This past evening I was determined to get a ride in for the first time in several days on my '81 GS650G. 95F heat. Since it was so hot, I first tried starting without choke. Sputtered a bit but wouldn't idle. Tried choke and started but ran unevenly, not normal. In a short while I noticed gasoline quickly puddling under the bike. Shut it off. Determined that gas had been flowing out of the vent hose and I believe from carb 2. It did stop flowing after shutdown. Tried again, same result. Petcock was left in the normal middle down on position. Zero ethanol fuel always used.
On a whim, I grabbed a rubber mallet and a box wrench and gave the float bowls on 1 and 2 a few light whacks. I left it sit a couple of minutes and then it started just fine, no further leaking and ran out as good as ever after a short warmup. Did about 50 miles with no trouble including a couple of restarts. I know only enough about carbs to get in trouble or fuddle through. I suppose that with the whacking I freed up a sticking needle and seat? Or sticking float otherwise?
I don't think that the petcock was part of the trouble with last nights folly or was it? Anyhow, I've been considering a new petcock since the bike is 40 years old with nearly 30k miles. I've known that the correct '81 oem "X" petcock is NLA from Suzi. For the '81 only, it's mounted near the rear of the tank, ( not moved to middle like the '82-83 fuel gauge equipped units). Mine has the outlet facing forward. The '82-83, which you can still get, has outlet facing rearward. So that substitute is a deal breaker. Other aftermarket Suzi. ones all seem to follow the rear facing outlet style, including the K&L. I've read that the '81 and '82 have different reserve straw lengths which wouldn't have concerned me much. Mine also was used on the '81-82 E model chain drive bikes but that's no help of course.
So, where does that send me? Thinking Pingel maybe. Pingel doesn't list my bike in their appl. chart. If I can believe some sources, the GS650G has a 44 mm bolt pattern spread ( about 1 3/4 in.) Pingel has adapters with that spread, but no info on length and width of adapter plate. Available in 1/4 NPT or 3/8 NPT. Most of the Pingel petcocks are available in either of those sizes,
Possible problems:
What size adapter screws does Pingle use for their mounts. What did Suzuki use?
What length and width mount plate would work on my Suzuki? That I can measure soon, but don't know Pingel's specs.
What size fuel hose does my bike use? Most or maybe all Pingels seem to be 5/16 barbs about 7.2 mm?
Is my petcock hole in my tank compatible with what size Pingel?
Are the Pingel straw towers too tall?
I'm assuming that my bike uses a single fuel feed, or is it two? Haven't looked yet.
Has anyone done a successful Pingel mount on an '81 GS650G? What did you use? I would enjoy getting away from the vacuum op and to a gravity feed. With reserve and off. Enjoyed the excellent Karcoma gravity feeders on my old Beemer airhead for years.
Any thought on what my overflow situation likely was?
This a lot of questions but thankful for any knowledge on this model and the petcocks.
On a whim, I grabbed a rubber mallet and a box wrench and gave the float bowls on 1 and 2 a few light whacks. I left it sit a couple of minutes and then it started just fine, no further leaking and ran out as good as ever after a short warmup. Did about 50 miles with no trouble including a couple of restarts. I know only enough about carbs to get in trouble or fuddle through. I suppose that with the whacking I freed up a sticking needle and seat? Or sticking float otherwise?
I don't think that the petcock was part of the trouble with last nights folly or was it? Anyhow, I've been considering a new petcock since the bike is 40 years old with nearly 30k miles. I've known that the correct '81 oem "X" petcock is NLA from Suzi. For the '81 only, it's mounted near the rear of the tank, ( not moved to middle like the '82-83 fuel gauge equipped units). Mine has the outlet facing forward. The '82-83, which you can still get, has outlet facing rearward. So that substitute is a deal breaker. Other aftermarket Suzi. ones all seem to follow the rear facing outlet style, including the K&L. I've read that the '81 and '82 have different reserve straw lengths which wouldn't have concerned me much. Mine also was used on the '81-82 E model chain drive bikes but that's no help of course.
So, where does that send me? Thinking Pingel maybe. Pingel doesn't list my bike in their appl. chart. If I can believe some sources, the GS650G has a 44 mm bolt pattern spread ( about 1 3/4 in.) Pingel has adapters with that spread, but no info on length and width of adapter plate. Available in 1/4 NPT or 3/8 NPT. Most of the Pingel petcocks are available in either of those sizes,
Possible problems:
What size adapter screws does Pingle use for their mounts. What did Suzuki use?
What length and width mount plate would work on my Suzuki? That I can measure soon, but don't know Pingel's specs.
What size fuel hose does my bike use? Most or maybe all Pingels seem to be 5/16 barbs about 7.2 mm?
Is my petcock hole in my tank compatible with what size Pingel?
Are the Pingel straw towers too tall?
I'm assuming that my bike uses a single fuel feed, or is it two? Haven't looked yet.
Has anyone done a successful Pingel mount on an '81 GS650G? What did you use? I would enjoy getting away from the vacuum op and to a gravity feed. With reserve and off. Enjoyed the excellent Karcoma gravity feeders on my old Beemer airhead for years.
Any thought on what my overflow situation likely was?
This a lot of questions but thankful for any knowledge on this model and the petcocks.
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