Out of Winter Storage Mystery

[Guest]

Last year I completely restored an '83 650GL. 117 hours total effort including 20 hours just in the carb rebuild.

I had some trouble getting the carbs tuned just right last December when I finished her up. Got directed to Koolaid Kid's idle mixture adjusting procedure and performed that as directed.

My pilot screws were set at 2 turns out, and that turned out to be way to small. After the procedure they ended up at 2+3/4 turns out and the bike ran greater than ever. Pulled hard right off of idle and dropped back down to idle quickly and stayed there. Perfect.

So... I put the bike up at the end of December after doing that final tuning. Fuel stabilizer in the tank.

Just got her out of storage this past weekend since the weather was nice. So, what's the problem?

She runs like crap now!

The symptoms are that any attempt to roll on throttle from idle is met with an immediate bog, and a big one. Bike just about dies. The only way to stop the off-idle bog is to leave the choke partially on. (Yes, the bike is completely warmed up during this testing.)

That's the same symptom that I had before doing the idle mixture adjust procedure which resulted in a 2+3/4 turns out setting on the pilot screws and a great running bike.

It sounded like a too rich condition, so I reset the screws to 2+1/2 turns out to see if it made any difference. A little, but I still have the big off-idle bog.

What the heck happened over the two month storage period? What could have possibly changed when the bike was running perfectly back in December?

Can't be fuel starvation, since the bike runs fine at speed once it gets up there. Just doesn't have any off-idle power at all.

HELP!!! Any advice would be appreciated.

[tom203]

I put fuel stabilizer in tank for last ride and run bike for good 1/2 hour or more - is this what you do? Your symptoms sound like clogged pilot circuits.

[greg78gs750]

i always drain and refill with fresh gas, even though i use stabilizer. that would be the first thing i would do, new gas with a healthy dose of seafoam for good measure. then a version of an italian tune-up.

[tom203]

..... new gas with a healthy dose of seafoam for good measure. then a version of an italian tune-up.

yes, Seafoam is worth a shot since it only has sat 2 months. Strong dose right down fuel inlet tee, run bike till it chokes on it and then let it sit overnight. Make sure bike is outside for restart -ask me how I know!

[greg78gs750]

also, and this is against gs dogma i know, but drop the bowls and squirt some carb spray around in there. assuming you did a correct, full dip and oring replacement, might just be a tiny bit of crud. worth a shot and better than pulling them all apart again.

[Steve]

also, and this is against gs dogma i know, but drop the bowls and squirt some carb spray around in there. assuming you did a correct, full dip and oring replacement, might just be a tiny bit of crud. worth a shot and better than pulling them all apart again.

It's not just "against GS dogma", it simply defies all reasonable logic.

Any "crud" that might have gotten in there will have entered via the float bowl. Spraying from the float bowl area into the jets and orifices will only drive the crud deeper.

Sorry, but you need to at least pull the rack off the bike and spray through the passages BACKWARDS, into the float bowl area.

.

[greg78gs750]

steve makes a valid point. sorry for the confusion.

[Phred]

I had the same problem last year and there were two things that I changed. The first culprit was regular grade gasoline with ethanol. Ethanol is not good for aluminum as corrosion occurs even over a short period of time. I started using Shell Ultra gas with no ethanol. Don't know if this is available where you live, it has a higher octane level but it also has cleaners in it that will clean the valves as you drive. Within a month I was starting to notice a big difference in performance and responsiveness, and am now sold on the non ethanol gasoline. The octane rating is a little higher 91 compared to 87 and there are some contradictory opinions about burning high test in these bikes, but they were designed for gas without ethanol. The second thing that I did not know is that there are two gas stabilizers, one for regular gas with ethanol and the other for gas without. You have to use the right one. One is red and the other is blue. It took me a while to discover this. I have a pressure washer and use it occasionally. After two months last summer I pulled it out again and discovered that the aluminum jets were corroded again. Went to my local small engine dealership and there on the counter was a little stand with brochures about the dangers of using ethanol fuel in small engines. The ethanol content used to be 5% then it went to 10% and the last I heard it was going up to 15%. This is due to lobbying by the ethanol gang. There are some threads on this here somewhere and you can get into the debate if you want. However it worked for me to switch fuels and ended the problem of sluggishness, especially after not running the bike for a week or so.

[tom203]

His bike only sat for two months. Last 3 years I've been using a maintenance dose of marine stabil pretty much all the time. 8 oz treats 80 gallons of fuel this way,so it's like $8 per 4000 miles- no problem and no need to look for special gas. There would likely be a revolt if they mandated 15% ethanol- the way oil prices are going, the ethanol lobby better be looking for new jobs.

[WingMan71]

I did a full-dip 20 hour total carb rebuild with all new o-rings, and the bike was running fine when put up in December.

What about this for a first step attempt:

Pull the pilot screws all the way out and spray some carb cleaner directly into that port using the little red straw on the carb cleaner can?

If there's some gunk in that circuit I would think that's the best way to clear it out...

Yes? No?

[Rob S.]

the ethanol lobby better be looking for new jobs.

Interesting piece on ethanol on yesterday's NY Times Op-Ed page.

Basically, it contains less energy and is more expensive than gasoline. Plus it has adverse effects on food markets (and old motorcycles).

[GRAND ROUGE]

Three month old fuel with a fuel stabilizer is not going to go bad. I have machines put up for a year with no fuel problems what so ever (year was not the plan).

Since the machine ran properly in December, any chance that with temperature changes fuel took on any water.....which would descend to the bottom of tank......or any chance a critter of some sort has nested in the air box?

Berryman has a product called B-12 Chemtool TOTAL Fuel System Clean-Up. Part #2616. 15 ounces. $10 or so. Purchased mine at NAPA. Wing Man, looks like Atlanta has got great riding weather today and tomorrow. What have you got to lose by putting half of the contents into the fuel tank and burning it off on a great ride.

[WingMan71]

Three month old fuel with a fuel stabilizer is not going to go bad. I have machines put up for a year with no fuel problems what so ever (year was not the plan).

Since the machine ran properly in December, any chance that with temperature changes fuel took on any water.....which would descend to the bottom of tank......or any chance a critter of some sort has nested in the air box?

We HAVE had some severe temperature swings in Atlanta recently. We've gone from under freezing at night to over 70 the very next day!

The bike is in an attached garage, but it's not heated. I guess I should drain all of the gas out of the tank and see what's up.

Air filter is fine... no critters in it.

Thanks for the ideas.

[chuck hahn]

Heres the mystery solved..drain the bowls from the drains for storage of ANY PERIOD of time. Dry bowls cant get full of crud in the jets and passages...simple!!!

[chuck hahn]

And Wingman....stabiled gas in the TANK isnt gonna go bad but the little amount left in the bowls will evaporate and turn to gunk if there is stabiliser in it or not. Believe that folks!!!