Trouble starting

[Guest]

I have an 82 GS 1100. The bike will crank sometimes and sometimes it just won't fire up. Any ideas where to start. Only has the bike 3 weeks.

[tom203]

Has it got colder where you live? lots of reasons for hard starting- be suspicious of poor maintenance on PO's part. Best to head to this link and look for bwringer's to do list

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

[Nessism]

The place to start is with maintenance. Please check my signature for a link to a carb rebuild tutorial and a list of common Newbie Mistakes. I think both can help provide you with some guidance.

Good luck

[motorcyclebaby]

I have an 83 GS that was/is finicky on starting. Had carburetors replaced with stock size jets (old carbs had stripped and poorly sized jets). Ignition coils were fine (check with ohmmeter for resistance on two sides of each coil). Valves were adjusted, cam chain checked, etc etc. Still after all the fine tuning, still have to open the choke even on a warm day. Push the bike upright, sometimes leave the petcock on prime for a minute. If it's cold outside, prime first through the petcock and don't use the throttle when starting. In bad cases, i would pop start. Hope that helps.

[tkent02]

One of mine is harder to start when it's cold out. Right around 30 degrees F the other day. Had to crank it almost a whole second, and one cylinder took almost two seconds to come alive.

It's time to do some more maintenance

[Chromedome]

Trouble Starting.

Hi Guys, now thats interesting, i to have an 82 Gs 1100L ex Ohio and its hard to start, it sits in the garage right alongside the 80 Gs 850L ex New York and it starts "instantly" i dont mean to butt in here but i thought it was worth a comment.

[Steve]

I have an 82 GS 1100.

Which "flavor"?

The '82 1100 came in a chain-driven "E" model and shaft-driven "G", "GL" and "GK" versions.

Regardless, the basics are the same. Valve adjustment is critical. There is a difference in the procedure, depending on wheter you bike is chain-driven or shaft-driven. Carb cleaning and refreshing is critical. Procedure is the same for all the models. The good news is that you don't need expensive "carb kits" to rebuild them, most likely only need a set of o-rings from cycleorings.com, a can of carb cleaner dip (Berryman's or Gunk brands work well), and a few days of your time.

As others have mentioned, when the valves are adjusted and your carbs are clean, you don't have to do much more than look cross-eyed at the starter switch and the bike will be running.

.

[Chromedome]

Trouble Starting.

Hi again Guys, i was purposely very brief for as i said, felt like i was butting in, Yip,i bought the 80 GS850L here in Ireland several years ago but she had been imported from U.S.A. New York in fact,has got 21,035 mls and did the carb o rings, valve shims,and petcock last winter it does 55 mpg and always started instantly with abo****e minimum choke. Iv also an 82 GS1100L bought two years ago on ebay from Akron, Ohio, has 17,569 mls and does 43 mpg always has been hard to start no matter what choke was used but goes really well, im a real big fan of these "L" models you see, remind me of a BSA 650 lightening id had many many years ago. Suzuki never did export "L"s to Ireland or even the UK. The mpg tasts, were riding real slow and dont forget the UK gallon we have here is larger than the US gallon. One more thing, its great to hear doing the valves should sort my 1100 out, for its a great big thanks to you guys in the forum i was able to work on the 850. Iv went on a bit. Stephen.

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!!

Hi Mr. tcfrench,

Here's the S.W.A.G., the stuff you need to get all of your maintenance caught up. Once you get that done you'll more than likely be good to go, and go, and go.

If you are here you probably have a 30 year old motorcycle that needs about 20 years worth of maintenance. You'll find all kinds of helpful tips, procedures, manuals, etc, in the links below. Let's get started.

Let me dump a TON of information on you and share some GS lovin'.

I just stopped by to welcome you to the forum in my own, special way.

If there's anything you'd like to know about the Suzuki GS model bikes, and most others actually, you've come to the right place. There's a lot of knowledge and experience here in the community. Come on in and let me say "HOoooowwwDY!"....

Here is your very own magical, mystical, mythical, mind-expanding "mega-welcome". Please take notice of the "Top 10 Common Issues", "Top 15 Tips For GS Happiness", the Carb Cleanup Series, and the Stator Papers. All of these tasks must be addressed in order to have a safe, reliable machine. This is what NOT to do: Top 10 Newbie Mistakes. Now let me roll out the welcome mat for you...



Please Click Here For Your Mega-Welcome, chock full of tips, suggestions, links to vendors, and other information. Then feel free to visit my little BikeCliff website where I've been collecting the wisdom of this generous community. Don't forget, we like pictures! Not you, your bike!

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff