horrible acceleration and no more power?

[Tim Tom]

When your bike dies and there is no power is there a smell of gas coming from the exhaust pipe? A very similar thing happened to me recently and it turned out that the coils were not getting enough voltage to fire on all 4 cylinders. This could be especially true if your battery was weak or dead.

I would check the voltage at the battery terminals. Then check it at the orange wires going into the coils (test this with a full battery and the kill switch on) If the voltage is even 1 less then you read at the battery its a good bet you found your culprit.

IF this is the case then the Coil Relay Mod as detailed on Basscliff's site should work for you.

DISCLAIMER: I make no claims at being a genius with these bikes, I had a similar issue last month, and this is how I fixed it.

[jstone8952]

you know that makes sense.... i never gave the battery a second thought. its started fine with plenty of power for a while. then my car battery died intermittently and i was jumping it with the bike when i couldnt find anyone else. it seems to me the bike battery dies too quickly nowadays when im trying to start it and its flooded or something. like its under 2 mins of cranking when i hear the voltage drop and know ill need a jump.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

There's really no need to crank your bike for two minutes. A properly maintained GS will start like this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTnCPwuIQLk

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[jstone8952]

yeah yeah yeah you guys and your pristine examples of gs's. mine started really good when i got it. cranked over once or twice before starting- idled high until you let the choke down. it just slowly got worse over time... i am running an inline fuel filter and a cuel line cutoff switch due to its occasional tendency to seep gas into the carbs when it sits.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

I'm really not bagging on you. I'm just trying to let you know that your machine needs maintenance. If you had to install a fuel cutoff valve that means your petcock needs to be replaced along with the float valves and seats in the carbs. Have you properly cleaned the carbs? Have you adjusted the valves? Have you cleaned the air filter? Have you changed the oil? Replaced the brake fluid? Checked the brake pads? There's a lot to do to keep your motorcycle safe and reliable.

My bike is far from pristine, but I do try my best to take care of it properly. If you did the same your bike would run better too. Honest.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[jstone8952]

lol i know i know. since ive gotten it i changed the oil bled the brakes and cleaned the foam air filter. the guy i got it from said he had papers from having the carbs rebuilt and synced less than a year ago but i dont remember if they were in the box of stuff i got with it or not. the day i got it i (with someone following me to make sure i didnt get stranded) drove 45 mins home. i made sure to ride it every day when i got it to get back in the swing of riding. it ran AWESOME with lots of power and i didnt have a single hook up or complaint. then one day i took it up to starbux at about 3am and after i finished reading my book (about 3 hours later) i walked over to start it up and the entire tank had leaked out. the ENTIRE tank. so i got a ride to the parts store and got the filter new fuel lines and a cut off valve and installed it- put gas in it and rode it home. after that not a single problem with it until now (about 4 months later).

[Larry D]

lol i know i know. since ive gotten it i changed the oil bled the brakes and cleaned the foam air filter. the guy i got it from said he had papers from having the carbs rebuilt and synced less than a year ago but i dont remember if they were in the box of stuff i got with it or not. the day i got it i (with someone following me to make sure i didnt get stranded) drove 45 mins home. i made sure to ride it every day when i got it to get back in the swing of riding. it ran AWESOME with lots of power and i didnt have a single hook up or complaint. then one day i took it up to starbux at about 3am and after i finished reading my book (about 3 hours later) i walked over to start it up and the entire tank had leaked out. the ENTIRE tank. so i got a ride to the parts store and got the filter new fuel lines and a cut off valve and installed it- put gas in it and rode it home. after that not a single problem with it until now (about 4 months later).

First of all, your bike needs some attention. Second of all, we're trying to help you. And third, the previous owner may have sprayed some carb cleaner through them and called them clean.....not so.

It doesn't matter what your bike looks like, it matters that it is mechanically sound. There is no need for inline filters and cut-off switches, you're putting band-aids on gaping wounds....and poor band-aids at that. If you wish your bike to run properly, please listen to the folks here, they have built and re-built many, many bikes and know the proper way to do it.

Your carbs need to be removed from the bike, completely disassembled, dipped and rebuilt with new o-rings. If you do not do this your problems will continue, Your bike isn't simply leaking gas out, it is also leaking gas into your engine's oil and it WILL ruin the engine. Your petcock may need to be replaced as well. Gas in oil is bad, bad, bad.

http://www.thegsresources.com/gs_carbrebuild.htm

Since your bike ran well before it started puking gas, it may very well run fine after you do this, it may however, need some additional attention in other areas.

[Munzo]

This sounds similar to the problem I have been having with my GS. Here is my guess, based off what I am dealing with on my bike. But I am fairly new to all this so I could be wrong:

I had the same problem. Bike ran solid, but after a bit would bog out and die. And If i let it sit the carbs would overflow and I'd get gas coming out of the airbox.

So I rebuilt my carbs and got everything started. Left it on prime overnight (on accident), and had the same thing happen. Whups forgot to check the float needles and see if they were working (It's my first time, what do you expect?) Checked them last night, sure enough they are leaking and flooding the carbs / engine.

So that maybe your culprit?

[D.T.]

I have to repair a 1981 GS850G this weekend and it has the same problem. We rebuilt the carbs a few years ago and they had the green gunk in them. We tried again a month or so ago and found the gasket under the filter cage was gone, so we used some weatherstrip. I started and drove the bike and it ran pretty good. But the owner tried it and it wouldn't rev and didn't have much power up top. Then the battery quit on us, so we got a new one at sprawl mart. Had to fill the thing and charge it, so I left it at that.

Now my co-worker tried it and said it still won't run worth a sh!t. So I'm going to pick it up on Saturday and check the valve clearances first, then maybe a compression check.

[tkent02]

Dude, just get a nice new moped or something.

[OldVet66]

When I first got my bike, the first time it got wet, the plug caps started breaking down. It never ran right again until I replaced my coils and caps (wires were on the coils). If you are getting zapped through one of the wires, think about it, electricity takes the path of least resistance. That and a low battery is enough to cause all sorts of problems. Take care of what you know is wrong and then go from there.