Before I tell you my problem I just wanted to say that this is a great site. Aslo, I've used the search feature to glean as much information as I could about my problem, but I still haven't solved it yet.
Here it goes (I apologize for the length):
I bought a 1980 GS450L with 5,800 miles on it. It had been sitting for a year. I put fuel stabilizer in the tank. There is a bit of rust in the tank, but it's not terrible. The bike started up great with full choke applied. The bike warmed up at about 1200 RPM for a couple of minutes. Then the RPM rose to 4000 for several minutes. At this point I gradually reduced the choke to the fully un-applied position and the bike idled fairly smoothly at 1000 RPM.
So then I twist the throttle just a tiny fraction and the bike stalls immediately - no sputter, no backfire - it just dies. At that point I can restart it with no problem with just a touch of the starter. But the problem persists after restarting.
So I cleaned the carbs to the best of my ability. I did actually remove them from the bike and take them apart and clear all the jets and various orifices with carb cleaner. There was not much dirt in there to begin with. Just a bit of varnish at the bottom of the float bowls and a miniscule amount of grit in one of the main jets.
After that the bike started and idled as before (and the idle was a drop smoother). But the "twist-throttle-bike-stalls" problem remained. This was all done with the bike on the center stand and the transmission in neutral.
I saw someone mention (in a different post) that the fuel flow from the fuel-valve should be checked. So I set the fuel-valve to the "RES" position and when I pull the thin hose, no fuel comes out. Same is true for the "ON" position. How do I create enough vacuum in the hose to see if the fuel is properly flowing? Also, when I set the fuel-valve to the "PRI" position and pull the thick hose, the fuel flows freely. I haven't tried to run the bike with the fuel-valve set to "PRI" because I was under the impression that this might mess up the carbs. Maybe I should try it anyway?
Thanks in advance for your advice!
Comment