1981 GS550 Wont rev above 6-7k

[octusis]

hey private message "chuck hahn" he knows about straightpipes and such but just know with straightpipes youll have to be tuning ur carbs a good amount of times no real set and forget tune for them. if ur not worried bout peak performance and like the loudness youll be fine but you do lose power from those straightpipes.

Will do, thanks much.

[LAB3]

I have looked into them, I may try it tomorrow in my free time and report back. Do they tend to need adjustment or should I just run the washers straight vertical to the pipe?

It's really an old school trick and there's no rocket science involved. Try setting them up so they sit at a 45° angle and take it out for a ride. After it warms up good you should be feeling a boost in low and mid-range torque, if it satisfies you leave em be. If not, try setting them square to the pipes to block as much as they can. Somewhere along the way you'll figure out where they do the most good, it's highly doubtful they'll make anything worse.

[octusis]

So, I pulled the plugs today on it and turned it over to look at my spark.
#1 Cylinder shot heaps and heaps of gas out of the spark plug hole, the other cylinders were all fine.
Could this be contributing to my issue with the bike not revving? and if so what should I look at replacing because i've already inspected the float needle and that seems to look fine.

[LAB3]

If you're sure that the float needle is seated properly then you have two possibilities to look at. The first would be the seal that sits under the seat leaking, the second being the float height being off. From earlier in the thread it was suggested to get the oring set and do a proper cleaning following the tutorial and installing the jet kit. Anything short of that is going to keep you (and us) guessing and wasting your time.

[octusis]

If you're sure that the float needle is seated properly then you have two possibilities to look at. The first would be the seal that sits under the seat leaking, the second being the float height being off. From earlier in the thread it was suggested to get the oring set and do a proper cleaning following the tutorial and installing the jet kit. Anything short of that is going to keep you (and us) guessing and wasting your time.

I've just set the float according to the guide someone posted on this thread a few days ago, so it must be that oring. I've tried to take that out before but I didn't want to damage the seat trying to pry it out. I guess I'll have to do my best ill report back with how it goes.

[gustovh]

Just an aside, if one of the cams is retarded, intake maybe, the bike will not rev past 7000 no mater what you do to the carbs.. My 850 L had the intake cam off 1 tooth retarded from the PO. same symptoms. It took me about 3 months of chasing the carb thing before figuring it out. You should check your valve clearances anyway.

My 850 runs pods and 4-1.

Just a thought.

V

[octusis]

Just an aside, if one of the cams is retarded, intake maybe, the bike will not rev past 7000 no mater what you do to the carbs.. My 850 L had the intake cam off 1 tooth retarded from the PO. same symptoms. It took me about 3 months of chasing the carb thing before figuring it out. You should check your valve clearances anyway.

My 850 runs pods and 4-1.

Just a thought.

V

What marks do these bikes have to set off of for the cams?

[LAB3]

What marks do these bikes have to set off of for the cams?

You'll have to pull off the valve cover to get to that, it's something you can look at when you check your valves. Do you have a manual?

[octusis]

You'll have to pull off the valve cover to get to that, it's something you can look at when you check your valves. Do you have a manual?

I don’t have a manual

[LAB3]

I don’t have a manual

OK, let's go over a few things then one more time.

A picture of your plugs was posted and the consensus is that your bike is running lean. The folks who diagnosed this problem have been here awhile and I can assure you they know what they're talking about.

It was probably wrong of me to suggest the Lollypops. They I feed will help with low and mid range torque but WILL NOT do a darn thing for the root cause of your bike not revving.

It's winter and although a quick ride may be possible where you live you aren't missing out by having your bike off the road awhile. You could continue to ride your bike the way it runs now and just live with it OR you could be investing your time, money and effort into having a really top notch running and very dependable bike to ride next spring.

A proper carb cleaning with a set of NEW orings is time and money well spent. I've never run open pipes with pods but the guys who know what they're talking about have advised you to get and install a stage 3 jet kit. A guy who wants a good running dependable bike should follow this advice!

Checking valve clearances is MUST for best performance and the longevity of your engine. There are links here to a site where the repair manual can be downloaded FREE. A smart guy would take advantage of that site and all the other information it offers

GS's are notorious for charging system issues, taking time to properly diagnose where your bike is NOW will help you from having to deal with that problem instead of possibly leaving you alone in the dark with a fried charging system next year when you COULD be riding.

There's TONS of little things you can be going over if you slow down and take the time to do them. After you go through your bike with a fine toothed comb you'll have earned yourself some confidence to take on pretty much any emergency repair you may come across in the future.

So, download the manual, get the parts to rebuild those carbs the proper way and go over all the info available to you. You won't be given bad advice or steered the wrong way on this site. Your efforts WILL pay off, just not today.

[chuck hahn]

Service manual here,,

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

[octusis]

OK, let's go over a few things then one more time.

A picture of your plugs was posted and the consensus is that your bike is running lean. The folks who diagnosed this problem have been here awhile and I can assure you they know what they're talking about.

It was probably wrong of me to suggest the Lollypops. They I feed will help with low and mid range torque but WILL NOT do a darn thing for the root cause of your bike not revving.

It's winter and although a quick ride may be possible where you live you aren't missing out by having your bike off the road awhile. You could continue to ride your bike the way it runs now and just live with it OR you could be investing your time, money and effort into having a really top notch running and very dependable bike to ride next spring.

A proper carb cleaning with a set of NEW orings is time and money well spent. I've never run open pipes with pods but the guys who know what they're talking about have advised you to get and install a stage 3 jet kit. A guy who wants a good running dependable bike should follow this advice!

Checking valve clearances is MUST for best performance and the longevity of your engine. There are links here to a site where the repair manual can be downloaded FREE. A smart guy would take advantage of that site and all the other information it offers

GS's are notorious for charging system issues, taking time to properly diagnose where your bike is NOW will help you from having to deal with that problem instead of possibly leaving you alone in the dark with a fried charging system next year when you COULD be riding.

There's TONS of little things you can be going over if you slow down and take the time to do them. After you go through your bike with a fine toothed comb you'll have earned yourself some confidence to take on pretty much any emergency repair you may come across in the future.

So, download the manual, get the parts to rebuild those carbs the proper way and go over all the info available to you. You won't be given bad advice or steered the wrong way on this site. Your efforts WILL pay off, just not today.

I planned on buying those orings ASAP, now the issue is gonna be getting those darn float needle seats out.

[octusis]

Service manual here,,

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

Man thats, super helpful. Been looking for one since I had the bike with no luck. Much appreciated as well as everyone elses help! This forums sweet

[LAB3]

If you go to the GS Owners section there's a sticky post right at the top. Follow EVERY link in that first post!

Now that you have a manual you should go through the recommended maintainence section in that manual and do everything that's suggested there. If you make the assumption that none of those things has been done before then you'll be addressing every aspect of your bike.

[octusis]

So i took it out today, same problems and everything but when I turned the petcock off (I don't have the stock one, I just have a regular on/off one) when I cut the fuel supply to the motor, It revved up alot higher and pulled like a freight train. But the plugs still show that its lean. I'm so lost at this point.