85 GS550l hits a wall and wont accelerate

[blowerbike]

his model has an electronic advance ignitor...no DIY for those.

[Mankow]

I have been away so no real progress I have sourced an igniter and I have a new stator and R/R on the way just in case. Ill do a battery test tomorrow but im pretty sure the battery isnt any good. And yeah I was kinda exited to build my own igniter then realized that it wont work with my model.

[Grimly]

his model has an electronic advance ignitor...no DIY for those.

Damn.

I have been away so no real progress I have sourced an igniter and I have a new stator and R/R on the way just in case. Ill do a battery test tomorrow but im pretty sure the battery isnt any good. And yeah I was kinda exited to build my own igniter then realized that it wont work with my model.

I'd look seriously at picking up a used Megajolt unit and making it work with the factory triggers, in that case.

[Griffin]

The igniter/ignition uniqueness with lack of an aftermarket alternative is the reason that I consider the '83-'86 GS550 units to be off limits for restoration projects. The igniters were once plentiful on ebay, but no more.

I can see if Cycle Recycle here in town has an igniter if you'd like.

[Mankow]

Thanks, I have a used igniter on the way. Yeah this is my first bike and I bought it on a whim if I had done more research before buying I would have made sure to by an earlier model, and honestly once I get it running I will probably sell it to buy a model with more support.

[don]

I went through the same kind of thing with an 80 550l I had built for my friend's girl. I have done a few bikes with the help of the guys here with eventual success. With this 500l it turned out the floats were set incorrectly. It acted just like yours is. Runs great but falls off bad. I readjusted the floats/fuel level and instant transformation.

Hope it helps. Just my experience.

[Mankow]

Thanks, ill give it a shot but it seems strange that it would run great for a couple miles then just suddenly stop.

[GSX1000E]

Can you try running it with the petcock in the Prime position or has that been covered already?

[Mankow]

Yeah I have tried running it in run prime and reserve all are pretty much the same. I also hooked a vacuum pump to the petcock and fuel shoots out with any vacuum if set on run or res so i think its working correctly. I will re-adjust the float levels on sunday and see it that helps though

[Mankow]

Wow, thanks don I re adjusted the float levels I had them both at 21.5 before. both were still there when I pulled them apart again so I set them to 19.5. nothing seemed stuck or clogged but I blew air through all the jets anyway. and its back idles great and the power is back at higher rpms. still dont really know what happened but Im happy its working now

[don]

Awesome!!! I actually had a useful contribution!!!! I really am excited you found the issue, I feel awesome for you. The bike I had the same issue with was a bear. We had the carbs out a hundred times, replaced all of the ignition components, and it still ran like crap. I just changed the float height on it because nothing else worked. Have a safe, great time riding it now.