gs850gl sputtering

[Guest]

When I'm riding at 70mph and up, my engine starts to sputter. Only while at a steady speed. If I turn the choke on about half way, it kind of helps, but raises my rpms while stopped. Any suggestions?

[T3nrec]

Sounds like a problem with fuel flow. Are your float heights right? Do you have an inline fuel filter? Turning on the choke richens the mix, so maybe you need larger main jets. Have you done any modifications to the intake or exhaust?

[maddman]

I just bought this bike last week, so I don't know

[maddman]

I was told bigger nets were put in. 115 and 120

[maddman]

As far as inline fuel filter, there is one. Stock air box is on.

[OldVet66]

Have you properly rebuilt your carburetors and checked the boots for leaks? Off the top of my head the symptoms fit a lean condition. I see you are using the stock air box, has it been sealed against unwanted air leaks? A lot of things could be causing it to be lean. Inline fuel filters are not recommended if your fuel system is properly clean the petcock screen is more than adequate to filter fine particles.

[maddman]

I'll spray some carb cleaner around when I get home to check for leaks. Could the carbs need to be synchronized? It idles great. On full choke at idle on first start up, the idle goes up to about 2500 rpms. Is that normal?

[maddman]

Until bike is warm, it will also bog a bit and pop through the carbs.

[JTGS850GL]

Pull the carbs and do a complete rebuild. No reason to do otherwise. The bike has no known history and you're having problems with main circuit operation. Here's a link to the carb rebuild tutorial: CV Carb Rebuild Tutorial. Follow it to the letter. Here is a link to a place to buy new o-rings. Don't buy any "rebuild kits". They're just junk. What other modifications have been done to the bike? Stock exhaust? Stock air box? Helps to determine if the changes to the mains would cause you any issues. If you don't feel like you can do the rebuild yourself, then there are some on these forums that can do it for you at a very reasonable price.

See the link at the bottom of my signature? Go there for more information.

[Steve]

Yes, definitely sounds fuel-related. Likely just needs the carbs cleaned/rebuilt.

As mentioned, it could simply be starvation due to the use of an in-line filter. Try removing it to see if that helps.

If it idles nicely, the carbs are already close on the sync. Going down the road will not aggravate that, as a sync issue only affects smoothness while idling.

Doing a carb rebuild is not all that hard, but it takes some time, some attention to detail and some chemicals. If you are not comfortable with any of that, there are a few of us that offer a rebuild service at a modest price. Yes, I am one of those who offers the service, click HERE to see what I can offer. You can look for the others in the GS Parts and Services forum to compare their services and prices.

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[maddman]

How expensive are the kits? I had to save to buy a bike. I'm a struggling veteran, and money is stupid tight right now. Did I get screwed over in this deal?

[JTGS850GL]

Did you even read my post? You don't buy kits. You just buy the o-rings needed for the rebuild. Look at the link I posted.

I don't think you got screwed, but if you think that owning a 30 year old motorcycle is cheap then you may want to reconsider.

[Steve]

Agreed, you do NOT need "kits". But, to answer your question, kits are typically about $25-30 and you need four of them for your bike.

The problem with kits is that they contain replacement parts of questionable quality (most of which you don't need, anyway), and they don't contain all the parts that you DO need, so it's somewhat of a "lose/lose" situation. You would still need to do something about cleaning them, so you would still need the chemicals, time, place to work on them, etc., etc.

Here's an offer for you: send them to me for rebuilding. I am going to be not too far from you in a couple of weeks, I can send them back to you so you can get them on the bike, I can stop by, do a quick carb sync and tune, then continue on my way home.

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[maddman]

Thanks for the offer Steve, that's very kind of you. I'm sure your work is excellent, but I can't afford it at the moment. I'll pull the carbs, and give it a go.

[Wingsconsin]

Reconsider your position

Here's an offer for you: send them to me for rebuilding. I am going to be not too far from you in a couple of weeks, I can send them back to you so you can get them on the bike, I can stop by, do a quick carb sync and tune, then continue on my way home.

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You CAN NOT get a a better deal than this....

I have experience rebuilding (successfully) carbs of several other bikes (I think 7 sets now)
I have done the GS850's TWICE in the past year - and yet ...
MINE are at STEVE'S getting a final once over and tune up to try to finally FIX whatever it is ailing my bike...

Nothing can replace the experience of doing it yourself -- but when the GS Whisperer offers ... ?