83 GS450 automatic questions...

[Guest]

Hey all so I just laid hands on this great bike and its really exciting. First, I think I will finally be able to convince my wife to get up on 2 wheels, she hates a clutch and is really excited about the sparkly purple paint (previous owner's idea, haha). Also I do have a deep fondness for automatic motorcycles, out of my fleet of 15 bikes I also have a 78 Hondamatic 750 and I just think they are neat as hell. This Suzukimatic also came with a parts bike that is definitely rebuildable, but first step is getting this little purple cutie back on the road before the riding season wears out.

Anyways a couple of quick questions while I try to hunt down a repair manual:

Float heights? I read on here that the gs450 wants something like 23mm, but I don't know if it is different for the automatic. I know that my hondamatic has a de-tuned set of carbs compared to the CB750 so i was wondering if perhaps there were changes made in this line as well.

That little rubber stopper on the pilot jet? Should that be plugged up, and is there any advantage to unplugging it? At the moment I am just concerned with getting it running reliably for her, we can tune up for speed later.

Also for anyone who has a well running 450A, is it supposed to pull ahead and take off in neutral? If so, is first geared any differently? Would that make this actually a 3spd? At the moment we only run on 1 cylinder so I cant really do too many road tests, but it will stay still while idling in neutral, and pull ahead when I gas it. It doesnt have enough power to really click through the gears and see how they work, plus I dont want to mess around with it too much til we have it firing on both cylinders.

Sorry for the remedial questioning but I'm still searching for info on this rare bike.

Thanks

[bmac]

450 gad

Great bike indeed. Great to ride and it has plenty of power in both drive bands. Notice I said both, when in neutral it should not pull with a roll of the throttle. Carbs are very particular to fuel flow just like any of the GS's. Yes, you absolutely need the plugs in the carbs for the jets. Doing a carb over haul on these is very easy. Disassemble and drop into a can of berrymans and let it soak. You have to take great care in the accelerator pump area. You have to be sure that the pump pumps fuel into the accel. jet on both carb's. If you notice the small fuel line connecting the 2 carbs. This passes fuel from the accelerator pump and spritzes into the throat of the carb's on acceleration. The passages from the bowl to the carb have to be clean. There is a small tube like opening in the carb bowl that has to be very clean also. They tend to clog up very easily. I generally use a strand of wire from a roll of #12 wire and it works very well cleaning that one. Follow the carb cleaning thread in basscliffs tutorial it is excellent. The only difference is the accelerator pump. You do have to remove that when cleaning. 3 screws and you have it apart and watch for the spring. Bob

[pete]

Can't help you much on the auto as I've never seen one myself and not sure what differences there are, but jump on eBay and track down a seller called eClassic Bike or something similar out of New Zealand. He does factory reproduction manuals for a very good price and may have something for your auto.

If he hasn't got it listed, contact him as he says to do because he may just not have it listed even though he has it available.

[arblebang]

Thanks guys good info, I think I am going to set them at 23mm tomorrow because they were way off that mark, about 13mm. Also I will carefully scrutinize the accelerator pump. Im not sure what to do about the fact that it rolls forward in neutral, I guess we may have to live with that, altho I dont find it too inconvenient.

Thanks again

[pete]

I just rechecked my float heights tonight while waiting for my jets to arrive, and the 1980 450's have a 22.4mm float height, but the 1981's have a 26.6mm float height. I had mine set to 22.4mm but mine's an '82 so I've bumped them up to 26.6mm.

I would imagine the A wouldn't make much of a difference to float height, but that may help...

That's factory manual spec's too, not Clymer/Haynes which is where I got the 22.4mm from as I didn't have a factory manual then.

[arblebang]

Thanks man this morning I set them at about 22mm and cleaned out the accel pump and lines, and we are purring like a kitten. Can't wait for her to come home from school to ride her bike for the first time.

Thanks again!

[pete]

Glad to hear it!

[81GS750]

I've no experience on the Suzukimatic 450's, but I put my wife on a CM400 Hondamatic. I think I have as much fun riding it as she does! The automatic was the only way I could get her back on two wheels. She had a SV650 a about 4 years ago and hated the clutch. I'd love to get my hands on a 750 Hondamatic. The little auto's are a blast to ride around town.

[JG122]

the 750A is a heavy bike...
I owned one, and can tell you that in stock form, it was not fast at all.
and the MPG was atrocious...

the 400/450 A's are much peppier