Main jet needle

[Guest]

Does anyone have experience with bs32ss main metering needle? What I have is an 82' GS550 and unless I'm doing something very wrong the links I've found and my manual seem to be wrong regarding the needle assembly. According to everything I've seen the "ring" (spacer) is supposed to be above the retaining clip. When I do this The carbs run very lean and when you apply throttle the engine boggs down and dies. Last night I moved the "ring" to below the retaining clip and it runs well actually. So the question is am I doing something wrong or are the references wrong????

Here's one of the links I used and if you look at the first picture the ring I'm refering to is #10 and the assembly would be 6,7,8,9,10.

Thanks
Mike

[Nessism]

Is the airbox installed and properly sealed? The bike will run drastically lean without the airbox unless you rejet to compensate.

When removing the spacer on top of the clip the bike will run much richer. It's common to reduce the spacer height either by sanding it or using a couple of thin washers, but rarely do people remove it entirely.

[76Mike82]

The air box is correctly installed checked it twice before I moved the spacer. As best as I can tell it's not leaking. Also I did not removed the spacer I moved it to below the retaining clip, so not I did I make it smaller I would have enriched the the entire set-up from the time when the main jet starts to open to full open (metered only by the main jet). I did this because of the link on this site that shows a metering needle with different settings for the retaining clip. I think it would be the same as moving the clip down to a lower setting.

[Tom R]

The spacer is designed to run on top of the clip and the spring should be under the clip and washer. The spacer under the clip accomplishes the same thing as putting it in your pocket would.
Something is causing your bike to run very lean, if not the airbox, then you have some blocked passages in the carbs. All stock?

[76Mike82]

Yes it is all stock. I worked on it for the last three months on and off and always the same thing until I moved the spacer now that it's moved it runs well and idles nicely. I did not dip the carbs but I did do aa total rebuild new jets gaskets and all the o'rings have been replaced. The previous owner stated the mechanic he went to did a rebuild but as stated I found a mixture screw broken off in the carb, there were two studs broken off the exhaust manifold and he had used a hose clamp as a ground for the battery. So I have no faith in anything from the previous owner.

[Nessism]

Yes it is all stock. I worked on it for the last three months on and off and always the same thing until I moved the spacer now that it's moved it runs well and idles nicely. I did not dip the carbs but I did do aa total rebuild new jets gaskets and all the o'rings have been replaced. The previous owner stated the mechanic he went to did a rebuild but as stated I found a mixture screw broken off in the carb, there were two studs broken off the exhaust manifold and he had used a hose clamp as a ground for the battery. So I have no faith in anything from the previous owner.

Quite likely those "carb kits" you installed have the incorrect jets, or poor quality jets that don't match the OE Mikuni parts. This is very common and one of the reason many knowledgeable people here recommend staying clear of aftermarket carb parts.

[BassCliff]

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BassCliff

[76Mike82]

Thanks BassCliff believe it or not I have been to most of the links you mentioned, and I've done MOST of the tasks. I tend to do a lot sneaking around and very little talking. In fact the only reason I posted this link was to see if someone else had seen this issue, I tend to put a lot of faith in manuals and when I found this I was worried there was something I was missing. The vehicles I work on for a living don't have carbs they have fuel pump metering units and injectors.

[Tom R]

If it won't even rev in neutral, I'm still thinking your pilot circuit is gummed up. Have you tried blowing compressed air through all the passages? Dipping is really the way to go; but I've had luck both ways with a spray can of carb cleaner and a compressor.

[Steve]

When removing the spacer on top of the clip the bike will run much richer. It's common to reduce the spacer height either by sanding it or using a couple of thin washers, but rarely do people remove it entirely.

Back when the CV-type carbs were still new, one of the magazines took a GS425, which was notoriusly lean, and tried to give it a quick tune-up that could be duplicated by virtually any owner/rider. One of the things they did was to turn the mixture screws out another half a turn and to swap the positions of the nylon spacer and the metal washer on each side of the needle clip. Those two mods richened up the carb to where they actually liked the way the bike ran, instead of complaining about how long it took to warm up and how unresponsive it was to throttle input, even when (finally) warmed up.

Removing the spacer entirely might be making it a bit too rich, but yes, it will run better.

. I did not dip the carbs but I did do aa total rebuild ...

Sorry, if you did not "dip" the carbs (actually a total immersion for a full day), you did not do a "total rebuild".

So I have no faith in anything from the previous owner.

Welcome to the club.

.