gs550 ruff idle problem

[pat]

my first post here so hello all , i have a 79 gs550e and have been doing it up for a bit , last owner rebuilt the engine in 98 then 500 miles later parked it up , i got it last year got it home and after half anhour had it running and sounds great no bangs or rattles or smoke so have no reason to doubt the rebuild by last owner , i have given it a full service , the only change are k+n filters but when its running below 2000rpm it pops threw the carbs and wont tick over , and a lot of smoke and vapour out of the breather , any help would be great , pat

[Dave8338]

Hey Pat...Welcome to the fourm.

When you say that you have K&N filter(s) on it, do you mean the K&N pod filters?

[pat]

sorry should of said k+n type air filters , they are the stainless cone filters not foam , pat

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Unless the carbs have been re-jetted, you are running pretty lean. You will probably want to richen up the air/fuel mixture all through the range; a little more fuel screw, shim the needles, bigger mains, etc. Use the "plug chop method" to fine tune jet sizes. Read your plugs, they will tell the tale. You'll find information on my website or by searching the forum.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[pat]

gs 550 popping

just a quick update on my gs550 running problems , new o rings for the inlet and bigger main jets are on there way thanks to the guys at crook suzuki , colortune and compression tester off ebay , so fingers crossed i can get to the bottom of this , will let you know how i get on . pat

[spyug]

If those pods are Emgo type they are crap and as Cliff says they are not restrictive at all. I have written about this several times. In order for them to work half ways decently, you will need to pack them inside with filter foam (try something from the garden center area of Loews or Homedepot ). You can also wrap half to 3/4 of the exterior of the pod with electrical tape, but that doesn't look very attractive.

I would also recommend that if you are going to the effort of new jets and o-rings that you take the time and strip and dip the carbs again. I have found (over and over) that no matter how clean carbs are said to be, they seldom are. In my own case (on my kat resto project) I had stripped, dipped and rebuilt the carbs and only ran the bike a few times when on the stand. Three months later I couldn't get the bike to run on cyclinder 1 &2 . When I recleaned, I couldn't believe the amount of crappola that came out.

Backfiring can also be caused by air leaks on the exhaust side so you should rule that out as well. Something even as small as a pinhole can cause grief and a loose fitting header pipe or missing header gasket can be a culprit.

Good luck sorting it out. I'm sure you'll get it faily easily.

cheers,
Spyug

[BassCliff]

... thanks to the guys at crook suzuki ...

LOL! An unfortunate name for a dealership.



Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Nessism]

Top Newbie Mistakes thread

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=171846

4) Trying to run the bike without the airbox...or installing pods w/o rejetting. Ain't gonna work.