81 gs 650g newbie..

[Egglestallion]

Hello everyone,
I recently acquired a pretty beat up gs 650g that I'm attempting to bring back to life.
I've gotten it to run over and actually run briefly but not right.
I've taken apart the carbs and cleaned them as best I could with a can of carb cleaner. After putting the carbs back on and trying to start it, it would only start with me plugging a towel into the air filter to cut the air flow. it would idle fine and respond to the throttle. With the bike up on its center stand I tried running it through the gears (for the first time) and when I did it acted like it choked out and died. Since then I haven't been able to even get it started or even sputter.
I need help!
When I took the carbs apart and cleaned them, the pilot jet in carb 2 would not come out, the slot broke off and the jet remains..
I'm assuming that there is an issue with not getting enough fuel and I might have to re-jet, but running stock intake and exhaust would that really be necessary?
I know I'm throwing a lot in this initial request for help. I'm excited to get this ride back on the road and any help or advice would be appreciated greatly!
Thanks in advance

[spyug]

Welcome.

You will soon get the official welcom with tons of information to assist you in bringing this baby back to life. In the meanwhile, let me give you a few words of "wisdom" or tough love as we call it.

The bike will not run right until the carbs are properly cleaned and rebuilt using fresh orings ( from our resident o-ring guru Robert Barr at www.cycleorings.com). Canned cleaner spray will not do it. They will need to be dunked in carb cleaner for minimum 24 hours. There is no other way. There is a fine carb cleaning tutorial and a whole series of other great tutorials on BikeCliff's website which you will hear about shortly. Stuck pilot jets can be a problem but you can leave them in, just make sure to take out any of the rubber parts and definitely don't allow your diaphrams anywhere near cleaner or they will be damaged. They are super expensive and will not work with even pin holes in them.

Once the carbs are cleaned and rebuilt you will need to check the valve adjustments. Over time, they become very tight and make starting and running difficult. Its not a hard job but needs to be done. The how to is also available in tutorials on Cliff's site as are manuals for all the bikes if you don't already have one.

Thirdly, in over 90% of cases with old bikes, the wiring is in need of attention. Connectors get dirty and contacts build up resistance to voltage. Your battery may hold a resting voltage of 12.5+volts but at the coils, where you need it it may be down to 10.5 or less. My new to me bike had that issue making starting a chore. You will need to clean up all contacts including those for grounds. A particular problem area can be the kill switch and starter button and it was in this area that my major voltage loss occured.

Once you have clean carbs, properly adjusted valves and good spark from the coils she will run like a top. It takes a bit of work to get there but its well worth it as you'll have a dependable, strong performing ride.

There will obviously be more things to do to get her in tip top shape but this is what you need to know to get her running first.

Good luck with it. Oh, and we do love pics so lets see your ride.

cheers,
Spyug

[Egglestallion]

Thanks Spyug, That was my next step to try.. the dipping. I've seen the step by step on how to do this, which is actually what lead me to this forum.
In my thinking, it acts like its not getting enough fuel, so it has to be in the carbs.. So a good deep cleaning might free the beast!
Thanks for the advice and I'll work on getting a picture up, it won't be pretty I'm telling ya this bike was neglected over the years. After I get it running I'll worry about prettying her up a lot.

[tom203]

You and member underground ( few posts down in this forum) should share info. It's likely this bike needs some long overdue loving- try this link for starters

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/images/GSR_Greeting.html

[Egglestallion]

Thanks Tom, great words and links of wisdom!
I'm really excited to get this beast running proper and willing to do the work. Great info helps as I'm just kind of a shade tree mechanically inclined guy with no real education with motorcycle stuff..