1983 GS550E carb problems I think!!

[lrburke]

Hey everyone, its been a while since I posted anything on here but just got me a 1983 GS550E that has been dormant for about 17 years. The bike is super nice with no rust in the tank and everything works. Got it to start by just draining the float bowls and letting some fresh fuel into the carbs but they needed attention badly. Had 1 cold exhaust pipe and it would not take throttle at all! Well I just got the carbs back together after cleaning them. The bike idles perfectly but when you roll the throttle slowly with the bike in neutral it just acts like the midrange is super lean and bogs until it hits the main circuit and then revs off the charts. This bike has thiose twin carbs. I am getting ready to sync them but in the mean time if anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it!

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Is the airbox still attached? Have you modified the air intake?



Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[lrburke]

The bike is stock as it can be! I checked all the jets and they are all correct according to suzuki. I just finished syncing the carbs and it made no difference. The exhaust is perfect with no holes and the airbox is also in real good shape. It has a factory filter in it.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

The bike idles perfectly but when you roll the throttle slowly with the bike in neutral it just acts like the midrange is super lean and bogs until it hits the main circuit and then revs off the charts.

This usually indicates incomplete cleaning of the carbs, the pilot circuit in particular.

I know this procedure is not specifically for the dual-throat carbs, but it demonstrates the proper, complete cleaning procedure. Have a look:

Mikuni BS(CV) Carburetor Rebuild Tutorial
(by Mr. Nessism)


It's a PDF file, about 9MB in size. Feel free to save a copy to your computer for future reference.

Have you seen the "mega-welcome"? I've been away for a while and may have missed your first few posts.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[JEEPRUSTY]

Are you letting it warm up?
They will run badly without Choke until warm.

Lean as hell acting.

Oh and I hope you used a ring kit from Robert Barr. he has em for the carbs as well as the intake manifolds.

[lrburke]

I have read the tutorial many times and have done a ton of carbs but once in a while I get one that just don't do what it's supposed to. I think the ultrasonic cleaner is the way to go but I just can't afford one right now! Does anyone know somebody that I could send the bodies to and have them ultrasonically cleaned?

[JEEPRUSTY]

Ultrasonic? Why?
If you can get carb clean to spritz through all passages why bother.
The machine is cold blooded as hell.

Except when it like 80 or so.

[spyug]

I'm in agreement that the carbs are not completely clean and you don't mention changing the o-rings. One thing I've run into a time or two is that carbs get rebuilt but the o-rings look fine so they get reused. Often, if you pull them to distort, you see they are cracked and air can get in where its not wanted. Excess air= lean conditions.

I would give them another good dunk, blow everything out with compressed air, clean all jet holes with wire and reassemble with new rings. Sometimes you do get a cantankerous set but usually they come around on the 3 rd or 4th dunking

Good luck with them.
Cheers,
spyug