help with carb issue on gs850!

[Peteortiz11]

hello again. i own a 1982 gs850 with stock everything. my issue is the bike began to stumble, hesitate, and stall recently. ive been riding it all summer with no issues and now this. went on line and read up on some air/fuel screw adjustment i could make; i did some but now the bike wont stay running at all. it will idle about 5/10 minutes then stall. i set the screws back to where i started but nothing. bike just refuses to stay running any longer. anyone else go through this? i just want to ride

[azr]

This could be anything, from a bad battery/non charging, dirt gas, dirty carbs, bad petcock, failing ignition, shorting wires, etc..etc.. what maintenance have been doing to your bike, what parts have you renewed since owning the bike, etc..

[Peteortiz11]

new battery, new plugs, ignition is firing, pulled tank, cleaned out petcock, new tank, had taken the carbs out, cleaned all jets a blew out with compressed air, checked float adjustment (22.3 mil for my bike) changed air filter, clean inline fuel filter. just wont run!!!

[jsandidge]

new battery, new plugs, ignition is firing, pulled tank, cleaned out petcock, new tank, had taken the carbs out, cleaned all jets a blew out with compressed air, checked float adjustment (22.3 mil for my bike) changed air filter, clean inline fuel filter. just wont run!!!

First off, ditch the inline fuel filter. You don't need it and they are too restrictive for our bikes. You can try running it after that, but likely you need a full strip and dip of the carbs along with new o-rings. Check the newbie mistakes thread too. It sounds like you are trying a bunch of half-measures, which won't get you far.

[azr]

Well the engine only needs 3 things to run, gas, spark and air. Start checking those one by one. Do you know how to check those? have you had a hard look at the maintenance thread/basecliffs site? and that's good advice about doing things thoroughly, spraying the jets is not rebuilding the carbs, heck you may have even made things worse if you did that while the jets were in the carbs. You've got an old bike, you need to do some maintenance. As you do it yourself it will build your confidence in the bike and your abilities, win win.

[Peteortiz11]

so i got the bike running; it still cuts out every few minutes but i noticed the exhaust are so hot they glow red!! can this mean anything?

[jsandidge]

so i got the bike running; it still cuts out every few minutes but i noticed the exhaust are so hot they glow red!! can this mean anything?

Yeah, It means you're running lean as hell. You better start on those carbs and find all your air leaks.

[Peteortiz11]

great thx! so which way should i be turning these screws, in or out

[jsandidge]

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

[Chris G]

Check your valve clearances while you have the tools out

[Peteortiz11]

turns out i had the idle screws too far out! starts and runs great now! thx all!

[Peteortiz11]

So I thought I had it "made in the shade!" until another issue began. I noticed fuel being sucked through the vacuum line on the petcock (i use a clear vac hose there) and immediately knew there shouldnt be any so i replaced the petcock. on the highway, works great now except the bike will run 60mph at 4k rpm ok but bogs down any more than that. if i give the throttle a good twist, it will bog then lunge forward as if to catch up. any ideas? by the way, i put a pic up there, its my first crack at a cafe racer! wuddaya think!?gs850 2.jpg

[Peteortiz11]

My first cafe racer. 1982 GS850gl

gs850.jpgSweeeeeeeeet!!

[Nessism]

Your engine needs air flowing over it to cool. NEVER run the bike more than just a few mins. in the driveway unless you put a fan blowing on the engine. When those pipes turned red hot your engine was seriously overheated as well.

Check the Newbie Mistakes thread and carb rebuild tutorial linked in my signature so you can be aware of some common issues. In particular make sure your carbs are spotless and you adjust the valves. It's best to check the charging system too before that starts causing issues.

Good luck.

[Peteortiz11]

Thanks for the tips. Ive corrected the "red hot pipe" issue; it was too lean. any ideas on my other issue posted?