cold starting 83 GS550E

[550ERAT]

I just got my 83 gs550e going after some carb work. Just a couple of things if anyone can help...Cold bike, choke on..bike will not idle by itself unless I keep it idling with the throttle. Do this for a minute or two, jump on the bike, go a block ...and no more problems at all. Does this sound normal? The carbs were cleaned (thoroughly) main and idle jets replaced, bike is air tight. Also, had it on the highway and at 80mph, it seemed like that was just about it. I could have squeezed a little bit more, but it probably qould have taken a little more highway. It goes like hell up to there, it just seems like the gearing is wrong for it to go faster. Any ideas? I am getting a 4-1 kerker set up this weekend and will probably play around with that, but until then, should I leave it as is? I have a good manual too and can't find anything about a choke adjustment.

[Dave8338]

If you go with a 4-1 setup, there is a chance that you'll have to rejet. As far as the warm up on a cold engine is concerned, the 550 seems to take a minute or two longer than most other bikes, as I understand. It may have something to do with displacement (more cooling area on the jugs / head) vs the 550 cm2.

I would be tempted to adjust the idle mixture screws out 1/4 - 1/2 turn out and see if that helps your warm up time. It is ideal to have the bike running its best before the mods or you'll be chasing a problem that may have more than one issue in need of resolution. My .02 cents.

[MelodicMetalGod]

I just got my 83 gs550e going after some carb work. Just a couple of things if anyone can help...Cold bike, choke on..bike will not idle by itself unless I keep it idling with the throttle. Do this for a minute or two, jump on the bike, go a block ...and no more problems at all. Does this sound normal?

As I mentioned in the other thread, that doesn't sound normal. Or maybe it does, but my bike doesn't do it so I don't know any better. Obviously the issue is related to a condition that is only in effect as cooler running temp. I assume that you take the choke off after you go a block. Therefore, unless you've given specific attention to the choke circuits in the carb already (I didn't initially), ensure that they're free and clear. Both of mine were the most blocked areas of the carbs.

The carbs were cleaned (thoroughly) main and idle jets replaced, bike is air tight. Also, had it on the highway and at 80mph, it seemed like that was just about it. I could have squeezed a little bit more, but it probably qould have taken a little more highway. It goes like hell up to there, it just seems like the gearing is wrong for it to go faster. Any ideas? I am getting a 4-1 kerker set up this weekend and will probably play around with that, but until then, should I leave it as is? I have a good manual too and can't find anything about a choke adjustment.

To be clear, you're saying you got to 80 and the bike ran well getting there but then is hard pressed to get past 80? I haven't had my bike up to 80 yet (tough to hit 80 with the carbs off), but I'm pretty sure that there's no way that 80 is top speed. I've hit 60 in third gear without much trouble. Are you pretty much at redline in top gear at 80?

I've got the Clymers and the FSM (from RepairManualClub.com, get it as a free download if you don't already have it) and I'm not aware of any choke adjustement.

I would agree with Dave8338 that you'd do best to leave the exhaust change until AFTER you've got the bike running well at stock. Adding variables to an unkown quantity can easily make troubleshooting that much more difficult.

That's my two cents

[Schweisshund]

You said main jets and needles were clean? Try the choke plunger as well. I had issues on my bike with the choke plungers. Make sure they are moving freely - a little wd-40 on them won't hurt either. Get a fishing line and clean the plunger holes before you reassemble.

After riding yesterday with no problems then today, my bike started stalling and taking forever to start up again. I am going to investigate this and keep an eye on this thread at the same time. I may be having fuel delivery problems.

[Schweisshund]

My bike in 6th gear (yesterday) was at 6,000 rpms when I was doing 75 mph.

[550ERAT]

Thanks for the info. All the passages are free and clear and all parts move freely. I'm thinking it's just the bike's thing. As far as the speed. I will ride it and take mental notes of the speed/rpm's If memory serves me, I think i was doing 60mph at 4000rpm. I'll double check. I don't know if I'll get to 80 anytime soon, but if anyone has any other ideas of what I should check, please chime in. Other than that, bike just needs some cosmetic work (damn side cover tabs).

[fgh]

Are you sure you were doing only 80. The speedo's in these aren't the most reliable. How many RPM's are you running at 80? If 60 = 4,000 then 80 should equal 5,300.

[MelodicMetalGod]

If you can do 60 at 4000 RPM in top gear, you've got a LOT of head room there before you get anywhere near redline.

Were you able to get the FSM? Hope so. It's got some troubleshooting pages that specifically deal with hard starting and poor high speed running. (See page physical page 8-1 or pdf page 255).

[HotDogLXA]

I just recently had my 1980 550L worked on by a mechanic that is very reliable. After cleaning and syncing the carbs the bike runs at about 4000 rpms at 60 so it looks like that is how all the 550s will run. At 75 i still had about 3000 rpms to go before redlining. Anyone know how gas mileage is when close to redlining?