Not Running on all 4 Cylinders

[tremontinerd]

Hello Everyone,

I bought a 1980 GS850 that had been sitting for 14 years outside. Pulled the carbs and did a very thorough cleaning and rebuilt cylinder 1 as the bike was laying on its side.

Bike runs well but seems somewhat sluggish. However, after around 10 to 15 minutes of riding, I can feel better performance and when I get over 4k, it really puts me back and I can feel the extra cylinder kick in. Overall, it just runs better. I can also feel the motor surging when i'm going up hills or when i'm ridding at higher RPM's.

There is quite a bit of ticking going on when the motor is running. It sounds like a valve tick and i've had someone tell me it could be a burnt valve. The one pipe on the left doesn't get near as hot as the one on the right. However, after riding for a while, they are both real hot.

What are your thoughts?

1. Still an issue with carbs?
2. Weak coil?
3. Issue with valves?
4. Something else?

I appreciate everyone who gives this a thought as I really want to get my GS back to running like it should. It's lots of fun now but could be a whole lot more fun.

If anyone is local to northeast PA and wouldn't mind helping me with it, I would be eternally grateful. Would be happy to supply beer and some money.

[tom203]

Did you check valve clearances? make sure camchain tensioner is working?
"rebuilt cylinder 1" means what?

have you seen this link for bwringer's typical issues?

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

[chedd]

as the bike's been living outside for 14yrs you really need to do a lot more than just a carb strip,follow the link as suggested by TOM.

[tremontinerd]

Thanks guys. I will check valve clearances. Should I be worried about doing this myself? Never really done it. Also, thinking the petcock could be the issue.

[tom203]

It's likely that your bike has multiple issues- you need to rule them out one by one methodically.