GS1100 Skipping/Hiccup like water in the tank

[willie]

I'm presently going through the same thing on my '82 1100G. I found a little water when I syphoned the tank dry but the problem remains. I found loose connectors and hoped they were the culprit. Unfortunately, they weren't. This all started after replacing the r/r and the symptoms sure seem like they're caused by an electrical gremlin. Naturally, I thought and still think I disturbed something when I pulled the battery box to replace the r/r. Yet, I still haven't found the cause. Both frustrating and challenging. The bright side is that the bike is in my garage and not on the shoulder of some road a few hundred miles from home.
Willie

 

[Guest]

Willie, I have had similar problems. I had changed the ignition to a Dyna-S when I first got the bike, but experienced all of the symptoms below until I changed over to the Dyna green coils and wires. The symptoms were intermittent and drove me nuts trying to find a cause. I can only guess it was coil or wire related. The odd part of it was the problems followed me through a new OEM replacement set of coils and caps and did not go away until I changed to Dyna coils. I guess that is a problem with an everyday rider project because there are so many different things being done that one problem may mask another. One thing I would really recommend is StarTron in your gas. I haven't seen much difference using it in the bike because it runs so well and I drive it all the time, but it has had some astonishing results with other vehicles and small motors that I own. I am convinced it's the best fuel treatment out there. At the very least you could rest assured that while using it that you won't have any fuel or ethanol related problems.

 

[willie]

Thanks Roger. You're the 2nd rider to recommend StarTron. I crossed paths with the 1st guy while out riding 2 weeks ago. Ironically, he was on an original looking GS1000S. I've been running only ethanol-free gas with a few oz of SeaFoam every other tank or so. My plan is to swap igniters with my '83 1100G 1st because its easier than swapping coils and wires which I'll do next if igniters aren't the cause.
Also, and here's something I should post in the Tips section. I was surprised to discover that the OEM sparkplug caps can be "rebuilt" in the sense that they come apart. I found infinite resistance on 3 of 4 of them and felt that had to be the cause. I disassembled them, sanded all the contacts inside, reassembled them and rechecked resistance. It had dropped to about 150 ohms. I'm surprised at all the misc things I'm finding on this low mileage beauty.
Willie

 

[Guest]

Just remember that Bakelite has problems of it's own when it gets old. If it comes to a coil change I would highly recommend the Dyna greens and wires. I paid a lot more for OEM coils than the Dyna coils and 8mm wires.

 

[willie]

I got a chance to mess with it today and was unable to swap igniters because the '83 is not a direct swap with the '82. So, just for the helluvit I swapped plugs with my '83. The idle was all over the place but finally settled down. Made me think there was a vacuum leak but I find that hard to believe because I've changed the o-rings. Anyway, I went for 2 short rides and it ran perfect without missing a beat. I've never had plugs fail on a 4 stroke before and, certainly not in this manner, but have to wonder if the plugs were original and, being almost 30 yrs old, finally started breaking down. I'll take it for another ride tomorrow with new plugs and report back. Sure would be nice if I'm lucky enough to get off this cheaply.
Willie

 

[Guest]

You will want to eventually replace your vacuum equalizer lines with silicon lines. The standard lines I used got soft from fuel, and very well could cause a vacuum leak. I used 4mm silicon line on mine and it seams to work well.