• 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.

Getting about 25 MPG on my GS650...

  • Thread starter Thread starter MisterOh
  • Start date Start date
M

MisterOh

Guest
That's half of what it should be, yes? I use it to commute in the city, so I expect it to be a bit lower than 50... But 25 MPG?! I don't ride my bike very hard at all and I'm wasting a lot of money

What could be the problem? I'll probably replace the petcock (or at the very least rebuild it). I really need to the change the air filter as well. Is there anything else I should do?
 
I rode all city this summer and got between 42-60, depending on how hard I rode.

(Is it rode or road while being used as a verb?)
 
Maybe some PO changed the jets. As part of going through all the maintenance, check what size jets are in the carbs and compare to standard settings. Is your bike still standard with airbox, or does it have pods and 4 into 1 exhaust? If the latter, the jets will be different to standard sizes.
 
Yes, somethings wrong, so time to investigate. Mileage? how long have you owned it? Does it spend lots of time in sunshine when parked? Is your gas cap still locking?
 
For that bad of mileage, I would suspect petcock and/or float needle valve issues. How does it run? Is the oil level going up? What does the oil smell like?
 
Heck..I ride around 75 to 80 usually on mostly highways and get around 36 on my 1000's.
 
tom203 said:
Yes, somethings wrong, so time to investigate. Mileage? how long have you owned it? Does it spend lots of time in sunshine when parked? Is your gas cap still locking?
Click to expand...

about 28,000 miles. i generally park it in my apartment's parking garage but it sees the sun when I park it at school.

the gas cap does lock.

As for the other questions, the gas levels don't seem to be rising. I just recently changed it so I can't say whether it smells like gasoline or not.

It has the standard airbox, but I realized recently that it's not sealed very well and the air filter is very dirty. I'll fix those two issues this week and see how that goes. If it still sucks, I'll have to look at the petcock more closely. I don't know anything about carbs so I'll need some more advice on that.
 
Yeah i run them hard..like i said, when you ACTUALLY know something......
 
Last edited:
Come ride a day or two with me..75 to 80 is stuck in traffic speeds. Oftenn see 90s plus if i can get the open road for it. But you are the all knowing Karnak, so it really doesnt matter. Now if I kept itmunder 65 and babied it it may get as good as 42 or so..but we all knowm thats not any fun. Ill never know becuase 65 wont ever be seen in my speedo if i can avoid it.
 
chuck hahn said:
When you ACTUALLY know something about what I have or havent done then your excerpts will be of value. Can you see this cyber middle finger???? You talk outm your asss so much i dont know if i should hand you toilet paper or give you a breathe mint.
Click to expand...

geez, was that necessary?
 
Someone did ask how it runs.....? smoke . idle ok? does your fuel gauge still work ? gas in oil gives off obvious smell when you remove oil fill cap. As for clutch stuff, try to adjust it,but your cable (30 years old?) might be failing and stretching. Correct asap, cuz transmission repairs are no fun!

Added; I missed the "oil change recently". What kind/type/weight did you use? did shifting problem occur at this time?
 
Last edited:
DrunkenChekhov said:
(Is it rode or road while being used as a verb?)
Click to expand...
Part of speech has NOTHING to do with the spelling there.

"Rode" is the past tense of the verb "to ride".

"Road" is where you do it.
shrug2.gif


In other words, "you rode on the road".


(I try not to correct the spelling and grammar errors I see every day, but you asked, so I answered.)

.
 
I have a 650GLD, that I would like to cosnidered factory tuned. Pushing it hard I get about 35 to 37 MPG. Normal city drive, same. Highway at 60 MPH, about 45 MPG. stock jetting.
 
Check your floats!
I had the same problem, my 750 was going threw insane amounts of gas, couldn't figure out why. It turned out that 2 of my carbs were ****ing gas threw the overflows while I was riding down the road.

You won't even notice the leaks either, the gas immediately evaporates, especially when it hits your exhaust or riding down the road.
The way I finally figured it out? One morning I was letting the bike warm up, and had to move it real quick. I just happened to lean over, the sun was shinning right inside the rear of the bike...I noticed whenever I Moved the bike alittle bit, it started squirting gas from the hoses.

My bike always smells like old gas, so I never noticed the smell.
 
Last edited:
tom203 said:
Someone did ask how it runs.....? smoke . idle ok? does your fuel gauge still work ? gas in oil gives off obvious smell when you remove oil fill cap. As for clutch stuff, try to adjust it,but your cable (30 years old?) might be failing and stretching. Correct asap, cuz transmission repairs are no fun!

Added; I missed the "oil change recently". What kind/type/weight did you use? did shifting problem occur at this time?
Click to expand...

How does it run? It runs... OK. It stalls if I ride it for longer than half an hour. It doesn't smoke. It idles fine but maybe a little high. I need to replace the tach cable to make sure. I just changed the oil. I will play with the clutch cable sometime this week.

Thanks for all the advice! I'll take a look at the floats too, 1_v8_merc. Are there any good guides on how to do that?
 
MisterOh said:
How does it run? It runs... OK. It stalls if I ride it for longer than half an hour. It doesn't smoke. It idles fine but maybe a little high. I need to replace the tach cable to make sure. I just changed the oil. I will play with the clutch cable sometime this week.

Thanks for all the advice! I'll take a look at the floats too, 1_v8_merc. Are there any good guides on how to do that?
Click to expand...
Sounds like carb work is calling! Follow the link to Basscliff's site, but have food on hand.
At next cold start,and after about 20 seconds, gingerly touch each exhaust header pipes (reach over while you're on bike) to see if they all feel about the same heat. You might have one cylinder on vacation. OK, you changed oil, but what did you use?
 
Oh boy... Working on the carbs sounds really intimidating and I'm scared I'll just screw my bike up even more!

I changed the oil and it was completely black... It was the first time I changed it since I bought it from its previous owner.
 
MisterOh said:
Oh boy... Working on the carbs sounds really intimidating and I'm scared I'll just screw my bike up even more!

I changed the oil and it was completely black... It was the first time I changed it since I bought it from its previous owner.
Click to expand...
Yes, it was black, but what color/brand/ type/weight did you replace it with? This MIGHT be part of clutch problem.
 
MisterOh said:
Oh boy... Working on the carbs sounds really intimidating and I'm scared I'll just screw my bike up even more!
Click to expand...
Head to Maine CL and in motorcycle listing search for "Suzuki gs650L"- poor soul , who bought bike last spring, got frustrated, and just gave up and bought another bike that ran. The choice is yours- catch up on maintenance and have a great running bike, or hope that your bike doesn't get any worse. Yes, carb removal is intimidating the first time, but it's even less fun to have bike that stalls out in traffic!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top