Problems with 83 gs550es

[David_510]

hmm. this bike makes no sense... ran perfect when it was parked 10 years ago.... could it be spark plugs?

i've cleaned the carbs good... 4-5 times prolly... tried the 2.0 turns back air mixture.... tried high rpm idle set.... it seemed when i turned the screws it made no big difference... only one cylinder (the 4th) made a difference in the idle when i moved it.. the other 3 made no difference..

I still don't understand the choke not working..

[JEEPRUSTY]

omg ran when parked
hahahahahahahahahah
too funny

unless you are the guy that parked it then thats a horrid point of departure

the complexity inherent in the fuel system tarts in the tank and goes all the way through the carbs and valves and piston and even beyond to the exhaust.

if you say its idling at 1100 I would suggest tha tmoast things are OK but you need to celan the carbs and make sure the boot orings are refreshed
along with a stock filter
if you pull the carbs you can check the jets.

[David_510]

I know for a fact it ran when it was parked... got it from my gfs dad... he don't lie lol


Ok i've done all that.. when i emptied out the gas in the bowls it was green.. I been working on the bike intermittently for about 2 months now... I was just reading a service manual and it shows for these bikes that #1 and #4 have #95 main jets and that #2 and #3 and 102.5.... I may have moved these around will this cause a difference? I member when i took them apart i just threw them all in the same pile... How do i tell them apart?

[JEEPRUSTY]

moving the jets will cause a diff
especially as the richer ones must be on the inboard intakes

did you strip and clean the carbs or no?

Im running outta vodka dude

[David_510]

Lmfao! Well **** i got some seagrams 7 here...

Yea i stripped and cleaned the carbs... I wonder if it's those jets that are causing all my problems..

[JEEPRUSTY]

Lmfao! Well **** i got some seagrams 7 here...

Yea i stripped and cleaned the carbs... I wonder if it's those jets that are causing all my problems..

if you put them in the worng place it would cause god only knows what
it would cause surging I think

not that any of the old regular farts want to chime in to help here


but it all goes back toe the sealing regardless.
apparently even valves will have an effect if they are out of adjustment.

I recall once back aways when the mech at the shop did my valves and the bike went from OK to bat outta hell just cos of an adjustment.

[BassCliff]

hmm. this bike makes no sense... ran perfect when it was parked 10 years ago.... could it be spark plugs?

i've cleaned the carbs good... 4-5 times prolly... tried the 2.0 turns back air mixture.... tried high rpm idle set.... it seemed when i turned the screws it made no big difference... only one cylinder (the 4th) made a difference in the idle when i moved it.. the other 3 made no difference..

I still don't understand the choke not working..

Hi,

Yep, "ran when parked" is a running joke around here.

If it makes no difference when you turn the mixture screws then there is a possibility that the tips of the screws are broken off in the passages. This thread is for VM carbs but the principle is the same:

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=82559

Have you completely disassembled the carbs and soaked each carb body, jets, and other metal parts in Berryman's Chem Dip for 24 hours? Have you replaced the intake boots and the intake boot O-rings? Have you gone through the maintenance lists in your "mega-welcome"? There are links to the proper procedures. Taking shortcuts will only lead to frustration.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[David_510]

Ok... i've taken out every mixture screw when i cleaned the carbs. They all had their points and seem to be perfectly fine.. the orings on them weren't brittle at all... i soaked all the pieces of the carb in carb cleaner and cleaner them until they were all shiney. Yes they were all clean.. i followed the instructions on the website too. I don't have the tools to check valve clearance but would that cause an issue like im having?

also.. i took it out around the block earlier when it was warmed up and would idle and it seemed to ride just fine and had plenty power to it... Got up to 55mph prolly about 1/8 of a mile or less.. So it has plenty power... brings that front wheel right up.

[JEEPRUSTY]

Ok... i've taken out every mixture screw when i cleaned the carbs. They all had their points and seem to be perfectly fine.. the orings on them weren't brittle at all... i soaked all the pieces of the carb in carb cleaner and cleaner them until they were all shiney. Yes they were all clean.. i followed the instructions on the website too. I don't have the tools to check valve clearance but would that cause an issue like im having?

also.. i took it out around the block earlier when it was warmed up and would idle and it seemed to ride just fine and had plenty power to it... Got up to 55mph prolly about 1/8 of a mile or less.. So it has plenty power... brings that front wheel right up.

of course the question of your current ambient temp needs to be asked
these bike are not snowmobiles.

If you can wheelie then um
I do not know what to say

[David_510]

Lol... thats my problem... when it idles it runs strong... has plenty power.. but it has trouble starting/idling... i think im going to replace the spark plugs, buy an oring kit, replace it all and see how that does..

Oh and i live in the bay area, Ca so it's like maybe.. 56

[Flyboy]

but it has trouble starting/idling

You may want to do the valve clearences, valve clearences out of whack are a typical cause of hard starting, also, as I said, you want to try and beg, borrow, steal, to get your hands on a set of carb sync gauges and do a sync on those carbs. (well, not steal ;-)

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. David_510,

Yes, it sounds like you've done great work so far. You just need to finish all the normal maintenance procedures. A valve adjustment and a carb (vacuum) sync should improve things nicely. Take care of any air leaks in the intake system. Keep us informed.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[David_510]

Is doing the valve adjustment hard? I've never tinkered with valves before..

[mlinder]

Let's start at the beginning here.

Simply put, any carbed 70's/80's bike that has not been rejetted and meets EPA standards is going to be lean.
That means, they require full choke to start when it's anything less than 70 degrees out, and it won't run well (or at all under load) until it is fully warmed up.
Expecting the bike to run well after only a minute or two of being on at idle is only asking for disappointment.

Things that need to be done with a bike that's been sitting:

Absolutely clean carbs. That means main jets, idle jets, and emulsion tube. That means float needle. That means all the passages that run around in the CV carbs everywhere.
The airbox and filter must be installed. Again, these are lean to begin with, so using a less restrictive filter, or none, with stock jetting, is only going to make cold starting harder, and probably give you less power.
You need to bench synch your carbs. That means, in the case of the CV carbs, that the butterfly valves are, to the best of your ability to eyeball, the same amount open, at the same time.
You need to check for air leaks. At all the boots. From carbs to head, and from airbox to carbs.
Start the bike, let it idle. Spray carb cleaner at each boot. If idle changes, you have a leak. It has to be addressed.

You have to check your valve clearances before you do a carb synch. Or, for it to actually mean anything, anyway. You can carb synch without doing valves, but all you're doing is synching the carbs to an unsynched engine.

After the valves are done, synch your carbs with a carb synch. The motion pro is inexpensive and works quite well.

There are places here on the forum that will tell you how to check your valve clearances. The manuals have a step by step, as well.
It's not a big deal to check them. It's more of a deal to change them if they are out of spec. Erring on the side of 'loose' is a good idea. Makes engine a bit noisier, but is less wear and tear on your valve train.

Start from the beginning, and follow through to the end, and know what to expect.

[David_510]

Where do i get new half moons from? For when i do the valve clearance?