1979 GS850G cold start & choke question

[ROADRUNNER]

Is my year and model bike "cold blooded"? I'm the original owner since 1979. She has only 25Kmi. on her. She doesn't get exercised much. Seems to me when newer, I only needed the choke to start when cold, then could let it idle or start off without balking etc. Of late, 10-15yrs., it seems that I need to keep it choked until completely warmed up (about 5 minutes or so) before I can get it to idle and then then accelerate without dying. Most all is stock and original on the bike. Any help please?

[tom203]

I hate to ask, but when were carbs last cleaned?

[Steve]

Yes, clean carbs are necessary, but so is replacement of a few parts every 25-30 years.

If the bike has been used somewhat regularly, enough to get some fresh gas through the carbs every month or so, a full-strip-and-dip cleaning might not be necessary, but it would be good to go through and change all the o-rings. A full set of o-rings for the carbs and intake tubes, along with new stainless hardware for the intake tubes is less than $25 from cycleorings.com.

Yes, ALL bikes from that era were a bit "cold-blooded", thanks to the EPA. When you re-assemble your carbs after installing the new o-rings, set the pilot fuel screws (the ones on the bottom) to 3/4 turn out from lightly seated. Set the pilot air screws (the ones on the side) to 1 1/2 turns. When the bike is warmed up, tweak the air screws for highest edle speed.

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[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. ROADRUNNER,

An original owner! I'm glad to meet you. There are just a few of you guys here on the forum.

Has your bike ever had the valves adjusted? This is mandatory for proper operation of your engine. This should be done first before any carb adjustments and vacuum balance. Get your engine "breathing" properly, then feed it the proper fuel/air mixture to make it happy. You'll find a "how to" on my little website along with lots more GS850G 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", 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

[tom203]

Sure, there's lots of maintenance you could do on a vintage bike- but this problem seems to be minor compared to some of the disasters that are posted on these forums. If you only ride infrequently, I'd put up with it or try a gas treatment, before I pulled the carbs off to replace 30 year old parts, unless you're bored and looking for excitement! I've used Seafoam on my son's Ninja with good results- it " seems " to free up clogged idle passages. It won't help a bike that's sat neglected for ten years, but if you have used your bike regularly, something like Seafoam just might do the trick. It doesn't work instantly, but I've noticed improvement after about an hour of running.

[tkent02]

Neglected valve adjustments will make it very hard to start cold.

[Ta2Mike]

Recently adjusted the valves on my 79 850. And wow what a difference in ease of cold starting. Before it took anywhere from 5-10 minutes to get it fired up. Now 2 kicks 3 at most and it roars to life. Happy valves matter. However lengthy time of starting before definitely attributed to all valve clearances being atleast 3X what they should have been.