GS650L no power

[Master09]

Sry to be asking so many questions but I really want this bike to work so I can go out and ride. I've cleaned the carbs and the petcock works fine. The bike wont idle but I have a feeling that's just a case of the idle screw not being in far enough. My real question is that when the bike is in neutral I can rev. the bike and no problems. As soon as I get on it and ride a little I have absolutely no power once I get past about 2000 rpms. I've read on here about everything but it nothing seems to be working for me. I can run threw 1st gear pretty well it lift the front wheel off the ground if I give it a lot of throttle but once it hits about 2500 nothing slow slow slow. then it's just a battle to get above about 35mph. there doesn't seem to be any air leaks anywhere I tried the WD_40 spraying on the boots. I just want the darn thing to have some power so I don't get run over if I take it out on the road. Thanks in advance for your help

[mark]

Couple of questions.

1. What do you mean by "clean the carbs". What excatly did you do?

2. Is the bike running on all cylinders? Check the pipes at start up to see if they are all getting warm.

[Cyg]

No need to apologize, I never had a 650 are they like a 750? You never mentioned what your plugs say. If you can get it running for at least ten minutes, or even 20 pull of a plug and read what it says. Sounds like it could be timeing. They went to electronic ( I am asking here now) that I am aware of on in the 80's bikes. If it's the points, make sure your timing is on and hitting right about where the line says it should.

As for the big idler screw you need too adjust that in so it at least runs around 1500 or 2000 rpms.

The spraying of the boots tells you if you have an air leak or not cause it will run richer for abit.

If your running too rich, try this.
run it with enough choke on too make it run faster. Then try too take it out into second gear. If your bike runs with alot of choke on, then make sure your carbs are benched right again. Dont fret, I have taken my carbs apart at least 30 times too get them right where I needed too them too be. My problem on the gs was a broken off idler screw tang that the previous own broke off in the slide hole of the main body. He turned it in so tight it broke off in there. My fix is not going too be your fix.
Good luck

[Master09]

Mr. Mark,

Cleaning the carbs would be completely taking them apart I used carb cleaner on everything in there except for the rubber diaphrams after i removed all the seals and what not I let the the 4 casts soak in carb dip for around 24 hours. I took a wire and pushed it threw all the tiny holes on the main jet and the pilot jet I cleaned the floats and the pins that hold it. everything in the carb I hope is working correctly. there were no tears in the diaphrams either. i will check the pipes for warmth today when I get a chance and I will get back to you on that.

[Steve]

What are you using for air filtration? The symptoms you describe sound like you are just running open throats on the intake side.

I had that problem when trying to do my 650 and my 850. In the garage, they would idle all day long, but would not rev well over 2500 or so. I hung a shop rag over the intakes, and used nylon wire ties to hold the rag to #1 and #4. Now I could rev the engine as much as I wanted. I even took the bikes on the road for a test ride with the rag on. I would not use the rag for checking the jetting on the carbs, as the restriction would not be the same, but for a quick get-it-going check, it works great.


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[Master09]

Help

Okay I let the bike sit over night and now it wont even turn over. I'm about ready to give up on this bike. The bike is in I would say fair condition. Never been dropped but has a little rust on the pipes right under the footpegs I can get it to idle and rev to about 2000 rpm does anybody know how much I could sell this thing for it an 1981 GS650L 1500 miles. I would love to fix this bike and ride it, nice looking bike but it's starting to become not worth it. If anybody could help me out that would be great thanks I looked at the throttle response posts but I've tried all that and nothing works I have the pilot jets set at about 1 turn out could this be the problem ? Also tonight when working on it I started to have oil drip out of the left hand side exhaust if anyone could diagnose this problem that would be great thanks

[mark]

Sorry about your frustration.

It seems to me at this point that you need to step back a little from focusing on these problems and get a better base to work from. Start with the basics so to speak.

If I was in your shoes, I 'd start with a compression test. That will give you the basic condition of your engine. Your bike has low miles and it shouldn't have compression problems but I would want to know for sure. If you've got a dead cylinder or inadaquate compression whatever else you do won't make any difference. Valve adjustment is usually a part of that.

Spark. Check for good spark at your plugs. As Cyg said, CHECK YOUR PLUGS. Sooty, oily, White, Tan? That will help you out a lot. Make sure you have a good battery and check your battery connections, ground connections, especially around the battery box.

You've done the carb work already it seems. Floats adjusted correctly? You can get basic settings from someone who has the BS or carb series.... I don't. Good air filter? Air box sealed up tight. Make sure your petcock works properly, lot of problems are often caused there.

See, then you can say...... My compression is good, I've got good spark, my plugs look like this, my carbs are cleaned and adjusted, my petcock works fine, but here's my problem and it will be much easier to pin it down.

Somebody else might have a different approach, but that's what I would do if I were you at this point. Cover the basics first, then address the problems.

Or you can sell it of course.

Good luck man. Sometimes it just takes a while. But once you get to know your bike, working on it can be just as fun as riding it. With such low miles, you might have a pretty good thing on your hands.