3rd header cold most of the time, but not always.

[cockneyrick]

Engine was a friends who ran it ok. I had it on bench for 2 years before fitting & have done nothing to it.
Carbs are 34CV's

[spadefoot]

OK, got a call from the carb guy today, he took them apart and cleaned them. Still not running right. He mumbled something about valve shims and indicated that was more than he was willing to work on. I won't have the bike back until Friday, so no troubleshooting until then. Any suggestions? I'm pretty sure, given that the carbs were too much for me to get into, that adjusting the valves will be WAY too much? Thoughts? Otherwise, I think I'm at the end of this bike. Anyone wanna buy some parts?

[cowboyup3371]

You will be able to do the carbs AND the valve adjustment on YOUR OWN. Just read the information Basscliff gave you and search the archives here for information. I knew how to turn a wrench and do some maintenance on cars but never did work on bikes...i'm feeling a lot more confident now.

[spadefoot]

While I truly do appreciate your confidence, the carbs have WAY too many little parts for me to even think of doing anything with them. Anyway, they were rebuilt 2 seasons ago by a friend with new rings and all, and cleaned this week, so hoping I wouldn't need to mess with them again. According to the mechanic (a man of fairly few words) it's "Runnin', but not right, and it's spitting chunks". Does anyone here have any idea what that might mean?

[tkent02]

Valve adjustments are easier than cleaning carburetors. Your carb guy is a pussy.

[spadefoot]

OK, OK, I'm shamed! Once I get it back, I'll take a look at what it's doing and give it a try.

[tom203]

OK, OK, I'm shamed! Once I get it back, I'll take a look at what it's doing and give it a try.

Me, I'd start with the carbs and be skeptical of all previous work on them. It's a pain to remove them, but once off, head to Basscliff's emporium for the carb cleaning lecture. Do it right or do it multiple times!

[spadefoot]

Well, I trust the friend that rebuilt carbs, he has a couple of old bikes (BMW and a Yamaha) that he's done carb re-builds on previously and they've been running for a years to decades. The cleaning by the local shop, I can't vouch for one way or the other, but it wasn't running right before I took it in, so his cleaning can't be the problem (thought it certainly wasn't the solution). Seriously folks, I'm just not going to work on the carbs. I know that's breaking rule # whatever about buying an old bike and not expecting to work on it, but I must admit, I am over my head. My friend that did the rebuild won't talk to me about the bike anymore, he's mad I bought a 4-cylinder (against his recommendation), and has washed his hands of it.

Once I have it back, I'll come back with some kind of description of the symptoms, and maybe I can pick the brains here.

Thanks!

[cockneyrick]

I stripped my carbs right down to their component parts (all 4 apart) I now need to do these valves.
Anybody got some info/archive stuff on how to do em, only ever done locknut type?

[Big T]

It's all on BassCliffs site

a factory manual for your 78 plus a tutorial on how to measure and change shims

[BassCliff]

Hi,

I'm not sure who's thread this is any more. But I know one thing, if you don't fix your bike you can't ride it. To Mr. spadefoot and Mr. cockneyrick, this should get you started in the right direction.

Anyway, let me dump a TON if information on you and share some GS lovin'.

I just stopped by to welcome you to the forum in my own, special way.

If there's anything you'd like to know about the Suzuki GS model bikes, and most others actually, you've come to the right place. There's a lot of knowledge and experience here in the community. Come on in and let me say "HOoooowwwDY!"....

Here is your very own magical, mystical, mythical, mind-expanding "mega-welcome". Please take notice of the "Top 10 Common Issues", "Top 15 Tips For GS Happiness", the Carb Rebuild Series, and the Stator Papers. All of these tasks must be addressed in order to have a safe, reliable machine. Now let me roll out the welcome mat for you...



Please click here for your mega-welcome, chock full of tips, suggestions, links to vendors, and other information. Then feel free to visit my little BikeCliff website where I've been collecting the wisdom of this generous community. Don't forget, we like pictures! Not you, your bike!

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[nutsandbolts]

Try this from another post;

If it is oil fouled you may have a bad valve seal or a stuck oil ring. if it is sooty black it may be choke plunger leaking ????
What plug does it foul ? If it is # 3 it hooked to the petcock so that could be a problem ???

Last edited by SqDancerLynn1; 04-27-2011 at 05:43 PM.

Also, if it was a coil or condensor or points, you'd a pair of plugs not firing so I'd say it is a fuel issue or maybe a bad lead from the coil to the plug. Cap connection at the lead can be sketchy. Try unscrewing the plug cap, cutting an inch off the wire and rescrewing the cap on to make sure the connection is sound. keep us updated

I have an 82 gs650gl, that's I can't get to idle and seems to be having trouble getting the 3rd cyl to run. With full choke, it starts quickly, and most of the time clombs to about 200-2500 rpm and never moves past that, will die quickly if I let off the choke. Occasionally, I can get ti rev up to 7k or so, and then I can get it off the choke, but I have to stay on the throttle or it'll die. It seems like, on the occasions that I can get the RPM's up, that the 3rd cyl is running, otherwise, the header from #3 is cold (eventually it gets a little warm, but that's just conduction from the block, I'm pretty sure). 2 years ago, a pretty knowledgeable friend rebuilt the carbs and it ran fine the past two years, this year, when I pulled it out from storage, I have this problem with the #3 cyl. I've replaced the coils and the plug cables, swapped plugs, no avail. I pulled the drain plug for #3 and there was fuel in it. Anyone have any suggestions besides taking the carbs off and going through them again? Please?

[cockneyrick]

In my case I have all new:
Plugs
Taylor Leads
Dyna coils
Dyna S Ignition

And it fails to fire on 2# unless revved when it comes to life?

[nutsandbolts]

here is a similar thread with some comments about pistons & rings and choke, petcock being causes

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=174910

[david fava]

My brother had a 1980 gsx1100 that had number three running colder than the rest.l checked it and checked it again and l was convinced it was the carbies. Then l realised that the fuel tap relies on vacumm from number three cylinder for the tap to work corectly. the rubber gasket must have been faulty causing that cylinder to run richer which means it was running colder . l blocked the hose from number three and then left the tap on prime and number three cylinder came up to temperature.l replaced the fuel tap with a new one and it was all fixed.