1981 GS 550 L project bike - carb vent and choke

[Guest]

Two quick questionns

1) Why is the spring return for the choke so strong? is there a way to lock choke for cold start? One hand on start button and one on the clutch. How to keep choke on during cranking?

2) Where to the carb vent hoses supposed to vent to? connections?

[Nessism]

The vents route up to the top of the airbox area.

The choke cable has a friction collar on it's end by the pull knob. Try turning the black collar and see if that helps keep the choke out.

[Steve]

Two quick answers:

1) It is strong to ensure that it is OFF when not needed. As Nessism mentioned, there should be a lock collar on the knob. Pull it out, twist it a bit, it should stay.

There are two ways around this.
A. Push the start button with your right elbow while adjusting the "choke" knob with your right hand. Left hand on the clutch lever. It looks really goofy to anybody that happens to be watching, but it works.
B. if you are really, REALLY confident in your ability to actually make sure the bike is in Neutral before trying to start the engine, you can bypass the clutch switch, eliminating the need to pull the clutch to start the bike. Not recommended if you are new to riding or easily distracted.

2) Again, as Nessism mentioned, the vent hoses go to the airbox area. If you have the stock airbox (with lid), you will see a rectangular loop on top of the lid. The vent hoses go through that loop. They don't connect to anything, they just sit there.

.

[Grimly]

Not sure about the OEM fitment, but I replaced my choke cables several years ago with whatever I could find. The favourite was from a choked car (most of them) from the 60s onwards with a pull-and-twist-to-lock movement.
The twist-to-lock still works, but native friction in the cable is as good. One bike has a T-handle bonnet release pull as choke.