82 GS850 GL Wont idle when warm

[racinma]

Ok Ladies N Gents,

DH & I have a 1982 GS850 GL that mysteriously has quite running like a champ .... Here's the situation: The Bike will start and run for roughly 2 minutes give or take or 9/10 - 1 mile before the bike starts to stumble then stall out... It will re-fire however it refuses to stay running. It wont idle on it's own unless it's cold or has sat for a little while to "cool down" then it idles for again for that rough 2 minutes or so and will die if we hold or crack the throttle it will stay running though this isn't always possible when riding... It makes no difference if the choke is open or closed. We had riden the bike the day before and everything was fine then the next day DH was going to sync carbs and Blah this is what we had. *Sigh*

Things we have tried:

Emptied & filtered gas tank through a clean cotton sheet to which some debris was found.

Cleaned Fuel Filter again more debris was cleaned out

replaced gas line (There was a tiny leak on it)

We have a solid state ignition so can't check timing

Removed & Cleaned petcock thoroughly

Checked the sync on the carbs by holding throttle @ a steady 1500 RPM's to keep bike running.. Carbs are synced perfectly.

Have adjusted Idler Screw and this makes no difference the bike still stalls if you don't crack the throttle to keep it running.

Have checked Air Filter.. All clean there!

Removed Gas Cap and attempted to run without gas cap in case of vapor locking. No difference.

Replaced all 4 spark plugs with brand new.. little difference but not enough to hoot & hollar about!

We're at a loss here... What's your thoughts/suggestions to try?! We have 4 Mikuni Carbs on it in case this may mean anything to anyone.

Signed,
The depressed Dear Wife who wants to go riding again LMAO!!!

[chef1366]

You may have some debris in your carbs or the ignition is going out.

[1_v8_merc]

This is gonna sound dumb, but did you check the oil?
Because low oil can easily cause you to overheat and stall out when your Not on the throttle.

Also, what about the battery?

Other than that, I'm gonna say maybe a faulty igniter?

It could be the fuel line or fuel filter.

I had a similar situation on my 750, it ran for a couple minutes then sputtered out as I gave it throttle.

I installed clear fuel line, and visually witnessed the fuel-flow Stop....

Also, are you running an inline fuel filter?
These can cause problems with fuel flow ocassionally....but sometimes they can catch debris flowing threw the fuel.

[BassCliff]

Greeteings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. racinma,

It could be something as simple as replacing the intake boot O-rings. But chances are it is a combination of things. Make sure the fuel tank is clean and free of rust. Then go over the maintenance lists in your "mega-welcome" below.

Anyway, to get you started, let me point you in the right direction, dump a TON if information on you, and share some 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", "Top 15 Tips For GS Happiness", the Carb Cleanup Series, and the Stator Papers. All of these tasks must be addressed in order to have a safe, reliable machine. 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

[racinma]

This is gonna sound dumb, but did you check the oil?
Because low oil can easily cause you to overheat and stall out when your Not on the throttle.

Also, what about the battery?

Other than that, I'm gonna say maybe a faulty igniter?

It could be the fuel line or fuel filter.

I had a similar situation on my 750, it ran for a couple minutes then sputtered out as I gave it throttle.

I installed clear fuel line, and visually witnessed the fuel-flow Stop....

Also, are you running an inline fuel filter?
These can cause problems with fuel flow ocassionally....but sometimes they can catch debris flowing threw the fuel.

Oil? Ok that's a not so dumb question this is something we never even considered ... I plead the 5th on that one LMAO I can honestly say NO the oil hasn't been checked... (Well it has just not recently LOL) This is going on the to do list when Hubby Get's home... Thanks for the suggestion

Battery? Battery is only 2 months old so pretty sure it's not that as the bike whirls over with no problems and also fires as long as the bike is cool or cold.

Fuel Filter? We are running an inline fuel filter and yes we have taken that out and gave it a good cleaning.. some debris came from it but it did have flow through it.

Fuel Line? We did replace the fuel line with clear just for the reason you stated so we can watch the "flow".. All good there!

Will definitely be checking the oil though!! Thanks again.

[Octain]

What about the vent hole in the fuel cap? Remove the cap and see how long it'll stay running.
Also, make sure you have plenty of fuel in the tank. I'd say at least two gallons.

[racinma]

Hi Mr. racinma,

It could be something as simple as replacing the intake boot O-rings. But chances are it is a combination of things. Make sure the fuel tank is clean and free of rust. Then go over the maintenance lists in your "mega-welcome" below.

Anyway, to get you started, let me point you in the right direction, dump a TON if information on you, and share some 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", "Top 15 Tips For GS Happiness", the Carb Cleanup Series, and the Stator Papers. All of these tasks must be addressed in order to have a safe, reliable machine. 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

BassCliff,

Actually it was Mrs. Racinma that wrote this up hehehe Dh is at work and beside himself with this problem and I took it upon myself to try to get answers cause I miss riding our lovely GS850... Summer times burnin and riding days are getting shorter (well ok not really but that's how it feels when you know you have a bike in the garage and you can't ride it cause your "Suzi" is sick LOL) I will definitely check out all the area's you've suggested and thanks for the super uber duper Welcome! Have a great day!

[racinma]

What about the vent hole in the fuel cap? Remove the cap and see how long it'll stay running.
Also, make sure you have plenty of fuel in the tank. I'd say at least two gallons.

Octain.. That was a thought I had we did remove the cap and unfortunately it was the same result run for 2 minutes then Putt, Putt, Plah *sigh* thanks for the suggestion though Oh and we have about 3 gallons of gas in the tank so that's good too!!

[Dave8338]

Check the resistance on the coils before start up and again, when the bike dies.

Also, what is the voltage at the battery when just sitting, bike not running. Where is the voltage reading when the bike is at 3000-4000 RPMs?

Report back with those #'s.

[Octain]

Octain.. That was a thought I had we did remove the cap and unfortunately it was the same result run for 2 minutes then Putt, Putt, Plah *sigh* thanks for the suggestion though Oh and we have about 3 gallons of gas in the tank so that's good too!!

New plugs? Not cleaned, new.

[racinma]

New plugs? Not cleaned, new.

Yep Brand spankin new plugs in her too.. Just put those in yesterday on suspicion of fouled plugs

[chef1366]

Petcock?
.....

[BassCliff]

Hi,

BassCliff,

Actually it was Mrs. Racinma that wrote this up hehehe ...

My apologies Mrs. Racinma. Sometimes the gender is hard to discern when looking at electrons.




Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Octain]

Petcock?
.....

Yup.. Try to run it on prime and reserve. See what happens.

[racinma]

Update:

Ok DH got home last night and this is what we've done & also discovered:

1. Added oil.. This did help but didn't completely cure the problem the bike now idles on her own longer however when she's taken for a ride for a little while she still putt putt plah's *bummer*
2. Because of the debris that was found in the tank, petcock & fuel filter it has been decided we should disassemble the Carbs.. What a shocker this was not to mention a very good reason "Suzi" is sick. Her float bowls were loaded with rust sediment (We purchased this bike 3 months ago and the previous owner had told us it had sat for quite awhile, previous owner had cleaned the carbs but didn't break them down totally for a "True" cleaning." So shame on us for not doing this sooner!) Also, while cleaning the float bowls all jets we're removed which some were plugged and some we're great with the exception of the last Pilot jet. Apparently the previous owner(s) wanted to either A.) clean the jets just as we were or B.) wanted to replace the jets because when we got to this jet on carb # 4 it was found the jet head was stripped and was unable to be removed in the traditional fashion. So, Thank God DH had some easy outs cause this Jet is now sitting on our dining room table and I will be going to our local ATV dealer in town here to see if they have a jet to match the mangled one I have. *sigh* So until this jet get's replaced we are at a stand still but at least things are looking up!

While the carbs are out we've also inspected & cleaned all the boots... all boots seem to be in good shape no visible cracks.