New to the forum, 81 gs550 problems

[Guest]

Hey guys,
I just picked up a 1981 gs550 bone stock. I'm having some troubles tracking down a problem with it. I've already cleaned the carbs twice, put on new engine intake seals replaced a bad petcock and none of the diaphragms are torn. Its still riding like ****, it bogs down and won't idle correctly. When I'm riding I can barely pass 5-6000 rpms and I really have to work the throttle to get it there. I get a lot of jolts of power then too. Ive been all over the internet looking for solutions and was really hoping the intake seals were the problem but no change at all once I replaced them. Any ideas or help is greatly appreciated!

[tkent02]

Just curious, what maintenance has been done lately? Ever?

[Smokeybear414]

Just curious, what maintenance has been done lately? Ever?

just the stuff I mentioned in my first post. Cleaned carbs twice replaced the intake seals and replaced a faulty petcock.

[cowboyup3371]

How did you clean the carbs? Did you just spray cleaner through the jets and in the bowl or did you separate and dip each body?

Go here and start reading - http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/ especially the article on carb cleaning.

Did you also adjust the valves?

[tkent02]

just the stuff I mentioned in my first post. Cleaned carbs twice replaced the intake seals and replaced a faulty petcock.

Thata's not really really maintenance, that's just trying to fix stuff.

What Cowboy said? How did you clean the carbs? Adjust the valves? Is the cam timing correct? Is the ignition working well?

But clogged carbs usually don't effect the full throttle running much, it's usually the low power stuff that gets messed up. What happens at 5,000 - 6,000 RPM? A good 550 should just be starting to get powerful there. Is it missing? Popping? Just not making power? What do you mean work the throttle? Just hold it open or doing some weird throttle ritual that makes it go faster?

[Smokeybear414]

Thata's not really really maintenance, that's just trying to fix stuff.

What Cowboy said? How did you clean the carbs? Adjust the valves? Is the cam timing correct? Is the ignition working well?

But clogged carbs usually don't effect the full throttle running much, it's usually the low power stuff that gets messed up. What happens at 5,000 - 6,000 RPM? A good 550 should just be starting to get powerful there. Is it missing? Popping? Just not making power? What do you mean work the throttle? Just hold it open or doing some weird throttle ritual that makes it go faster?

Thanks for the replies. I fully disassembled the carbs but did not dip the actual bodies. Just a couple of bottles of carb cleaner. As far as what it does at 5-6000 its just not making power. Popping pretty bad . I haven't adjusted the valves or checked the cam timing. Is this fairly easy? I've never done it before but I'm not completely mechanically inept. Thanks again guys!

[JTGS850GL]

Adjust the valves NOW. Running tight valves can lead to bigger problems. Easy job to do.

Go to http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/ and then go to here: http://members.dslextreme.com/users/...lve_adjust.pdf

Also, if you didn't do a complete strip and dip of the carbs then you probably need to. Go here to find out the right way to do it: http://www.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/...d_Tutorial.pdf

[Smokeybear414]

Awesome, thanks for the links! I'll get the valves adjusted asap and report back.