Any new carburettors same as the old BS34SS?

[JimmyR]

Just curious! I have an '82 GS1100G that has the original BS34SS carbs and was interested to see if there was anything available new which are similar.

I know you can get Mikuni RS36 flat-slides, etc but am probably more interested in something closer to the CV carbs I have. I have replaced the stator, the R/R, the pipes, the clocks, the bars and the cam chain so I figure if I was to install new carbies as well it wouldn't hurt! I know I can refurb the originals and in fact that is what I am in the middle of. But I would be tempted to try a new set if the price was right, they installed easily and they would perform well.

Is there anything out there? Where would I look?

Thanks!

[johnbb71]

I have bs36's on my 1100 just do search for gs1150 carbs on ebay there is a few sets there for sale right now.you will gain top end goin to bs36's.you will have to do a rebuild. i would suggest there is a tutorial its really easy, just follow it to a T.download the turoial here http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/ , and a ton of other great info is there also.
and get o-ring kits here www.cycleorings.com

[AJ]

I bought a bank of 36mm carbs from a 2003 Bandit 1200. The spacing is a little off. They actually line up better with the ports in the head than the original carbs, but the carb boots are bent to line up with the original carb spacing. The outer carbs line up exactly. I needed to rotate the intake rubbers about 20 degrees to get them to line up with the inner carbs. It would be even better to use a piece of straight hose for the two inner intake rubbers.

I had the bike running with the Bandit carbs, but didn't even try to work the jetting. Instead, I tried ONE LAST THING to get my original carbs to work with the pipe/air pod combo on the bike and that was successful. I may try to get the jetting right on the Bandit carbs as a summer project, because these have the combo "round/flatside slides that supposedly boost bottom end very nicely.

If I were to do it again, I would suggest some 1999 or earlier Bandit 1200 carbs, as that spacing is identical to the original 1100 motor and you can easily buy K&N pod filters for about $60, but not so for the later carbs that I have. Other than that, there are no big clearance issues or anything too challenging.

Oh, and the Bandit carbs are about 2 lbs lighter - I didn't expect that.

[kawfeedave]

It sounds like you're looking for a 'bolt on' and 'worry free' solution, and there really is none. Even the new aftermarket carbs you can buy, RS, CR, FCR, are all going to require tuning work to run right on your bike. They're all meant for racing anyway, and are designed to be 'fine tuned' for different tracks and atmospheric conditions.

If you want ease of use, and reliability, sitck with the stock carbs. There are some known jetting changes to go along with aftermarket exhaust and/or pod filters, but aside from that just stick with the stock stuff. There are GSs out there with 100,000+ miles, and it's because the stock stuff works if it's properly taken care of.

If you're not good with carbs, you can have them 'professionally' rebuilt. I'm sure that someone on this site does it, just ask. If you get the right jets (or a jet kit) for your set up, what you'll get back after the rebuild will be as close as you can get to a 'bolt on' solution.

[AJ]

It sounds like you're looking for a 'bolt on' and 'worry free' solution, and there really is none. Even the new aftermarket carbs you can buy, RS, CR, FCR, are all going to require tuning work to run right on your bike. They're all meant for racing anyway, and are designed to be 'fine tuned' for different tracks and atmospheric conditions.

If you want ease of use, and reliability, sitck with the stock carbs. There are some known jetting changes to go along with aftermarket exhaust and/or pod filters, but aside from that just stick with the stock stuff. There are GSs out there with 100,000+ miles, and it's because the stock stuff works if it's properly taken care of.

If you're not good with carbs, you can have them 'professionally' rebuilt. I'm sure that someone on this site does it, just ask. If you get the right jets (or a jet kit) for your set up, what you'll get back after the rebuild will be as close as you can get to a 'bolt on' solution.

Excellent advice.

[JimmyR]

Good advice everyone! Kawfeedave you are indeed a perceptive man. Tomorrow I will collect all of my CV carb parts from a carb cleaning specialist and rebuild them. I was looking for a fall-back position! I suspect that RS36s will be ok if I don't get on with the stock carbies but have been assured that I will get them working. And apparently the cleaning process will make them look brand new too. I saw a few other carbies he had cleaned and they looked amazing.

Ajay - which bike was it that you gave "one last try"? Was it the GS1100E? What was it that worked for you? I have to get my bike running with the airbox first to get it registered and then I want to set it up with pods.

[AJ]

Ajay - which bike was it that you gave "one last try"? Was it the GS1100E? What was it that worked for you? I have to get my bike running with the airbox first to get it registered and then I want to set it up with pods.

I bought the Bandit carbs both for performance and because I couldn't get the original GS1100e BS34 carbs to work right. But I had one more idea for the original carbs (raise the needles two notches) and this turned out to be right. My bike has both pods and pipe and, while it started and idled fine, and it ran like a bat outta h@ll up top, but the midrange was rough and no amount of fiddling with the mixture screws was fixing it.

The recommended Dynojet Stage III settings called for the needle in the mid position. That didn't work. I raised the needle one notch (richer sooner) with little improvement. Thinking it was too rich in the midrange, I lowered the needle one from mid and it got really awful, and awful over a much wider RPM range. Then I raised two notches to make the fuel come on richer sooner and it was almost like heaven.

I would love to get some way to measure exhaust temp and oxygen content while riding the bike. That info would have helped me diagnose this much earlier.

Pretty sure I can get those Bandit carbs to work too. Just not sure it's worth the bother at this point since the bike is sweet right now.