:
I was thinking it might help if you posted a picture.

Like this .... ??

4K3lWfs.jpg


Note: I had done a search for Mikuni Carbs 43440 and found this picture. It is from a posting on another mcykl froum a few months ago, posted by a "aabickett", so I assume is you.... and your bike.
..
Click to expand...
 
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Oh... no problem with you asking here what you asked elsewhere. No problem at all.

Good that you found GSR.
Welcome to GSR.

Yah, those years of 550s had carbs unique to pretty much just that model, so not too many folks will have familiarity with them.

You said the carbs had that number on them, and you think are not original stock for the bike. Maybe you can say why you think that.

.
 
Thanks. The only reason I think they aren't original is a guy we know who knows about bikes came by and said he didn't think they were original. Also, I looked up the carbs that should be on there, says the number is 43410, while the number on these is 43440. So what I have been working with is. A. Find original carbs to replace these, or B. Find out what carbs these are and get a rebuild/o ring kit. Total story is, bike runs like junk. Needs starter fluid to start, runs but dies a lot. Guy says I need to tear down and rebuild the carbs, says they might be varnished from the new fuel used nowadays. I also have no working knowledge of motorcycle carbs, or carbs in general cause I'm 26 lol
 
Where do you live? I know you put the US as your location and that's fine but there might be one of us close enough to help.
 
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So to back it all up, the bike doesn't run. Mech guy told me it's the carbs, so I need to fix them. Problem is, he said the slides and the diaphragm is possibly the issue, and you can't find these parts for these carbs I guess. So he is advising I get the quad single barrel version for the bike, rather than the two dual carbs on the bike now, and replace the whole mess. I guess I'm just asking for advice on what to do about all this to get the bike running again. Should I try and work with these carbs, or look for new ones? If I work with these, what parts do I need. If I get a new carb set, where do I find it? Thanks for everyone's input, definitely appreciate it!
 
aabickett said:
So to back it all up, the bike doesn't run. Mech guy told me it's the carbs, so I need to fix them. Problem is, he said the slides and the diaphragm is possibly the issue, and you can't find these parts for these carbs I guess. So he is advising I get the quad single barrel version for the bike, rather than the two dual carbs on the bike now, and replace the whole mess..............
Click to expand...

A few comments:

- sounds quite severe.... this mechanic say "maybe carbs", or did he tell you a specific observation that indicates the carbs....?

- maybe a good cleaning will take care of what ever the carb problem is (if the carbs ARE the problem). Doesnt take much to clogg up a couple little ports or jets.

- maybe start another posting about "doesnt run".
 
youll never fit anything but the oem carbs which is what you have. They were designed in part to allow for a bnarrow intake section on the bike.Take em off clean em its the only way

hit it with a shot of either prior to removal to assure sufficient compression and proper function ignition
 
Redman said:
A few comments:

- sounds quite severe.... this mechanic say "maybe carbs", or did he tell you a specific observation that indicates the carbs....?

- maybe a good cleaning will take care of what ever the carb problem is (if the carbs ARE the problem). Doesnt take much to clogg up a couple little ports or jets.

- maybe start another posting about "doesnt run".
Click to expand...

Hey Redman, so it runs if I push the choke all the way, mess with the Idle screw and spray ether. However, without either holding the throttle down all the time or or changing the idle to really high, it won't keep running. Really poor low end performance. Even if I find the sweet spot with the idle screw, I still have to use ether to start it every time. He said that it is most likely the carbs because of the age and design, something about the new gas we use today eating up the old rubber. Not actually 100% why he believes the carbs are the issue.
 
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Cipher said:
youll never fit anything but the oem carbs which is what you have. They were designed in part to allow for a bnarrow intake section on the bike.Take em off clean em its the only way

hit it with a shot of either prior to removal to assure sufficient compression and proper function ignition
Click to expand...

Cipher, it looks like you have a 550 too, know of any place to get a gasket kit for the dual carbs on the bike?
 
bowl gaskets would need to be orded through a dealer or online suzuki oem parts supplier
cycle o rings has the internal o rings as wll as those two needed for the fuel pipe that connects the carbs together you can also get the intak o rings which are likely gone bad due to heat and age

high idle is a symptom of these leaking
20 bucks for all iirc
never had to replace bowl gaskets as they fell off but i have seen some zealots use a gasket cement which serves only to require gasket destruction during removal.

Oh and take extreme care when finagling the brass valve seats out they are easy to distort
get the fine manual here http://gsarchive.bwringer.com/mtsac/~cliff/storage/gs/GS550E-ES-L_1983.PDF
 
Thanks for the help Cipher. Im not sure about the gasket set because I have the weird two barrel carb. Thats been my biggest issue at this point is seeing if I can even find parts for it. I posted another thread with a picture of my carbs to see if anyone knows where to find diaphragms for them, since my mechanic says ill need them.
 
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