does my bike have a governer? 82' GS 850(de-L-ing in progress)

[BeanTown]

kidding, but it feel like it when i try to accelerate from about 75 with full open, it kinda surges and jerks around 6000 rpm. in gears 1-4 it smoothly goes past 6000 but doesnt seem to want to get past it at 80mph or so unless im headed downhill. any thoughts? been through the newbie list and just synced the carbs and it didnt help. but the low/mid range improved...

maybe i should just pull the trigger on pods and jets

[Steve]

If you are trying to accelerate briskly at 75 mph, you will want to be in third gear.

If you have stock pipes, you should be jetted correctly already, but if you have already installed a header and have not jetted, you simply might be running too lean.

Also keep in mind that the 850 is not a real powerhouse, so even "brisk" acceleration will tend to be a bit more leisurely than most other bikes.

.

[Dave8338]

kidding, but it feel like it when i try to accelerate from about 75 with full open, it kinda surges and jerks around 6000 rpm. in gears 1-4 it smoothly goes past 6000 but doesnt seem to want to get past it at 80mph or so unless im headed downhill. any thoughts? been through the newbie list and just synced the carbs and it didnt help. but the low/mid range improved...

maybe i should just pull the trigger on pods and jets

Valves adjusted?

Shim the needles one notch lower ?

...ahhh...never mind.

[chuck hahn]

It has a timing advance governor..

[BeanTown]

Seriously? a timing advance governer? this isnt a speed control thing is it?

I was thinking about playing with the needle but everything is stock and i was going to wait for the eventual pod upgrade.

Also, its not just sluggish, it is clearly surging like the mix is going wrong during this scenario. I dont expect it to take off in 5th, but i would like to get it to be smooth at least...

[BeanTown]

valves not yet checked or adjusted....

[Dave8338]

I would start there. Reason: if when running at the 6000+ mark and your intakes are tight, you very well, might be running out of air/fuel mix.

Don't get me wrong, 6K isn't a magic number, but depending on where the throttle is when hitting the 6K number, you may be in transition between pilots and mains.

Does this happen right a 6K, no matter how you roll on the throttle?

[Nessism]

valves not yet checked or adjusted....

Check the Newbie Mistakes thread linked in my signature. You are making several...but don't have to. It's up to you.

[850 Combat]

I would look for air leaks at the head and in the air box, as well as the valves. It is a much faster bike than you say yours runs. According to a 1983 road test it ran 12.73 at 103. That was respectable in the day. They did have short gearing to allow that to happen, however.

[BeanTown]

good place to start being the pin setting?

Its only at full open and 5th gear from 75, so ill be in the mains range. when im running through the gears, at least when its in the process of warming up, it smoothly goes up to 8k. my intake ports are pretty good but i want to replace them and the orings anyways, theres a few small cracks that def dont go all the way through...

[BeanTown]

already resealed the airbox but the intake ports are a bit suspect. in the process of trying to find a deal on them.

[Toasty]

IMO I would pass on the pods and jets, at least until you get a good baseline. If you throw on pods your bike is going to run poorly until you take a lot of time fine tuning.

[twr1776]

This is what I would do...........

Adjust Valves
Clean carbs & replace all o-rings in carbs (Robert Barr kit)
Replace airbox to carb boots & carb boots to motor with new o-rings
Seal airbox (done) and clean or replace airfilter if needed.

IMHO there is no other way to get the bike to really run right without doing the above steps first. Yes there is a couple hundred in parts involved but as mentioned above there are unfortunately no "short cuts" if you want the bike to run correctly.

I also would not recommend pods and jets, not much HP to be gained there for the buck IMHO and the re-jetting is tough to dial in correctly from what I have seen posted.

[OldVet66]

No real deals to be had on carb boots. They are expensive but very necessary to replace if they are even slightly questionable. After 25-30 years they are all questionable. Don't skimp there if you want success in getting it running well.