1981 GS1100E - I'm about to give up

[Guest]

Mikuni BS34

#1 First cold motor start and it has a hard time turning.
On the 3ed time it turns better starts then dies.
Rebuilt the carbs, adjusted the floats to perfection, all is clean. no gas or air leaks. Carbs are synchronized.
Installed a Dyna 2000 with 2.2ohm coils and Dyna cables.
Timing is at 37.5
Sparks are nice and strong. Gaps are ok
Fuel is new
New balistic 8cell battery.
Cleaned the starter. brushes are nice, repacked new grease in the bearings.
Cleaned all the electrical contacts/connecters all the connecters in the battery bay, fuse box, starter relay...
Tried all the freaking idle screw positions. but works better when rich.


I'm short of ideas and I want to freaking ride!

Please help.

[JEEPRUSTY]

Did you re-install the airbox?

[c&c]

4 pods with a 4into1 with the proper jet kit.

To morrow I'll try blowing/ light downforce pressure down the fuel line to see if it has something to do with my external tank.
The jet kit has nothing to do this choke /cold start.

The weird thing is that the previous owner had the floats ~4 higher. Hum.

[koolaid_kid]

I know a certain 850 rider that did set his float level a bit higher to get the engine to run correctly. Just a thought.

[sedelen]

What do your plugs look like, wet, dry? Are you getting spark?

[SqDancerLynn1]

You may need a different battery !!!!

[c&c]

The battery is good and strong.

There are sparks on all 4 plugs. They are a bit on the black, carbon fouling, but that is because I was not able to get higher then idle.

Removed the sparkplugs and one of then was wet with gas while the others where dry .

I think I will force gas in the bowls by blowing down the tube and see if that helps. I have an external tank hooked up.

[hikermikem]

Is your external fuel tank vented?

Did you plug the vacuum line when using your gravity-fed external tank?

Except for the Dyna 2000, I'm running pods & a 4-1 on my '81 1100E with no issues...

[c&c]

I'm not to proud of myself for not figuring it out earlier!

It's the external tank contraption I used. It was vented. The problem was the hose was to long and the tank was not high enough! The vacuum hose was plugged.

External tank has to have the shortest hose possible, close to carbs and high.

I still could not ride her because I lost the bolt that holds the tank in place

I just lost at least 4 days fiddling around to find this.

Thank you for your replies fellow GS'rs!

[koolaid_kid]

Glad you figured it out. Feels good, though, doesn't it.
Actual length of the hose does not matter, what does matter is the height of the fuel cell. Try to place it as close as possible to the actual height of your real fuel tank. It is the vertical distance of the hose and the fuel level that matters.

[rapidray]

You also need to back the timing back to no more than 34 degrees. Ray.

[Flyboy]

I still could not ride her because I lost the bolt that holds the tank in place

Phhhaaa, Jennifer's tank bolt has been missing in action for 10 years now, no big deal, certainly no reason not to ride.

[c&c]

right after my post I saw a ziptie so I Zipedit and went on a local ride just to test things out. The GS1100E is my very first bike and my reaction to the sound it makes..
HHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYYYY S******T!
I get goos bumps just thinking about it

And my reaction to the power..
HHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYYYY S******T!

Freaking awesom bike! It growls with testoteron! I was right not to give myselh a bike like this in my 20s... I'd be dead by now


Funny thing is 2 young woman came to me to complain about the noise while I was tuning her... I'm sure they are frustrated that I did not invite them for a ride

[koolaid_kid]

Yeah, they are peppy, aren't they. I loved mine, awesome bike, good handling for the day as well.

[hikermikem]

right after my post I saw a ziptie so I Zipedit and went on a local ride just to test things out. The GS1100E is my very first bike and my reaction to the sound it makes..
HHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYYYY S******T!
I get goos bumps just thinking about it

And my reaction to the power..
HHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYYYY S******T!

Freaking awesom bike! It growls with testoteron! I was right not to give myselh a bike like this in my 20s... I'd be dead by now


Funny thing is 2 young woman came to me to complain about the noise while I was tuning her... I'm sure they are frustrated that I did not invite them for a ride

Ha-ha-ha !!!


I know what you mean...when I first road tested my 1100, I took her slowly down a back road to "shake" her out.

Seemed all was fine, so I twisted the throttle wide open in 1st gear & damn near flew off the back! I've learned to hang on better since!

Good luck with your baby.

Pics would be nice