choke pin is stuck down

[newt113]

I had just gotten the carbs competely cleaned out, and the fuel lines hooked up appropriately, thanks to the help of my fellow GS Resourcers, and just when I thought I'd try to start the thing, wouldn't you know it the dang choke pin ceazed in the down position. I pulled as hard as I dared, took the entire choke cable off of the bike, WD-40ed the hell out of it, wiggled, jiggled, twisted, hammered, poked, and prodded at this little bastard then I swore up a blue streak, and kicked the crud out of a ping pong table and a 5 gallon bucket. Now I'm all calmed down and I'm here writing to you... Does anyone know how to free up a choke cable that is stuck down? Is there some kind of trick happening that all GS owners are quietly chuckling about somewhere in the comfortable confines of their warm dens next to the crackling fire while I am out in the cold and snow trying to fix an old dog?

[rphillips]

Without knowing what bike you have, we won't know what choke set-up you have

[txironhead]

Is there some kind of trick happening that all GS owners are quietly chuckling about somewhere in the comfortable confines of their warm dens next to the crackling fire while I am out in the cold and snow trying to fix an old dog?

More like sitting around turning red remembering when the exact same thing happened to them! Unless you're a rich Harley rider that doesn't even own a ratchet, motorcycles breed humility. I'll never forget the first time my bike wouldn't start because I forgot and left the kill switch in the "off" position. Come to think of it, that was the night I walked down to Wal-Mart and bought a battery charger......

Don't know what your specific problem is, but I'd try to find an expanded diagram of your carbs (try bikebandit.com) and see if there's anything it could be caught on.

[chef1366]

Remove the choke cable from the carbs and see if it moves freely. You might of put something together wrong on the choke rail. Can you pull the choke rail manually?

[SqDancerLynn1]

See if you can turn the choke linkage manually, If the cable is bad just toss it & get a new one

[newt113]

Should have been a little more specific

I have a 1980 GS550 ET. The choke slider on the carb is moving fluidly and doing its job nicely, but the choke cable doesn't move. I pulled the whole cable assembly (choke knob, pin, "slider tunnel" and all) from the handle bars down to the carbs off of the bike. the cable seems to be locked inside the tunnel leading up to the choke knob on the handle bars. Any insite into this anomolly?

[Steve]

I saw a post recently about adjusting the tension on the choke "knob" to keep it from sliding in on its own. Might be that the same adjustment is too tight on yours to prevent it from coming out in the first place. I think the adjustment involved is the locknut just under the knob.


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