Full maintenance

[Rodman]

Hey guys I'm pretty new to this forum and want advice on an A to Z work over on my 70 GS1000L (pic posted in my greeting). Obvious problems are leaking fork seals, battery charging, mild carb issue. In 2 seasons and ~4000 miles I have recovered seat, replaced rear pads, and an oil change. I will not pull any punches to get this up to factory spec from front to back. The right side pipe is a darker color than the other 3 and may be worse now than when I got it. Is this a concern? See attached pic and please advise.

Thanks

[Rodman]

Full maintenance

Sorry, the year is 79'

[SqDancerLynn1]

The pipe could be as simple as a gummed up/ miss adjusted carb. Any repair is best done right the first time. Actually l saves time in the long run...

[Big T]

It's running incredibly lean on #4

You need to address this immediately

[UncleBen]

Wow, with that much color change I would hesitate to even start it up until I figured out what is wrong in #4. Could be carb related or valves too tight (and possibly burnt up now). While you're at it, I would do a compression test to see if there is any drop at #4 as well.

Please keep us posted on what the issue is and good luck!

[resjudicata]

Did you get your Megawelcome from Bikecliff? If so, all the stuff you need to do is listed there.
1. Valve adjustment.
2. COMPLETE tear down and clean carbs.
3. Vacuum synch carbs.
4. Mixture adjustment on carbs.
5. Double check #4 above with plug chop checks.

Do the above in that order. Each item relies on the ones previous. There are no shortcuts here. This along with regular maintanence items listed in Bikecliff's Megawelcome.

While doing fork seals I strongly suggest replacing the head bearings as well. It seems like it is a difficult job but it isn't bad. And, almost nothing will make as big a difference in how an old bike like that handles than having new and properly adjusted head bearings.

Chris

[FiremanBob]

In anticipation of BassCliff's mega-welcome, look here:

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

[1948man]

Old deteriorated intake o-rings could contribute to a lean condition although maybe not enough to account for the blue header. Crush gaskets where the headers bolt up to the engine could be leaking in some air also. Also the air box (if you still have it instead of individual PODS) needs to be in good condition to keep from introducing too much air. If you should decide to investigate the headers, make sure to squirt some PB Blaster or other penetrating oil on the bolts for a few days and be real careful. Those old exhaust bolts break really easily. You might want to even search up an old thread on the subject before you tackle them.

[cowboyup3371]

How many turns out is the mixture screw on that side? But, I would agree with everyone else that you should probably take them apart, dip for 24 hours each, and replace the orings from www.cycleorings.com

[Rodman]

I guess I'm going to park it and table this whole thing, for a while . I looked at the Bloemer reubuild info, 53 pages times 4, YIKES!!! It seems to be an incredibly daunting task to me not only for a rebuild (cross fingers and hope its right) but getting everything in proper working order, individual tuning, synching (maybe sinking for me), and troubleshooting if needed. It is possible that there may be valve damage and then the can worms that opens, OMG I feel defeated already. I do want to say thanks for all your input.

[UncleBen]

I would not give up. Give it a go, one step at a time. It only takes minimal tools to do it all and you WILL learn as you go. No one is born as an expert bike mechanic. Everyone starts somewhere and no one ever knows it all.

[cowboyup3371]

Rodman,

If you see this I sent you a PM. Why don't you give me a call and bring the bike down. Although I don't have a synch tool, I can help with what I can; I just can't come up there right now after my Jeep dying on me Saturday.