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Hello! New here, really just here as the middle man between the internet and my father, who is about as good at using the internet as he is at playing golf(he has never once done either.....honest!). And this is going to be long because I personally like reading other peoples back stories and also I have nothing better to do this morning - Saturday morning couch time.
A few years ago I bought a poorly cared for 1979 GS850GN and rode it around for a while before it suddenly refused to be ridden anymore. Acted like it was starving for fuel. It was my first bike and I am not a vehicle mechanic(I do rebuild industrial electric motors for a living, but vehicles are voodoo to me). I now fully understand that numerous checks and maintenance obviously should have been done before I ever attempted to ride the old nag, as it had been sitting unused for years, and also questionable repairs had been made to it by the fella I bought it from for $400.
I messed around with it a bit, cleaned the carbs and adjusted the valve clearance, put it back together and it ran again......albeit poorly. Was ready to start troubleshooting but to my dismay I discovered a significant fuel leak from the "T" nipple that feeds the carbs from the fuel line. At this point I was pretty disgusted at the idea of taking the carbs BACK off and ordering yet another part and I only have so much time in a day so it went in the back of the garage and sat for two years(sacrilege, I know).
But then I was blessed with the announcement of my fathers retirement after a 34 year carrier as a dealership car mechanic and then 13 years at a USPS Vehicle Maintenance Facility. He has also been a life long Harley rider who has always worked on his own bikes. And he's one of these old tinkerers who somehow manages to fix anything and everything from furnaces to fridges to antique tractors....whatever really. So he started getting a little nuts with boredom just a few weeks into his retirement and I suggested him taking on the GS project that I had basically lost interest in. He jumped at the idea! On a trailer it went, made the jog across town, and now it sits comfortably in his spacious and heated garage. Just in time for me to be able to fit my car in my tiny garage before the snow flies. Win win.
In just a couple weeks he's got it running halfway decent. He basically just checked all the connections, fixed a few, cleaned the points, cleaned the spark plugs(I cringed too, but he's old school and he'll go a LOT further than that to save ten bucks), replaced the battery, fixed the T nipple(I was leery about this, but he refused to buy a new one and his fix was pretty ingenious and used fuel safe o-rings and washers, so I can't find a reason to complain). Also the turn signals had stopped flashing, so he went out to the shed and dug around in a box of old relays till he found one that worked. Again, I wanted to order a new one, but he won't let me because he is very proud of his workaround. Can't argue with results(or an old man). The bike IS still backfiring through the carbs a bit and is definitely running very lean.
Next step is a new petcock as the original has suddenly developed a leak, and then a carb balance, which neither of us has any experience with. Bought the balancer but am still looking for a decent guide on just what to do exactly for my model carbs. They are the original Mikunis(the taller ones with the vacuum ports in the carb, not the boot).
And although I keep telling him that we need to work through The Stator Papers and also think about updating the front suspension before anyone rides this thing again, he tells me I am being "anal". Thanks dad. He's convinced the charging system is fine simply because it puts out about 13.5V at the battery terminals when idling.
I don't know why I bother doing all this internet research for him just so he can call me "anal" and ignore my advice, I really don't. Anyone have any advice on convincing a very, VERY cantankerous and obstinate old man to do something that he's already deemed unnecessary?
Thanks to the creators of this site, it's awesome! And thanks in advance for the advice that I am sure to receive from the members of this site.
By the by, anybody have a link to a good tutorial or guide about balancing and tuning the carbs on this bike('79 GS850GN, original carbs)? I might just be looking in the wrong places, but all I've found are guides for the next generation carbs.
And yeah, I know that I am going to get at least one demand for PICS!!! Don't have one right now but I swear I'll get to it.
A few years ago I bought a poorly cared for 1979 GS850GN and rode it around for a while before it suddenly refused to be ridden anymore. Acted like it was starving for fuel. It was my first bike and I am not a vehicle mechanic(I do rebuild industrial electric motors for a living, but vehicles are voodoo to me). I now fully understand that numerous checks and maintenance obviously should have been done before I ever attempted to ride the old nag, as it had been sitting unused for years, and also questionable repairs had been made to it by the fella I bought it from for $400.
I messed around with it a bit, cleaned the carbs and adjusted the valve clearance, put it back together and it ran again......albeit poorly. Was ready to start troubleshooting but to my dismay I discovered a significant fuel leak from the "T" nipple that feeds the carbs from the fuel line. At this point I was pretty disgusted at the idea of taking the carbs BACK off and ordering yet another part and I only have so much time in a day so it went in the back of the garage and sat for two years(sacrilege, I know).
But then I was blessed with the announcement of my fathers retirement after a 34 year carrier as a dealership car mechanic and then 13 years at a USPS Vehicle Maintenance Facility. He has also been a life long Harley rider who has always worked on his own bikes. And he's one of these old tinkerers who somehow manages to fix anything and everything from furnaces to fridges to antique tractors....whatever really. So he started getting a little nuts with boredom just a few weeks into his retirement and I suggested him taking on the GS project that I had basically lost interest in. He jumped at the idea! On a trailer it went, made the jog across town, and now it sits comfortably in his spacious and heated garage. Just in time for me to be able to fit my car in my tiny garage before the snow flies. Win win.
In just a couple weeks he's got it running halfway decent. He basically just checked all the connections, fixed a few, cleaned the points, cleaned the spark plugs(I cringed too, but he's old school and he'll go a LOT further than that to save ten bucks), replaced the battery, fixed the T nipple(I was leery about this, but he refused to buy a new one and his fix was pretty ingenious and used fuel safe o-rings and washers, so I can't find a reason to complain). Also the turn signals had stopped flashing, so he went out to the shed and dug around in a box of old relays till he found one that worked. Again, I wanted to order a new one, but he won't let me because he is very proud of his workaround. Can't argue with results(or an old man). The bike IS still backfiring through the carbs a bit and is definitely running very lean.
Next step is a new petcock as the original has suddenly developed a leak, and then a carb balance, which neither of us has any experience with. Bought the balancer but am still looking for a decent guide on just what to do exactly for my model carbs. They are the original Mikunis(the taller ones with the vacuum ports in the carb, not the boot).
And although I keep telling him that we need to work through The Stator Papers and also think about updating the front suspension before anyone rides this thing again, he tells me I am being "anal". Thanks dad. He's convinced the charging system is fine simply because it puts out about 13.5V at the battery terminals when idling.
I don't know why I bother doing all this internet research for him just so he can call me "anal" and ignore my advice, I really don't. Anyone have any advice on convincing a very, VERY cantankerous and obstinate old man to do something that he's already deemed unnecessary?
Thanks to the creators of this site, it's awesome! And thanks in advance for the advice that I am sure to receive from the members of this site.
By the by, anybody have a link to a good tutorial or guide about balancing and tuning the carbs on this bike('79 GS850GN, original carbs)? I might just be looking in the wrong places, but all I've found are guides for the next generation carbs.
And yeah, I know that I am going to get at least one demand for PICS!!! Don't have one right now but I swear I'll get to it.
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