Got bike from shop today...(sigh)

[Raxus]

Hey folks,

Got my '81 GS 650G back from the shop today. Was so excited to finally be able to ride it since I got about a month ago. They rode around the shop to my truck and loaded it up. Great right? 90 minute drive home, unload it and the damn thing won't run very long. Have it full choked, will start (most times), but won't stay running long. When I gently use the throttle it kills it. When I first got it started, I left it running for (what I thought was a good warm up), took choke off..it died. Now I can barely get it started ( at least till the battery died). Any advice here? Consider me a total newbie to bikes and all things mechanical, which I am.

Here is a list of what they did for me:
cleaned carbs
Pipe intake RH and LH
O ring intake
gasket float c
throttle cable
clutch cable
with 6 hours labor (sighs)

I really, really don't want to pay for more labor..

[thewiz]

I am no expert but had similar problem when I got one of mine back from shop. They had pinched the fuel line when the put tank back on. Also, make sure you have enough gas not to be in RESERVE position. Sounds like fuel starvation to me.

[catfishk]

it sounds like your bike has been gone through pretty good. just start with the easy stuff and go from there...

have you looked into the idle adjustment screw (knob) between your carbs? it might have been turned down when the bike was last running, say at the shop, and now needs a few turns to the right in to hold idle when it is cold

you might want to pull the plugs and tell us what you see. they might be fouled and interrupting spark

i wouldn't count on the shop having done perfect work at this point, so you could look into the throttle cable adjustments to rule them out

just some things to try

[Killer2600]

Got Gas?

Your repair list didn't say anything about giving you a tank of gas so if you haven't check it, make sure you have enough gas.

[brveagle]

both of my ideas have already been mentioned..

idle adjustment screw and pinched fuel line

check for both first

[Raxus]

hehe, it's about 1/4 tank..will check the other things and let you all know

[Raxus]

I give up. Gonna take it back to the shop ( another 3 hour round trip) and have them make it right. After the kind of money I shelled out it damn well better be done for free this time around!

[BassCliff]

Mr. Raxus,

When my fuel gauge gets down to the 1/4 mark, that's usually where I have to hit the reserve setting on the petcock. Did you set your tank on reserve to see if it made a difference? Let's rule out the simple stuff first.

Did you start the bike and run it for a while at the shop before you loaded it up and took it home?

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

Edit: Just re-read your post. I guess they did have it running for you at the shop. Try putting it on 'Reserve' and see if it will run. Or put some more gas in it.

[Steve]

You say you are a newbie to bikes, so it's possible that the warm-up procedure might not have been explained to you.

Assuming everything else is working as it should, set full choke, turn on the key, hit the starter button. Do not use the throttle at all. If the engine races, feather the choke back a bit to control the speed to about 2000-2500 rpm. Use this time to put on your jacket, helmet and gloves. Keep feathering the choke to control fast idle speed. Do not think of the choke as a simple ON/OFF device. It has an infinite number of settings in between. By this time, the engine should be able to idle without choke. If it can't, the idle speed screw might need to be adjusted.

Until the choke is mostly off, adding any throttle will tend to kill it. These carbs work a bit differently than automotive carbs, so you have to think just a bit differently. Eventually, after you have everything sorted out and working well, you will know where the 'sweet spot' is on the choke. You will be able to hit that spot, instead of full choke, and start it every time.

Oh, and 6 hours of labor for all they did is not bad, if they did a thorough job on it all.


.

[catfishk]

as BassCliff mentioned, don't trust the fuel gauge, ever. mine read as more full the further i drove, for example...

it might be something very simple!

[Raxus]

No fuel gauge, I just look inside and wiggle the bike to see how much I got. I had at least a 1/3 of a tank. I am new to bike chokes, not to auto chokes tho so I might have been treating it like an auto choke. Since I forked out $600 I am gonna let them mess with it getting it right..on thier dime. I'm a nice guy, and patient most of the time. I will go there and be nice as pie but if they charge me anything..let's just say my German/Russian temper can be quite nasty

[zx7]

No fuel gauge, I just look inside and wiggle the bike to see how much I got. I had at least a 1/3 of a tank. I am new to bike chokes, not to auto chokes tho so I might have been treating it like an auto choke. Since I forked out $600 I am gonna let them mess with it getting it right..on thier dime. I'm a nice guy, and patient most of the time. I will go there and be nice as pie but if they charge me anything..let's just say my German/Russian temper can be quite nasty

I also have an 81 GS650G and at a 1/3 of a tank, it is getting pretty close to where I need to switch it to reserve...I would give that a try since it is a simple check - might save you wasting a 3 hr round trip...

[nabrams]

Do a search here for the horror stories about giving your bike to a shop/mechanic. You WILL find yourself diving in and doing the work yourself, if you keep that bike for more than one season. These are 25+ year-old machines - if you take it to the mechanic every time you've got a problem you'll end up paying so much in labor fees (usually 60-70 $/hr) that you would have been better off buying a new bike.

[Steve]

My question now would be...how did you measure that 1/3 tank?

If it was a simple height of the fuel in the tank, you may be almost out of gas. :shock:

Remember that you are new to bikes, and what you see is not necessarily what you have. Take a look at the attached drawing that shows the profile of your tank. There is a big tunnel in the middle of the bottom to allow it to fit over the frame. Let's say that your tank is 6 inches tall. If you merely measured 2 inches of fuel...
Well, lets just say that I hope the RESERVE position of your petcock works well. 8-[


.

[Raxus]

OK, went back to the guy that did my bike. He was..FANTASTIC! We found that the fuel line was pinched and it needed some idle adjustment. He was appologizing all over the place and fixed it right up. In less than 10 minutes she ran like a charm, test drove it..perfect. He even thru in a gallon of oil free so I could change the oil (it was REALLY bad when I first changed the oil when I first got it) after a couple days of riding it. I am totally happy with outcome. Cuduos go to Fender Cycle in Des moines, Iowa. In particular to Chad who worked on my bike. Great customer service and shop!