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Or how I finally got Suzi running strong!!
So, it's been two years since I started resurrecting my 1978 GS750E from several years of storage. (If I'm not mistaken, I think Carter was President.) Took it out last weekend, and I think I finally have it all right. Thought I'd share a bit of the journey.
When I stopped riding Suzi, she was definitely feeling ill. Was going through batteries fairly frequently as they were running dry, kept burning out headlights, and cylinder three was pretty much useless. I had pods installed, but had no clue about rejetting. Had put in 150 main jets (I said I didn't have clue) and was getting about 22 miles a gallon.
When I first took it out of storage (about 6 years ago), the fork seals were leaking, all three wheel cylinders were frozen, the master cylinders were frozen, wiring was corroded all over the place, quite a bit more as I would find out, and it was home to a very nice family of mice and numerous spiders. But it actually fired up. So I started with the brakes and fork seals, quickly got frustrated, and put all the parts into a cardboard box. Back into storage for another 4 years. Brings us up to two years ago.
At that point, some old friends starting riding again after fairly long dry periods, and I started to think about riding again myself. For hours, I just stared at Suzi wondering if I could ever get her to run again, and how much it would cost. Finally, I said to myself, what the heck. I'll invest up to $500. to see if I can get her running, and go from there. I've certainly wasted more money on dumber things.
But this story is really about getting Suzi to run right, so suffice it to say that before I was done, there was pretty much nothing except the bottom end that I didn't take apart, clean, or replace.
Now on to the rest of the story.
Oh, and I started this knowing nothing about the GSR. Found the web site about half way through. You need to know that you all own a little piece of the final result, because Suzi wouldn't be where she is today without you!
1: Pulled the carbs out and took them apart. Bought some rebuild kits from Dennis Kirk, replaced everything that came in the kits, cleaned them, re-assembled and re-installed them, synced the carbs, and reinstalled the stock airbox with a new filter. Bike started and ran, but not well. Would either rev high or stall. Cylinder three still wouldn't fire consistently. Played with the pilot fuel and air screws. Got it to the point where I was able to take it for a ride. Noticed it was starting to leak oil really bad from around the front of the head gasket.
2: Decided to pull the head. Valves didn't look too bad, but not great. Had the head rebuilt and re-installed it. Adjusted the valves. Put everything back together again. Definitely ran better, but that really wasn't saying much. Checked compression. All cylinders around 130 plus or minus a couple.
3: Found the GSR and starting reading every thread I could find on carburetors and performance problems.
4: Found a thread that said that the parts that come in those rebuild kits are junk and don't use them. Cleaned all my old jets really well and re-installed them (except for the mains, which I left at the 102's that came in the kits. Not much difference, and still having problems getting cylinder 3 to fire.
5: Started reading every thread I could find around setting the pilot fuel screws. Eventually got cylinder 3 to fire, but Suzi still not running well.
6: Moved the jet needles to the fourth position. Little better.
7: Moved the jet needles to the fifth position. Little worse.
8: Moved the jet needles back to the third position and played some more with the pilot circuit. Suzi ran OK, but had to keep adjusting things after every ride.
9: Back to the Technical Section. Found a thread that said if those carburetor boots are more than 20 years old, I could try tuning the bike until doomsday. Replaced boots on both sides of the carburetors along with the O-Rings. Now starting to make some progress. Idle settled down. Started to run like the old Suzi I remembered. But seemed to die out above 5K and had a hesitation.
10: Moved the jet needles back to the fourth position. Fixed the hesitation and ran good up to about 70 mph, but nothing after that.
11: Started reading threads about other performance problems. And replaced the R&R about this time, along with doing a lot of re-wiring, re-grounding and replacing bullet connectors. Also, Dyna ignition, Dyna coils and new wires.
12: Kept adjusting pilot circuit. Small improvements only. Plugs 1, 2, 4 were pretty good . . . maybe a little rich. Plug 3 was definitely lean. Kept opening up the pilot circuit for that cylinder, but couldn't get it to run normally.
13: Replaced the petcock and all those hoses attached to the carburetors, and re-routed them correctly.
14: Read a thread about the importance of not over-oiling the air cleaner. Took it out, re-oiled very lightly, and put it back in.
15: Read another thread about the importance of sealing the end caps on the airbox. Used silicone sealant (I know, I'll have a heck of a time when it comes time to get in their again). But a change almost as dramatic as when I changed the carburetor boots. Now Suzi was bogging down a bit and running rich.
16: Adjusted the valves again. Four were too tight, although they were still closing.
17: Pulled the carbs again. Jet needles back to the third position. Original main jets, which were 100. Reset the float levels. Back to specs for the pilot circuits. Meticulous about hose routing, tightening everything up just right.
18: Little more tinkering with the pilot circuits based on plug chops.
19: Suzi is back. Wife and I took her out for a few hundred miles this past weekend. Two up with about 50 pounds of luggage. Pulled strong in every gear right up to redline, even up hill. Absolutely scary, the way I used to remember her.
20: Can't believe the end of the riding season is approaching. Can't wait until spring!!!!!
Thanks to all.
So, it's been two years since I started resurrecting my 1978 GS750E from several years of storage. (If I'm not mistaken, I think Carter was President.) Took it out last weekend, and I think I finally have it all right. Thought I'd share a bit of the journey.
When I stopped riding Suzi, she was definitely feeling ill. Was going through batteries fairly frequently as they were running dry, kept burning out headlights, and cylinder three was pretty much useless. I had pods installed, but had no clue about rejetting. Had put in 150 main jets (I said I didn't have clue) and was getting about 22 miles a gallon.
When I first took it out of storage (about 6 years ago), the fork seals were leaking, all three wheel cylinders were frozen, the master cylinders were frozen, wiring was corroded all over the place, quite a bit more as I would find out, and it was home to a very nice family of mice and numerous spiders. But it actually fired up. So I started with the brakes and fork seals, quickly got frustrated, and put all the parts into a cardboard box. Back into storage for another 4 years. Brings us up to two years ago.
At that point, some old friends starting riding again after fairly long dry periods, and I started to think about riding again myself. For hours, I just stared at Suzi wondering if I could ever get her to run again, and how much it would cost. Finally, I said to myself, what the heck. I'll invest up to $500. to see if I can get her running, and go from there. I've certainly wasted more money on dumber things.
But this story is really about getting Suzi to run right, so suffice it to say that before I was done, there was pretty much nothing except the bottom end that I didn't take apart, clean, or replace.
Now on to the rest of the story.
Oh, and I started this knowing nothing about the GSR. Found the web site about half way through. You need to know that you all own a little piece of the final result, because Suzi wouldn't be where she is today without you!
1: Pulled the carbs out and took them apart. Bought some rebuild kits from Dennis Kirk, replaced everything that came in the kits, cleaned them, re-assembled and re-installed them, synced the carbs, and reinstalled the stock airbox with a new filter. Bike started and ran, but not well. Would either rev high or stall. Cylinder three still wouldn't fire consistently. Played with the pilot fuel and air screws. Got it to the point where I was able to take it for a ride. Noticed it was starting to leak oil really bad from around the front of the head gasket.
2: Decided to pull the head. Valves didn't look too bad, but not great. Had the head rebuilt and re-installed it. Adjusted the valves. Put everything back together again. Definitely ran better, but that really wasn't saying much. Checked compression. All cylinders around 130 plus or minus a couple.
3: Found the GSR and starting reading every thread I could find on carburetors and performance problems.
4: Found a thread that said that the parts that come in those rebuild kits are junk and don't use them. Cleaned all my old jets really well and re-installed them (except for the mains, which I left at the 102's that came in the kits. Not much difference, and still having problems getting cylinder 3 to fire.
5: Started reading every thread I could find around setting the pilot fuel screws. Eventually got cylinder 3 to fire, but Suzi still not running well.
6: Moved the jet needles to the fourth position. Little better.
7: Moved the jet needles to the fifth position. Little worse.
8: Moved the jet needles back to the third position and played some more with the pilot circuit. Suzi ran OK, but had to keep adjusting things after every ride.
9: Back to the Technical Section. Found a thread that said if those carburetor boots are more than 20 years old, I could try tuning the bike until doomsday. Replaced boots on both sides of the carburetors along with the O-Rings. Now starting to make some progress. Idle settled down. Started to run like the old Suzi I remembered. But seemed to die out above 5K and had a hesitation.
10: Moved the jet needles back to the fourth position. Fixed the hesitation and ran good up to about 70 mph, but nothing after that.
11: Started reading threads about other performance problems. And replaced the R&R about this time, along with doing a lot of re-wiring, re-grounding and replacing bullet connectors. Also, Dyna ignition, Dyna coils and new wires.
12: Kept adjusting pilot circuit. Small improvements only. Plugs 1, 2, 4 were pretty good . . . maybe a little rich. Plug 3 was definitely lean. Kept opening up the pilot circuit for that cylinder, but couldn't get it to run normally.
13: Replaced the petcock and all those hoses attached to the carburetors, and re-routed them correctly.
14: Read a thread about the importance of not over-oiling the air cleaner. Took it out, re-oiled very lightly, and put it back in.
15: Read another thread about the importance of sealing the end caps on the airbox. Used silicone sealant (I know, I'll have a heck of a time when it comes time to get in their again). But a change almost as dramatic as when I changed the carburetor boots. Now Suzi was bogging down a bit and running rich.
16: Adjusted the valves again. Four were too tight, although they were still closing.
17: Pulled the carbs again. Jet needles back to the third position. Original main jets, which were 100. Reset the float levels. Back to specs for the pilot circuits. Meticulous about hose routing, tightening everything up just right.
18: Little more tinkering with the pilot circuits based on plug chops.
19: Suzi is back. Wife and I took her out for a few hundred miles this past weekend. Two up with about 50 pounds of luggage. Pulled strong in every gear right up to redline, even up hill. Absolutely scary, the way I used to remember her.
20: Can't believe the end of the riding season is approaching. Can't wait until spring!!!!!
Thanks to all.
...and a decent workshop... ...all coming, just have to sell a property...
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