82 GS850L dies after 20 minutes, calling guru's

[Guest]

OK, I have negotiated the purchase of an 82 GS850L, the problem with the bike, dies after 20 mins, can sit for a minute start right back up and dies after a few minutes. The guy says " I am not putting anymore money into the bike" From the list he gave me, new boots, orings, fuel lines, carbs rebuilt, new stator, new R/R, new shocks/tires/brakes, new paint job. He said nothing about the petcock. it is 100% road ready in every other way. Would I be safe in taking a few tools and a gas tank to drain the tank and fix the petcock on the spot and ride that baby home? Might even be the tank cap. Or should I get the truck and trailer for the 5 hour round trip.

From conversation it appears to cut out at speed and die, then wait a minute and starts right back up for little bit.... sounds awful lot like a bad cap or petcock.

Guru's what are your thoughts? I am getting a great deal on the bike.


Oh.... $500 for the bike, clean title.

[hillsy]

A 2.5 hour trip on a bike that only runs for 20 minutes at a time could take.....a long time.

If it was me I'd take the truck. Sight unseen, there could be a whole lot more wrong with that thing that I wouldn't risk riding it that far without a good going over in the garage first.

[Blue Falcon]

A 2.5 hour trip on a bike that only runs for 20 minutes at a time could take.....a long time.

If it was me I'd take the truck. Sight unseen, there could be a whole lot more wrong with that thing that I wouldn't risk riding it that far without a good going over in the garage first.

what I was thinking .... but I have huge cajones and I am always up for an adventure. On that note...

Anyone in the Orlando, FL area wanna make some cash on April 30th? Need truck or trailer transportation to pick up the bike in Tampa, FL and bring it back to Orlando. I will buy breakfast/lunch/dinner, pay for gas and give some cash for the time.

PM me

[azr]

Failing coil. After it cools down it works again for a bit till it heats up. I had a dyna coil do that too.

[Blue Falcon]

Failing coil. After it cools down it works again for a bit till it heats up. I had a dyna coil do that too.

I had considered that until he said "it stars right back up after a minute". Like enough time for bowls to fill up. When I get there I'm going to put the petcock in reserve and see if it shuts off. With all he told me I am leaning towards the petcock....and gas cap.

[gsrick]

The igniter will act up also before it dies completely. I'm replacing the one on my sons 700ES so we can put it up for sale. He was having the same problem untill it quit completely. hjfisk is mailing one out this morning, I hope it's the fix. We're looking to sell it, he want to buy the 1000G I have and I want to buy a cheap 2004 1100 V Star we have at work.

[hillsy]

Don't rule out the old blocked venting in the tank trick.....or if he's running an inline fuel filter it might be restricting flow as well.

[gsrick]

Spray some carb cleaner in the air box, if it fires it's getting spark and no fuel. If it doesn't fire on the spray, there is no or a very weak spark.

[Cyrano]

Don't rule out the old blocked venting in the tank trick.....or if he's running an inline fuel filter it might be restricting flow as well.

This would be my first guess too and the easiest to fix. Just ride it steady with a half tank of juice and the cap loose for a while and see if it cuts out.

[gsrick]

Just curious since I have not run into that problem, but how do you ride for twenty minutes with a clogged vent then all of a sudden only a minute at a time? 20 minutes is a long ways to go on a bowl of gas if the vent is blocked. Is it taking that long for the negative pressure to build up in the tank?

[chuck hahn]

throw the cap in a butter tub full of white vinegar over night and use lots of air to spray it the next day. The vent channel is molded into the top base metal and is right under the crimped on chrome top cover. lots of ir ll around the seam of the chromed top cover should get air forced down the vent channel.

You can also remove the black cap on the inside and then youll see brown plastic deal with a ball bearing in it. If you remove the brown deal youll seethe vent hole under that..blow air down that way too if you wish to disassemble things from inside.

[Gorminrider]

I had considered that until he said "it stars right back up after a minute". Like enough time for bowls to fill up. When I get there I'm going to put the petcock in reserve and see if it shuts off. With all he told me I am leaning towards the petcock....and gas cap.

It's unlikely bowls will fill back up unless the tap is at Prime position......anyways, It's often ez enough to get fuel line off tap and test for flow...at Prime or by sucking on the vacuum line..partial flow could be rust etc as you say but why can't the bike continue to run slowly if that was the case?

I'm going to put the petcock in reserve and see if it shuts off

Likely this is what you meant? : "Put the tap to PRIME and see if it shuts off"

I've not seen a tank vent fail, even if that's only because these bikes are so aged the gaskets don't seal anymore. But that's pretty easy to check too.

[bonanzadave]

Need truck or trailer transportation to pick up the bike in Tampa, FL and bring it back to Orlando.

Rent a trailer for a day. There has got to be several rental centers in Orlando.

[Blue Falcon]

I will be picking her up on Sunday, I will know more Sunday evening. If I can't figure it out... I may be paying Rick to fix it lol.

[850 Combat]

That would be my thought too, I had a Triumph do that. I've also had fuel pump relays do that in cars (It may have the coil relay mod). I've also had electronic ignitions do that.

One thing worth checking that I have never experienced, is a plugged air vent in the gas cap.

Failing coil. After it cools down it works again for a bit till it heats up. I had a dyna coil do that too.