My gs does not run

[Hango]

I bought a1978 gs1000 that has been sitting for a while?....
it starts with full choke, does not idle and is not crisp. I am changing the pl.ugs. Ideas
thabks

[tom203]

Figure it's about 35 years overdue for maintenance. Don't believe anything else.
be happy that it sorta runs... this is a good sign , and worth your efforts .
Do some reading at this link...

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/images/GSR_Greeting.html

[gsrick]

Yeah, you've got a lot of sitting time that you'll need to overcome. Clogged carb jets for one and there is no telling when the last time the valves were adjusted. Time for a lot of reading.

Welcome to the forum.

[OldVet66]

Pay particular attention to anything mentioning replacing your regulator and rectifier with an integrated Series R/R. All of the Suzuki Shunt R/R's were pretty poor but the older bikes, before1980 with separate units were particularly bad. They will fail and most likely damage the stator in the process so you should factor that into your regular maintenance to bring the bike up to reliable standards. These bikes are great and you will be pleasantly surprised how well they run with a little love and a lot of maintenance catch up. A carburetor rebuild is in your near future and you can find all the information you need to do it yourself right here.

[Redman]

I suspect new plugs are not going to make much difference, but would be good to have new ones after bike has sat that long.

Having to keep the choke on to keep it running is a symptom on needing a good carb cleaning.
And after sitting that long, is likley to need a good carb cleaning.
ANd by "good carb cleaning", I dont mean just srpyaing in some carb cleaner, and I dont mean some gas additive.
I mean, find the "Carb Cleaning Series" on home page here.

Get a carb dip bucket. Get a new set of orings from "Cycle ORings" (a fine member here).
Take off the rack of carbs, and take each carb off the rack. Dismantel each carb, and cleran per the "Carb Clean Series", and dip each carb body and [arts in the dip for 24 hours.

[gsrick]

Two tips to ad to your carb cleaning. Clean the outside as much as possible before dipping. No need to contaminate the solution with dirt and grease that can be removed beforehand. The other is try to turn the screws you want to remove clockwise before trying to loosen them. The screw heads are usually messed up from being loosened(counterclockwise), but they are almost always good in the direction of tightening(clockwise). If you can break it free that way, you will save yourself the headache of trying to remove a buggered up screw head.

Note: it only needs to turn a very small amount to break it free for removal. If they are already buggered up put a needle nose vise grip plier on it to break it free. It will mark up the edge of the screw head, but you'll need to replace it anyway.