Noob introduction, his mistakes, and hopefully your remedy?!

[1/4Moon]

Hi All,

I recently bought my first motorcycle (80 GS550E) and took it from flyin down old county highways to not running at all and was hoping to get some feedback for a remedy to my problem.

First let me say that this is all a result of me being a noob. I got the bike in top condition, and it ran beautifully for a month...until I started messin with it.

The bike came with a 4 into 1 exhaust, not sure of the exact make but the original owner said his son put a yoshi exhaust on it, and there were also yoshimura stickers on the side panels. The exhaust part just slips onto the 4 into 1 header(theres no clamps or screws or welds). Coming from a fuel injected automotive background, I took out the silencer in the exhaust and the lid to the airbox(dumb to think it would breathe easier) right before a 100mile ride. Then came the sputtering, backfiring, flat spots and random loss of power. So I know its running way to lean, so I put the airbox cover back on and run some errands with it. It wont hold an idle and sputters out at stoplights unless I hold the throttle. I put some gas in her and bring her home. The next day I put the silencer back in the exhaust and go to fire it up, but it wont start. Then I found this website and realized the error of my ways.

Electrical all works fine, battery is new, and I get spark on all plugs. When I press start i hear the chicka chicka chicka chicka chicka chicka of a strong stater trying to spark but it just seems there is no fuel delivery?!?


I know that I need to rebuild the carbs, get new intake o rings, replace the petcock, get new plugs/wires all as preventative measures.
With saying all this I have two main questions I was hoping to get answered...

1) Is there a short term fix so I can at least have my transportation back? Maybe something with the petcock not delivering fuel? How do I check fuel delivery from a vacuum operated petcock? Any other possible short-term fixes?

2)If there is no other option and I have to do a carb rebuild, can you give any rejetting advice? I would run the same exhaust(4 into 1 header with a slip on 2.5" diam s bend pipe thats 2ft long) without silcencer and either k&n pods or velocity stacks.


Any help to get my knees back in the wind is greatly appreciated. Thanks yall!

p.s. there is also a mystery oil leak in this equation. it looks like its coming from the oil pan but i cant pinpoint it.

[bccap]

As all you did was remove the silencer and the air box lid, I would check to make sure the lid is sealed properly. And I assume there is a filter in there. These bikes don't run worth a c**p without a properly sealed box with filter. Also check you didn't pinch off the breather hoses that come out from under the tank. Basscliff will be along shortly with much better advice. Good luck

[Steve]

Any jetting suggestions for a straight pipe are pointless.

Partly because straight pipes don't belong on the street, and partly because they are so variable that any suggestion would be useless.

.

[Big T]

it's hard to say what you did when you start with a good running bike and reduce it to a nonrunning state

Did you pull off any hoses? Like the vacuum line from the #2 carb to the petcock?

Is there gas in your carbs? Pull a drain bolt and see

[1/4Moon]

Vacuum hose to carb 2 is still in place. I'll go try and find a drain bolt now and see if there is gas in the carbs.

Steve, loud pipes save lives! Hahaha Im using that exhaust because Im broke and its pretty sweet. Ballpark range at all?

[Steve]

Steve, loud pipes save lives! Hahaha Im using that exhaust because Im broke and its pretty sweet. Ballpark range at all?

Let's just say that I'm glad that I'm 2500 miles away and can just barely hear you.

Ballpark range? Not from me.

I am quite likely to suggest a wrong size, you just won't know if it was accidental or intentional.

[Nessism]

I spend quite a bit of my spare time trying to help people fix their bikes here. When I hear they are running an open exhaust though I just click out.