Idle issue

[Woshirmao]

So my bike is a 1980 GS450l. It sat for a couple of years. When i got it out again, i changed the oil. and cleaned out the carb. when i started it it will rev up. i can bring it down to idle but i cant take it off half choke. If i try it sputters out and stalls. The throttle will hold and rpm. If i rev it up to try and move it, it will stay pegged at 4k and then slowly go back down. Some times after that it wont hold a steady idle. Ive cleaned the carbs again about four times and even pulled the pet cock to see if it was clogged. the vacume system seems to respond ok. What else could be the issue? My father says i shouldnt have to adjust the air screws or anything because it ran "good" when we parked it.

[tkent02]

Did you dip the carbs for a day or so?
An hour doesn't cut it.

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. Woshirmao,

After sitting that long you probably need to clean your tank because it may be rusty. And, yes, you'll also need to fully disassemble your carbs, dip each carb body in Berryman's chem dip for at least 24 hours, then reassemble using a new O-ring kit from http://cycleorings.com/ . It's all in your "mega-welcome" along with a couple of maintenance lists that will usher you into GS nirvana, if you follow the prescribed procedures to the letter. Let's get started.


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", the Carb Rebuild Series, and the Stator Papers. 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

[1_v8_merc]

Hold off on re-cleaning the carbs....

There are some other quick things you can check first.

-------
First make sure your carb boots and air box, or anything air related is TIGHT!

The problem you're having with the RPM's hanging high, is almost always an Air Leak issue.
(not always, but usually it is, and is over-looked.)

And trust me, it can be an incredibly small leak.....even if you spray carb cleaner around the boots to find the leak, sometimes it still won't show up....that's how small I am talking about.

I had the exact same issue on my 650.
Turns out, I didn't quite tighten one of the rear boots tight enough!
Sometimes you tighten them pretty good, and they need to be re-tightened again later on after riding the bike.
(this could also mean your carb boot Clamps are worn too.)

--------

Air leaks can be coming from anywhere.

First check the boot clamps, tighten them really good.
(make sure your clamps are good, they cost like $3 a piece at suzuki dealers.)

Then check your airbox, make sure the lid/cover goes on tight, if not, you may need to run some weather seal in there somewhere so it gets airtight.
Also, there's a neck piece on my 650, it has a big clamp, sometimes that comes loose from wrestling the carbs on and off the bike.....so check her out too.

Lastly make sure the Front carb boot O-rings are good.
(these o-rings sit between the front carb boots and the engine mating surface....often they LOOK fine, but are FLAT in reality! You have to pull the carbs off to get to them obviously, so save that for last.....like check em next time you pull your carbs off or something....)

[Woshirmao]

Thanks for all your help. I dont actually have a "dip" for the carbs as my family has been running without that for a decade now. We simply pull the carb apart and hit it with carb cleaner we buy at a local auto part store. I bought the new rubber boots to the air manifold, Are there supposed to be rubber boots to the air box? My carbs just fit into the air box. Ill get a pic tonight for you. Thank you for all your help.

[tlepac]

A quick way to check on this is to go to Bike Bandit website--or any other that has the schematics---and then check the carb section and look to see what the airbox and carbs look like. Having said that most of the OEM airboxes for GS's have rubber boots that I know of

Good Luck

[Steve]

Thanks for all your help. I dont actually have a "dip" for the carbs as my family has been running without that for a decade now. We simply pull the carb apart and hit it with carb cleaner we buy at a local auto part store.

Sorry, that might work to clean out a bit of dirt, but it won't clean the passages that tend to clog up with varnish when a bike sits for a while.

The fact that you are having problems with the idle is a perfect example of clogged pilot circuit passages and possibly the jets, too. The best remedy is to completely disassemble the carb and let it soak in "the dip". After a proper soaking (might take up to 24 hours), blasting it with the carb cleaner spray will clean it out, follow that with compressed air to make sure.

After a proper cleaning and installation of fresh o-rings, you likely won't have to clean them again, as long as the rest of the fuel system is kept clean, too. If you must winterize your bike, use some fuel stabilizer to keep the gas from gumming up, otherwise, just keep running the bike often enough to keep fresh gas going through the carbs. Oh, I don't mean "running" as in fire it up in the garage, I mean "running" as in take it down the road for half an hour or more.

.

.

[Woshirmao]

Thank you i will try that. What puzzels me is that my father drove the bike for 6 years or so as was, i.e. with the original rubber boots, apparently no rubber boots between the air box and the carbs. The dip makes sense, Where can i get some?
Going back on what Basscliff said, the tank was completly bone dry when i pulled the bike from the shed. All the fuel leaked into the oil. Before trying to move it i cleaned the oil and took apart the pet cock. I ran some gas through the pet cock into another container to ensure it was good and it came out without any discoloration.

[Buster-boy]

I had a similar issue last year with my 850. I did waht the others here said replaced everything under the sun and still no luck. Those things all needed replaced anyway so what they offered was very good advice. It wasn't until I had the carbs synched that it ran good.

My problem was it would idle ok, ride ok for about 15 minutes, then the R's would stay up around 4K. I'd shut it down but couldn't restart for an hour or so after that.

Come to find the #1 carb slide was staying up while #2-4 were down. This caused the engine to rev bringing 2-3 back up when they shouldn't be. The reason it wouldn't start after shutting it down is becasue the slides were then way to high to get proper air/gas mixture. Once it sat fo a while and the #1 slide dropped it would start again.

Hope this helps some.
Jim

[tlepac]

O'riellys or Autozone for the dip probably others as well

re the petcock was it left on Prime? If not and if it was a vacuum petcock then you may need a new one---depends on your bike and yr--Hopefully someone will come along who knows more about your bike than me. If your petcock is after market then it depends on what type it is.

Good Luck

[Nessism]

The number one reason for a hanging idle is an air leak from the rubber carb pipe boot O-rings – rubber pieces that bolt to the cylinder head and hold the carbs. Changing these parts is mandatory for any old GS bike that uses them. It also goes without saying that the carbs must be fully taken apart, soaked in carb dip, and reassembled with all new O-rings from cycleorings.com.

[Woshirmao]

So i pulled the Rubber boots today. or actually more like attempted to. All this is original so the screws are all rusted out. One of them stripped out and now im confused of how to get it out and not damage the bike. Anyway, I was able to remove one boot. It seems "OK". However i am going to replace them anyway. The air box does not have rubber boots. there is this plastic circle inside them but it does nothing. The carb doesnt even rest against it. As i was messing around with screws, i noticed my air screws (or so i believe them to be) are all the way in. Obviously the original owner saw an issue and did that to temporarily fix it. What should they be at so i can fix them? (The air screws are just fitted to the side of the air intake manifold. They are right after the boots on the motor) Here are some pictures for you:

http://s689.photobucket.com/albums/vv251/sonogatto/

(for some reason the photos wont show. Here is a link to my album.)

[BassCliff]

Hi,

There are articles on my website about air intake system repair, electrical repair, carb cleaning and tuning, even how to post pictures. Please stop by for a visit.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[zacheriaj]

Ok. Looks like you don't have clamps on the airbox-to-carb boots. Those should clamp tightly to the carbs. Also, idk what that gray crap is but its never a good idea to attempt to seal intake boots with any type of sealant. It may deteriorate with gasoline and get inside the engine gumming up the plugs, valves, and whatnot. Best way to get that screw out if you can't get vice grips on it would be to use a sharp edged chisle, and a hammer. with two people, have one person turning on the screw with a screwdriver that fits with a good bite, and take the hammer and chisle and put it on the side of the screw to cut into the metal. This should loosen it right up. Otherwise, take a flat screwdriver and pound a new (x) into the screw head.

[Woshirmao]

The clamps that are on there are the stock clamps...which im sure does about nothing. That gray gunk is high temp silicon made for engins. I attempted to seal up any cracks that might be happening. I might have to pound a nex "x" into it. It has no grip at all anymore. Only issue is getting a hammer in there to get a new "x"