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New forum member - new 850G owner!
Hello friends!
I want to start by introducing myself (Nate from Lincoln, Nebraska), and assuring you cool individuals that I do not plan to bombard the knowledgeable people here with questions for help that you have answered a thousand times already. (The advanced search really is pretty awesome) So anyway, here is my GS story so far:
I decided for a summer project that I wanted to learn how to fix up a classic motorcycle using resources like YouTube and of course THIS SITE
I started looking at and reading about the different bikes from the era this spring and quickly fell in love with the look and reputation of the Suzuki GS series, so the hunt was on! I found an 850G on Facebook marketplace a couple weeks ago that looked like it was in nice shape, except for the whole "does not run" thing. It turned over just fine, and would some times start but would immediately rev super high and then die. It sounded like it was running smooth, there wasn't any knocking or ticking that I could hear in the few seconds that it would run. The motorcycle is in physically amazing shape. It really does look beautiful. As far as I can tell it has no aftermarket parts except that the front turn signals are missing. So I think I found what I was looking for - a non-running bike that I could learn to fix up over the summer. Talked him into letting it go for a few hundred dollars, pushed it onto the trailer, and drove home with a stupid grin on my face.
The day after getting it home, I immediately too apart the carbs, soaked all the jets in cleaner, and then cleaned all the holes with a wire before putting it back together. Immediate progress was made! It would now fire right up and idle, but not well. It wouldn't idle under 3k, it was not a consistent idle - jumping up and down on its own - and it would hang if you gave it a little gas and slowly come back down to the irregular idle. Also - lots of backfiring. So super rich, air leaks, that sort of thing, right?
I looked the airbox over and it is a total mess. The mounting hardware is broken/missing, the snorkel on the back does not attach it is just kind of sitting back there, and the metal filter frame bracket thing is all bent up and its not sealing up in there at all. Also the end caps have terrible or no weather stripping. Basically, the airbox might as well not even be there. I also pulled the carbs back off and checked out the boots between the carb and engine and those are shot too. Not sealed at all. So I ordered new boots. I also made my first questionable decision and decided instead of looking for a replacement airbox that was in good shape I would use pods filters instead (I know I know). So some pods were purchased as well as a Stage 3 from Dynojet. All of the fun parts arrived this last week, and I spent yesterday attaching the new boots (with new O-rings), installing the Stage 3 kit (drilling is scary), checking the float height while I was in there, and attaching the pretty blue (but cheap and probably not very effective) pods. It fired right up and idled nice and smooth! Yes! I messed with the idle screw and got it to idle great at 1400rpms. I gave the throttle a slight twist and sure enough its still hanging and still backfiring as it comes back down. And then the real sad stuff happened. Fuel started running out the back of the number 2 carburetor.
I did not notice it doing this before. Lame.
I took it all apart again after doing some reading here and did the test where you hold the carburetor upside down and blow in the fuel line to see if the line is closed like it should be when the floats are in that position. Nope - I can hear a little air leak somewhere in the #2 carb. More evidence that something is wrong in there. I opened that one up again and pulled apart and reseated everything. This is when I noticed that one of the float pin posts is broken (pics below I hope). It seems like the pin and float are tight, but this cant be good - might even be the problem. I put it together again and the same leak is in there somewhere. Back to the drawing board (or forum searches in my case). Here's the plan:
I did not replace all of the O-rings while I was in there. Shame on me - the kit has been ordered from Robert Barr. I have not checked the valve clearances so I will get the kit/tools required to do that in the next week or two. I have also ordered the 42.5 pilot jets from Z1 in case I end up needing those. I also did not inventory what size the rest of the jets that are currently installed are. I didn't realize they had that info stamped on them, so I'll have to note that the next time I am tearing it apart. I think the only thing I would ask for help with today is if anyone knows where I can find the housing (shell?) for the #2 carburetor since I have that broken float post? My Google-Fu and eBay-Kwon-Do are apparently lacking this weekend.
So that's me! This seems like a great site and a great community.
IMG_20180708_133646.jpg
I want to start by introducing myself (Nate from Lincoln, Nebraska), and assuring you cool individuals that I do not plan to bombard the knowledgeable people here with questions for help that you have answered a thousand times already. (The advanced search really is pretty awesome) So anyway, here is my GS story so far:
I decided for a summer project that I wanted to learn how to fix up a classic motorcycle using resources like YouTube and of course THIS SITE
I started looking at and reading about the different bikes from the era this spring and quickly fell in love with the look and reputation of the Suzuki GS series, so the hunt was on! I found an 850G on Facebook marketplace a couple weeks ago that looked like it was in nice shape, except for the whole "does not run" thing. It turned over just fine, and would some times start but would immediately rev super high and then die. It sounded like it was running smooth, there wasn't any knocking or ticking that I could hear in the few seconds that it would run. The motorcycle is in physically amazing shape. It really does look beautiful. As far as I can tell it has no aftermarket parts except that the front turn signals are missing. So I think I found what I was looking for - a non-running bike that I could learn to fix up over the summer. Talked him into letting it go for a few hundred dollars, pushed it onto the trailer, and drove home with a stupid grin on my face.The day after getting it home, I immediately too apart the carbs, soaked all the jets in cleaner, and then cleaned all the holes with a wire before putting it back together. Immediate progress was made! It would now fire right up and idle, but not well. It wouldn't idle under 3k, it was not a consistent idle - jumping up and down on its own - and it would hang if you gave it a little gas and slowly come back down to the irregular idle. Also - lots of backfiring. So super rich, air leaks, that sort of thing, right?
I looked the airbox over and it is a total mess. The mounting hardware is broken/missing, the snorkel on the back does not attach it is just kind of sitting back there, and the metal filter frame bracket thing is all bent up and its not sealing up in there at all. Also the end caps have terrible or no weather stripping. Basically, the airbox might as well not even be there. I also pulled the carbs back off and checked out the boots between the carb and engine and those are shot too. Not sealed at all. So I ordered new boots. I also made my first questionable decision and decided instead of looking for a replacement airbox that was in good shape I would use pods filters instead (I know I know). So some pods were purchased as well as a Stage 3 from Dynojet. All of the fun parts arrived this last week, and I spent yesterday attaching the new boots (with new O-rings), installing the Stage 3 kit (drilling is scary), checking the float height while I was in there, and attaching the pretty blue (but cheap and probably not very effective) pods. It fired right up and idled nice and smooth! Yes! I messed with the idle screw and got it to idle great at 1400rpms. I gave the throttle a slight twist and sure enough its still hanging and still backfiring as it comes back down. And then the real sad stuff happened. Fuel started running out the back of the number 2 carburetor.
I did not notice it doing this before. Lame.I took it all apart again after doing some reading here and did the test where you hold the carburetor upside down and blow in the fuel line to see if the line is closed like it should be when the floats are in that position. Nope - I can hear a little air leak somewhere in the #2 carb. More evidence that something is wrong in there. I opened that one up again and pulled apart and reseated everything. This is when I noticed that one of the float pin posts is broken (pics below I hope). It seems like the pin and float are tight, but this cant be good - might even be the problem. I put it together again and the same leak is in there somewhere. Back to the drawing board (or forum searches in my case). Here's the plan:
I did not replace all of the O-rings while I was in there. Shame on me - the kit has been ordered from Robert Barr. I have not checked the valve clearances so I will get the kit/tools required to do that in the next week or two. I have also ordered the 42.5 pilot jets from Z1 in case I end up needing those. I also did not inventory what size the rest of the jets that are currently installed are. I didn't realize they had that info stamped on them, so I'll have to note that the next time I am tearing it apart. I think the only thing I would ask for help with today is if anyone knows where I can find the housing (shell?) for the #2 carburetor since I have that broken float post? My Google-Fu and eBay-Kwon-Do are apparently lacking this weekend.
So that's me! This seems like a great site and a great community.
IMG_20180708_133646.jpg
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