1979 GS850 Exhaust Blowing White/Gray Smoke

[afterlifedrums12]

Hi, I have a 79' GS850 that i currently just cleaned the carbs, petcock, and fuel tank. When i start up the bike the exhaust will kind of pop but will come out of it sometimes. When you give the bike any throttle white/gray smokes comes out of the left exhaust only and not the right side.

What could be causing this??? And what do I need to do to fix it???
What are the correct settings for the side and bottom screws for the carbs???

Also, when I pull the clutch in and put the bike in gear it jolts forward like the clutch isn't engaged.

What could be causing this???

Thanks

[rustybronco]

Welcome to the GSR!

Sounds like the carbs flooding over or you cut an oring when you reassembled them, or you didn't do something correctly when you 'cleaned the carbs'.

What is your idea of cleaning them? did you completely take them apart?

[afterlifedrums12]

Thanks for the fast reply! Where would the oring be located at within the carbs? My cleaning consisted of removing and cleaning all the bowls and jets. I did not disassemble everything just what i felt safe taking off. The only jet that I seen that had any orings or rubber bushings was the one attached to the main jets?

[TheCafeKid]

You need to completely disassemble the carbs, dip them in solvent (carb dip, Berrymans, Gunk, etc. comes in a gallon can at your local auto parts store, runs about $20) and replace all of the orings inside. They break down and don't seal as they should. Kits can be purchased at www.cycleorings.com for around $20.

This is a must if you want the bike to run correctly. Do a search here on the site for "carb rebuild tutorial" for in depth instructions. Its not hard, but it must be done.

[AJ]

Obviously you have a bad head gasket and are leaking coolant into the cylinder.

[AJ]

That last post was a joke (if anybody didn't get it).

On the serious side, it sounds like you got the carbs on the right side ok, but one of the left ones is messed up. Did you adjust float heights? Maybe one of yours is set with too high a fuel level.

[DanTheMan]

Hey, Mr. afterlifedrums12,
Welcome aboard! Our resident unofficial greeter isn't presently greeting, so I'm going to give you a link to his page full of information you can't do without. It has all you need to know and more than you may have ever thought possible about these great old GS bikes.

Use these things well, it'll definitely help you out.

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

Enjoy, and ride safe!
Dan

[afterlifedrums12]

Thanks for the input...i will check the left side and see if i can fix the problem. I did not mess with the float heights at. If i cant get it myself ill have to resort to paying someone that can fix it right