The Mysterious 83-85 GS550e

[Guest]

Hello guys, I am new to the forum as i am now the new owner of a 1983 GS550e. Here is my dilema, I bought this bike that had been sitting for many, many moons. So when i bring it home I start to go through the bike. When i get to the carbs, I take them apart, clean them out, re assemble and after many attempts it finally turns on, however i cant get it to idle correctly, and only turns on with choke and if i even go near the throttle it turns off. It then hit me, I forgot to inspect and clean the mixture needles. after removing the carbs, AGAIN and removing the mixture needles i discover the needles have no springs, no washers but still have the rubber O rings however some needles had to rubber O rings. NOW where it gets totally confusing I cant for the life of me find a carb rebuilt kit. Can anyone tell me if any other years interchange carbs parts with the 83-85 years. Just based on pics the the 82 gs carb parts look very similar. I am starting to wonder if the carbs on the bike even have the correct jets, needles ect, ecct. Please help....

[Nessism]

Did you look down into the pilot screw tower in search of the springs, washers, and O-rings? Sometimes they hang up inside the passage. Needless to say you need to source some if they are missing.

We don't take too kindly to carb kits around here unless you are talking about an O-ring kit from the likes of cycleorings.com.

Good luck and check this page for a service manual and lots of other good info. http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

[joevintage]

thats the problem im running into...sourcing carb parts. I see them available for every GS except 1983-1985 GS550e models. does anyone know if any of the other years share the same pilot screws, jets, O rings as the 83-85 GS550e model(s)? I suspect my pilot screws being the problem...upon my findings with the springs and washers missing. (no they werent down in the pilot towers. I always lay down a white towel beneath when i disassemble carbs or parts that contain small parts within.

[tom203]

Here's a chart with carb jet specs.... Compare to yours, beware of drilled out main jets

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/images/carbspec_float_height.html#A01

Since you have a mixture screw, measure it.. then we can compare it to the earlier models carb parts

[joevintage]

thanks for the chart tom203, i just dont know exactly what to look for, i googled each of those jets #'s under the 83 GS550 "E" which best fits the description of my "twin" carbs but none of them jet or Pilot needles came back as the actual Fuel Mixture needle(s) am looking for. I did however get all the measurements of the pilot needles currently in the carbs (hoping those are even the right ones and some random pilots the previous owner stuck in there. Over all length 20.76mm, point 4.16mm, shaft 9.93mm, thread section 4.97mm, shaft thicknes 2.94mm and the very top slotted area 1.8mm

[tom203]

Here's a pic of a mixture screw off a 650 carb set- should be identical to the earlier versions of the 550 before they dreamed up the dual throat version.... Next post will have dimensionsimage.jpg

[steveb922]

If the OP has a '83-85 GS550E', then he has the 16v engine with the paired carburettors? Joe, can you post a pic of the whole carb bank?

[tom203]

image.jpgNote I had to fall back to inch dimensions at tip- and mine might be blunted

[joevintage]

steveb922 you're absolutely right, I have the all popular twin carbs. tom203 the pilot needle you posted from an design stand point looks identical, and your measurements look pretty close to what mine mesure. I used a micrometer. Here is a picture of what came out of my carbs. Note: when i pulled the pilot needles out of these carbs the spring and washers were missing, only the needle and O ring were still there. So its plausible the gs650 needles may fit my carb??? IMG_7279.JPG

[joevintage]

i cant post other pics of the pilot needle but looks identical to the one you posted tom203. what year is that out of. I may just source some. What would be golden is if someone with the same GS550e can confirm these are the right needles for these twin carbs. Like i mentioned before, someone had already been in these carbs, im just hoping the previous guy didnt just stick something that fit in there and im over here chasing a wrong part. :-(

[joevintage]

Oh! my pick did load up...sorry.

[Nessism]

Oh! my pick did load up...sorry.

What does this mean? That you found the spring using a pick down the tunnel?

That pilot screw looks just like all the others.

https://www.z1enterprises.com/product/KL18-2646

https://www.z1enterprises.com/product/KL18-2645

[joevintage]

thanks for the link nessism. thats a great lead.

[tom203]

Thst mixture screw is off a spare 650 carb - note that I measured a 6mm thread - much more common than a 5mm that you seem to have meaured.

[joevintage]

thank you tom203. ill let you know what happens. If anyone does happen to have a gs550e 83-85 and can provide a picture of an "actual" pilot needle please provide. I want to make sure that the last person to have their hands in these carbs actually put back the right needles and just lost the spring and washers.