Runnin' Rich intermittently

[nekromaster]

Hey Gang,

I'm a total noob and I apologize if I'm reposting here. I searched but this is kind of common topic and i couldn't find too much. Forgive me please I'm not lazy! -lol

So let me first say this forum is wicked! I'm very happy to be a new GS owner and as I read another noob say this forum totally completes the greatness of Suzuki.

I have some pics of my bike on my profile. I recently traded up more or less from a 1980 kawy 750 LTD to a 1980 GS1000 I think its the S model. I'm not even sure. My title doesn't indicate and the owner didn't know.

Its cafe'd out a little. I love the look and the drive. I've owned hardlyworth it son, kawasaki and now suzuki. I'm very impressed. I love the power and its so comfortable to ride.

So my prob is:

I've owned for about a month. She was running great. 2 weeks ago i was ripping 80 across a bridge on my way to work. I came to a red light at the end. She shut off. I got her started but with hesitation. She didn't want to run. I killed the batt and gave up. Called a local chop shop and they towed for free (nice) and iv'd some gas in my carbs. Got it running. Tried to tell me something about my petcock vacum. I'm more a musician and writer not a mechanic.

So there is a garage local that specializes in suzuki and I love this bike so $199 on a total carb clean and sync is worth it to me.

However, I have a trip planned and it would be great to take the bike. Wedding in jersey. Its get the bike road worthy or ride w/ the fam in the van. I'm dreading the latter.

So most of the time. When I'm in neutral or at a redlight my idle sounds ok.

Sometimes like every other day lately, it will be normal. Then the next time I fire it up ( i park then ride, then park then ride. Many different job locations for an hour or so at a time. ) So sometimes when its sat for a minute and i go to ride it, it will fire up good but then I notice when I stop, the engine is running rich. The other times it sounds normal. It was always normal for about 3 weeks then last week its started this. Its not over revving dangerously (from what I can tell by the sound) but its not in a natural idle state.

Its when I am slowing or stopping and when I PULL THE CLUTCH in is when its running rich and sounds like i should be kicking into 2nd gear not about to stop. If I let the clutch out a bit, it starts to sound normal again. But as soon as I grip the clutch tight it wants to idle high.

Like I stated before. I'm a noob and not much more experienced with my own mechanical work. I know how to change oil & brakes on most vehicles and fix most computers and electronics. Engines, I got nothing.


I can follow instructions well though. So any ideas on what and where I can adjust something? It seems my clutch cables goes under my engine and attaches to another cable kinda female to male part i think with a threaded piece and what looks like a nut for adjustments. Could tampering with this change my idle or how my engine is running?

I need to have it serviced soon to insure safety and plus as stated before I love this bike and am keeping it forever. I want it to run tip top. I know its 30 yrs old but it rips and looks great. I know a little TLC will get it where it needs to be. 28k on the engine now. Right now its my primary bike. I wish to ride it this week yet and then take it to jersey on sat. About 150 miles. My uncle there is a mechanic and can probly give me a hand but if it runs like this am I harming my engine? Its not running super rich and like I said sometimes it runs normal. Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks

[nekromaster]

[esj001]

these bikes seem to be prone to running bad and surging idle if you have an air or vacuum leak somewhere----check the rubber boots on both sides of the carbs--make sure the clamps are tight---there are 4 boots connecting the carbs to the engine and 4 boots connecting the airbox to the carbs. the boots on the cylinder heads have an oring that seals them against the head, this is a very common place to have vacuum leaks. Also check your airbox over good and make sure there are no places for air to leak in. there is an airbox re-seal guide on basscliffs site.

have you been to basscliffs site? http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

do you have a manual?

do you have a garage and tools where you can do some work on it?

I kind of had the same problem before i found this site--after all the help from folks on here my bike is running great. Try not to take it to a shop if you can help it,, if you folow the tutorials and do it yourself you will know its right and it will cost you a lot less

[nekromaster]

Hey THanks alot for the advice. I thought there might be some more replies here. But I guess not. Anyway I'll check this out tomorrow and let ya know. No manual on the bike. Got tools. No garage. But I got lots of friends w/ garages. I'll go over the AB and carb seals. Thanks again for the feedback.

[esj001]

Hey no problem man--im surprised you didnt get more replys as well --this will bump it to the top again--might get some more advice----basscliffs site has a manual for your bike that you can download i think. most everyone here will tell you check valve clearances, pull and clean carbs, replace those orings on head boots, seal airbox, reinstall and tighten carb clamps good, then do a carb sync---in that order--by the way thats a super nice bike--looks clean as a whistle

[Krunk_Kracker]

I don't have any input, except damn, that's a good looking bike!

Welcome to the forum!

Someone will be along to lead you in the right direction, and Basscliff will be along shortly with your mega welcome (do yourself a favor and read it )

[niclpnut]

You say it's running rich, however a hanging idle is a sign of being lean due to a air leak or not jetted correctly to handle increased air flow from pod filters.

First thing, since you have pod filters and no air box, I'm curious if the bike has a jet kit installed or otherwise modified carbs to handle the increase of air that pods provide. Only real way to find out is to yank those suckers off and have a look see.

Where are the mixture screws set at?

Have you pulled a spark plug to see what color they are? If the insulators are white, and the rest of the plug looks light grey ashy, you are lean

Your going to need to check if you have an air leak from where the carb boots are (the tubes that connect your carbs to the head.) You can shoot some WD around the carb boots while its idling and if the idle changes, then you have a leak. In that case you are going to need to replace the o-rings in the carb boots.


There are several threads about carb cleaning and replacing O-rings...You can pay a shop to do it, or take a few days and do the job proper.

It can be intimidating, but with all the cats on this site willing to offer advice, you can do most of the work yourself.

If you haven't already, take a peak at http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/ Basscliff's site is a wealth of info, with guides, tutorials, and manuals, that can answer quite a few questions and help you tackle the routine maintenance these old bitches require.


Nic

[cowboyup3371]

Hey Nic, great advice to the OP except for one thing. THere's plenty of threads here that say using WD isn't always the foolproof thing. It's better to really visually check if they are pliable and with no obvious cracks or holes. I think a flashlight might even help show if there are pin holes in there too.

[niclpnut]

yeah i know, but wan't sure how confident or willing nekromaster is about taking the carbs off.


If he wants to try it, (and we all know he should) thats the only REAL way to know if the boots/o-rings are shot

Also, might check to see if the throttle cable is binding. Could be sticky/worn/old and not release properly at times.

Nic

[niclpnut]

It's an 80 1000?

Those look like VM carbs, (from the shape of the top cap) which would make it a 79 (or 70's model) no?

Motorcycles 1979 GS1000S 1979 Category > Manufacturer > Year > Model
Parts Detail






Nic

[nekromaster]

won't start now

First off, I want to thank everyone for the replies. I greatly appreciate them. I feel the GS LOVE!

I haven't had much time to do anything with this. Been outta town. I'm going to be working on this hopefully tomorrow.

It's not starting now. It has ran pretty good. The original rich problem I spoke about maybe was just the choke being temperamental I would reposition it and it would seem better at time and sound normal when idling. It still sometimes would sound like i was giving it gas sometimes though when I pulled the clutch in.

But the main prob now is it doesn't start currently. Its not electrical. I have a batt charger and its a full charge and has plenty of juice it sounds. It seems like it should turn right over but it doesn't. I end up killin the batt in the past but I'm not doing that anymore. I feel like its not getting fuel sumhow.

I don't know much about the pet cock vacum and the air flow system and tubes that hang off my carbs and drip gas out sometimes onto my kaki's and my sales manager loves the stains on my left leg. haha

I just don't know how the carb system was originally desinged to work and if someone modded it how its supposed to be working now.


I tried popping clutch but I worked out a ton on vacation and my arms are jello right now. So i can't keep pushing it up a hill. I have a hill nearby and when I pop clutch i hear the carbs wanting to start but its kinda muffled sounding and doesn't. I did pop it in the past before.

It did this once before (no start after it was running great) and it just died one day. I couldn't start it again after it died. A buddy injected fuel in the carbs and it was running again for about a week and thats when I noticed the running rich sound which now when i think again that perhaps it was the choke and it is a little sensitive. Then I came back from dirty jersey for a wedding and vacay of about a week and now it won't start. So now the task is getting it started.

I have a fuel switch that says fuel on it but theres no switch. Theres a insert that looks like one use to be there but its most likely been modded sumhow. So no fuel switch. I want to pull the plugs and check them but I don't have deep sockets. I need to get some. They look brand new if you just pull the cap off but I know that can be deceiving.

Niclpnut said, Those look like VM carbs, (from the shape of the top cap) which would make it a 79 (or 70's model) no?

The funny thing about this is the title says the odometer is 28k but it only has 24k on the bike. I tried to search the sn # and I don't even know if I have the correct #. I don't even know what model type it is. I know I read that some 79's were made in 80 and sold as 80's or something screwy like that so I'm at a lost. I really want to keep this bike forever and make it run great and be reliable. I got a bunch of sick gear and I haven't even rode w/ it yet.
A 79 would be cool because I actually was looking for one because I was born that year.

I'm going to get w/ some friends and go over everyones advice here and hopefully even try and pull the carbs out and clean them good.

Any advice on finding the correct model and year everyone? I'll upload some pics of the sticker at the front forks on the frame Its hard to read and its at a funny angle. Also theres a stamp near the oil tank that says
GS 10000-111103 that mean anything.

The sticker on frame on a little silver plate says 507800 also says 603 pounds. Bike sure doesn't feel that heavy.

I need a manual too but I need to know what model i have. YIKES! I got some work cut out.

I'm more mechanical than i give myself credit for. I can fix this bike I just have to do some research it seems and I'm all for that. Everyones a robber out there it seems. Some dude wanted a buck 20 just to diagnose it. NO thanks!

[nekromaster]

It doesn't look like it but the silver plate reads 507 800 the sun or flash was in the way. But thats what it reads

[Big T]

Well, your bike is a bit of frankenbike, nothing wrong with that

It has a later model 1100 gas tank and tail and an 1100 swing arm

We need a closer picture of the carbs and the petcock. Do the carbs have a large nut centrally located, or canted out to the sides?

You are going to have to run down the list of things everyone needs to do to their GS. If this problem hadn't happened suddenly, I'd say valve adjustment.

Since it did happen suddenly, I'm saying carbs - float height, debris, fuel flow. Did those guys that worked on it have lots of 70's bikes in the shop?

Is the inside of the gas tank clean?

[nekromaster]

I will take more pix tomorrow. Thanks Big T. The carbs have a flat head screw on the sides i think.

Where do I get the list that all must do to their GS?

I feel like the gas tank wasn't the prettiest kinda brownish. I have to check to be sure. But.. I guess I'm gullible it ran great looked great and fired right up. He said it had been serviced and taken care of since it sat a bit. Whats the worst case scenario i'm looking at?

If its been running well So it still has life right?

I'll take pix of carbs and petcock. I hope its just debris. I kinda agree w/ a carb issue. I'm here looking for answers but I feel like the engine wants to go just needs gas in the carbs. I dunno.

Anyway thanks i'll be in touch. We're bringing this thing to life one way or another.

Also my title says GS110X for my vin

[nekromaster]

carbs n petcock








Look at the first pic. There is a tube with a little tiny clamp near the cap of the carb. Its not connected to anything. I don't remember if this was like this before or not. What is this tube?

I gotta go to work till 8pm I'll be on later to see some advice I hope. Thanks ALL!