First Bike 84 gs 550 es help?

[84gs550es]

Where can I get floats for the carb at? I went to a local place and they said they have to get it from suzuki and they are $60 a peice can I get them on that site?

[84gs550es]

http://photobucket.com/bradymotorcycle

i tried to embed it but it did not work but heres what the bike looks like torn down ill get some pics to you when i get it running right and put everything back on it

[spyug]

Why do you need floats? Are they missing or broken? Floats are not something that generally needs replacing. There are several o-rings that will dry out and shrink allowing air to infiltrate and or gas to leak. They need replacing and you will also need carb bowl gaskets. If the carbs leak into the cylinders it is possible your float valve needs replacing but that may or may not be the case at the moment so I wouldn't jump to that. Get yourself the o-ring kit and the bowl gaskets.

You should do a proper carb cleaning and rebuild and while your carbs are different than those shown in the carb tutorial (yours are siamesed i.e. two carbs in one body one for cylinders i&2 and one for 3&4) the cleaning principal is the same. At first it may seem daunting but study the tutorial, find a clean well lit area where you can work and leave parts undisturbed for few days. Round up some cleaning materials and some cups to put your parts and screws in. Nothing rubber goes in the carb dip but dunk your bodies and the jets for a minimum of 24 hours. Once out of the dip wash off in clean water and dry ( compressed air or hairdryer), blow out all passages in the bodies and using a small wire poke through all the holes in the jets. when reassembling just remember to put in everything that came out.....no leftovers. with the new carb gaskets use a little axle grease rubbed in to both sides and the gasket will seal but come off easier and be reuseable next time.

Once the carbs are clean and rebuilt they will need to be 'synched" but thats a story for next time.

Before putting the carbs back on, you should take off the intake boots to the head and replace the orings in them. With these bikes, air leaks on the intake side cause a lot of smooth running problems so clean the carbs well and replace the o-rings. Once back on, make sure the boots from the airbox also fit tightly and there are no cracks or chunks missing out of the airbox.

There is no quick and easy way to do this properly. Trust us, we know how much you want to ride but if the carbs are not clean, she'll run rough and you'll spend mor time fiddling and farting about. do it right the first time.

Good luck and keep us informed as to how it goes.

Cheers,
spyug

[84gs550es]

Ok thanks for the help im going to do the o ring replacement and clean it... Do I use carb cleaner to dip parts in?

[mike_of_bbg]

Most of us use Berryman's or Gunk carb cleaner in the gallon paint-type can with a parts basket. I think it's pictured in the carb cleanup series. They're available at my local Advance Auto Parts or AutoZone for about $20/ea. If you spray clean the outside of the carbs a bit before dipping them (for 24 hours, not the 20 minutes on the can) it will keep the cleaner, ummm, cleaner.

Here's a link @ Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/B-9-PARTS-CLEANER-BASKET-GALLON/dp/B0002KKIIC/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1308162675&sr=8-4

Some locales have restrictions on certain chemicals and you may not find these for sale near you. Do some forum searching on carb dip to find alternatives. We don't know where you are - putting your location in your User CP will hep with such things. You should also put your bike in your sig, although I guess your user name gives it away for now

[84gs550es]

Ok I ordered the o ring set... Ill rebuild using bassclifs website instructions and using the repair manual I have... the guy at the motorsports store said if I don't take of the connecter to the carbs then I wont need them synced does that sound right or do I need to take that off to change the o rings

[BassCliff]

Hi,

The guy at the motorsports store is "less than informed".

Any changes made to the carbs, exhaust, valve adjustment, etc, are best followed up by a carb sync, just to be sure everything is as it should be.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[84gs550es]

ok so i got the o ring kit... I'm gonna do it Thursday put them in the bucket you guys were talking about then put them back together then hopefully it runs smooth enough to go to a biker picnic with my dad on Saturday... I just might have to use my arms for signals because i still haven't figured out the turn signal thing... so far i have traced them to the switch (no power) to the gauges (no power) there's only one more place it can go but it started to rain so i didn't get to finish. wish me luck! thanks again for all the help... when i get it back together i will post some pics of it... I think my next project after i get it running good and the turn signals fixed is to paint it myself any suggestions? i have a friend with a paint gun

[84gs550es]

ok so heres an update...

i put everything together and now it runs with a bad idle... had a local service shop look at it and was going to do the carb sync but said that it is not firing on all four cylinders... i don't know what to do now... he is going to do a compression test on it tomorrow... it does have new spark plugs and the spark on the wires are good.....service shop said that it could be a broken valve or bad piston rings

[cowboyup3371]

Did you do a bench synch when you first put the carbs back together? Is the air box back on correctly?

Either way, do the carb synch on your own first don't let that shop touch it. Then see how it runs. You'll probably have to make some adjustments from it anyway.

[84gs550es]

i didn't do a carb sync idk how and i don't have the tools but they did the compression test and one of the cylinders is at 80psi... so i either need to rebuild the engine or buy a new one

[mike_of_bbg]

Did you check your valve clearances? They wear tight and can hang open if they get bad enough, causing loss of compression.

[cowboyup3371]

Was the compression check done with the bike warm and WOT?

These shops aren't really interested in doing the work on these bikes since they'd rather sell you a new one. So you'll be better off reading up on Basscliff's site and doing the work yourself.

+1 on what Mike_of_BBG said

BTW, put your location in your profile. Maybe one of us is close by to come help.

[84gs550es]

im not sure if he did it when it was warm but he said that it was firing better when it was warm.... could that be just valve clearance? or could it be more?

[84gs550es]

i put my location on my profile too its zanesville ohio