Guages & cold starting!

[GreatSeaSpider]

Hi everyone, i've been reading and (hopefully) learning lots of stuff from this forum, thanks to everyone to helping those of us who are in need of it! \\/

Anyways, onto my problem. My 1983 GS550L.... i've got a couple of problems with her.

1. my speedo stopped working (my rev counter is still ok). The bulb has gone in the speedo too but i'm not sure its related. Anyways at first i thought it was my speedo cable at fault as upon inspection there was a big nasty slash in the outer casing and it was twisted in a bad way. I've bought a new cable and fitted it, and still no speedo! and just today i've noticed a rather horrible whirring sound coming from the rev counter which stops when the clutch is dis-engaged. Any suggestions? or does it sound like new guages time??

2. Cold start trouble. I know from searching this forum that this is a common problem, and i suspect that my bike (which i've not had long) will need its carb's cleaning, valves checking etc etc. My question is this.... i've seen a few posts where people recommend taking the breather hose off the carbs and blowing down them to get the bike started. I've looked in my manual and the hose seems to be connected to the carbs right smack band inbetween them. Am i looking at the correct hose here? if so how the hell do i get to it to blow down it?? 8-[

thanks in advance for any help you guys can give. I'm plucking up the courage to clean my carbs thanks to you guys

[Dave8338]

The vent hoses should be routed up and over the rear swing arm/fender. You should be able to get at them from under the seat, though if the carbs have been removed in the past, it is certain that the position of the hoses has changed. As far as the guages are concerned, not sure why the sound from the tach would go away when the clutch is pulled...there should be no relation there (unless I'm missing something). The speedo sounds as though it's toast, if the new cable had no effect.

[Steve]

Can't help you much with the gauge problem, but I do have a couple suggestions on the cold starting problem.

Because you have two two-barrel carbs, the plumbing is a bit different, but there should be a hose or two that vents the float bowls and is routed up, over the airbox. The fuel hose from the tank should be obvious, as well as the vacuum line that goes to the petcock. It is the vent hoses that you blow on. Just lift the far end of the hose from the airbox area and blow a bit. This pressurizes the float bowl, forcing some extra gas into the carb throat. Don't overdo it or you can flood the intake.

Now to fix the problem, not just get around it. You say you have not had the bike long. Before you go to the trouble of cleaning the carbs (although they probably need it anyway), check the valve adjustment. If the valves are tight (they almost never get looser with time), the bike will be very hard to start when cold. Warm starts are fine. Board member BassCliff has a good tutorial on how to adjust the valves. Click here and follow the links to get your own copy. Click on my name, send me an e-mail, and I will send you a copy of my Excel spreadsheet that helps with valve adjustment.

When the valves are adjusted, go ahead and clean the carbs. While you have the carbs apart, replace the o-rings in the carbs and the intake tubes. Contact board member Robert Barr at www.cycleorings.com to see if he has the parts for your carbs. When you get the carbs back together, do a bench sync to get them close. When the bike is running, do a dynamic sync to get them right. You will be amazed how quickly the bike starts when the valves are adjusted and the carbs are clean. :shock:


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[Dave8338]

Can't help you much with the gauge problem, but I do have a couple suggestions on the cold starting problem.

Because you have two two-barrel carbs, the plumbing is a bit different, but there should be a hose or two that vents the float bowls and is routed up, over the airbox. The fuel hose from the tank should be obvious, as well as the vacuum line that goes to the petcock. It is the vent hoses that you blow on. Just lift the far end of the hose from the airbox area and blow a bit. This pressurizes the float bowl, forcing some extra gas into the carb throat. Don't overdo it or you can flood the intake.

Now to fix the problem, not just get around it. You say you have not had the bike long. Before you go to the trouble of cleaning the carbs (although they probably need it anyway), check the valve adjustment. If the valves are tight (they almost never get looser with time), the bike will be very hard to start when cold. Warm starts are fine. Board member BassCliff has a good tutorial on how to adjust the valves. Click here and follow the links to get your own copy. Click on my name, send me an e-mail, and I will send you a copy of my Excel spreadsheet that helps with valve adjustment.

When the valves are adjusted, go ahead and clean the carbs. While you have the carbs apart, replace the o-rings in the carbs and the intake tubes. Contact board member Robert Barr at www.cycleorings.com to see if he has the parts for your carbs. When you get the carbs back together, do a bench sync to get them close. When the bike is running, do a dynamic sync to get them right. You will be amazed how quickly the bike starts when the valves are adjusted and the carbs are clean. :shock:


.

There's a mouth full and all true. The only thing you save by taking shortcuts to this process is the fuel that you won't be burning, as your time and effort spent in getting the bike up and running right, will cause you sleepless nights and lost perofrmance (in the bike and at work). :-D

[tkent02]

Try this for the noisy tach...

From a thread a few months ago...
Take the tach cable off and look at where it was attached. There is an outer threaded tube, and an inner part with a square hole for the inner cable end to go in. This part gets spun by the cable. Turn the tach upside down, oil the gap between these two pieces. They are fairly long, the oil will go down in there over an inch, maybe closer to two. Don't use WD-40, it only lubricates for a little while, not really a lubricant. Use some type of oil thin enough to go down into the tube yet thick enough to stay there once it's in. I've used several different types of oil on several different tachs, doesn't seem to matter really. It's not a high temp high load part, it just sits and spins fairly slowly but it does need something. Sewing machine oil, motor oil, whatever.

[GreatSeaSpider]

Can't help you much with the gauge problem, but I do have a couple suggestions on the cold starting problem.

Because you have two two-barrel carbs, the plumbing is a bit different, but there should be a hose or two that vents the float bowls and is routed up, over the airbox. The fuel hose from the tank should be obvious, as well as the vacuum line that goes to the petcock. It is the vent hoses that you blow on. Just lift the far end of the hose from the airbox area and blow a bit. This pressurizes the float bowl, forcing some extra gas into the carb throat. Don't overdo it or you can flood the intake.

Now to fix the problem, not just get around it. You say you have not had the bike long. Before you go to the trouble of cleaning the carbs (although they probably need it anyway), check the valve adjustment. If the valves are tight (they almost never get looser with time), the bike will be very hard to start when cold. Warm starts are fine. Board member BassCliff has a good tutorial on how to adjust the valves. Click here and follow the links to get your own copy. Click on my name, send me an e-mail, and I will send you a copy of my Excel spreadsheet that helps with valve adjustment.

When the valves are adjusted, go ahead and clean the carbs. While you have the carbs apart, replace the o-rings in the carbs and the intake tubes. Contact board member Robert Barr at www.cycleorings.com to see if he has the parts for your carbs. When you get the carbs back together, do a bench sync to get them close. When the bike is running, do a dynamic sync to get them right. You will be amazed how quickly the bike starts when the valves are adjusted and the carbs are clean. :shock:


.

Thanks for the info Steve, I've already had a look at BassCliff's site I know the tutorial you mean. I shall see if i can rustle up some tools and some more experienced help and attempt to adjust the valves. Thanks very much for the offer of the spreadsheet, I'll pm you shortly about it. I'll also take my tank off and have a look at where the air vent hose goes to, (I suspect the previous owner has messed with them Dave8338), but don't worry I won't hurt the bike by ignoring the problem, but equally I dont want to get stranded! I nearly got stuck at work today but thankfully one of the other lads had some jump leads in his car and we got her going.

Try this for the noisy tach...

From a thread a few months ago...
Take the tach cable off and look at where it was attached. There is an outer threaded tube, and an inner part with a square hole for the inner cable end to go in. This part gets spun by the cable. Turn the tach upside down, oil the gap between these two pieces. They are fairly long, the oil will go down in there over an inch, maybe closer to two. Don't use WD-40, it only lubricates for a little while, not really a lubricant. Use some type of oil thin enough to go down into the tube yet thick enough to stay there once it's in. I've used several different types of oil on several different tachs, doesn't seem to matter really. It's not a high temp high load part, it just sits and spins fairly slowly but it does need something. Sewing machine oil, motor oil, whatever.

Thanks for that tkent, I've got just the oil for the job, i'll give it a try, it's amazing what bits start to complain when the temperature drops 8-[

Well I guess i've got my work cut out for me! I'll have to see about some new guages, is ebay a good place to start? or does anybody have a spare set of guages they want rid of?

cheers, oh and for those of you on the otherside of the pond - happy thanksgiving from the uk! :-D

Pete

[Steve]

I nearly got stuck at work today but thankfully one of the other lads had some jump leads in his car and we got her going.
Pete

Hopefully the car was not running when the cables were connected? :shock:
Too much chance of frying your rectifier/regulator if the car is running when the cables are connected.

If you think that you need the voltage boost of a running car, think of it this way...what is the voltage of your bike battery when trying to start the bike normally? How does that compare with the car's battery? Right, they are the same. However, because the car's battery is several times larger, it will crank the bike longer before going flat.


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[GreatSeaSpider]

Hopefully the car was not running when the cables were connected? :shock:
Too much chance of frying your rectifier/regulator if the car is running when the cables are connected.
.

er

yeah the car was running :?

wont do that one again then! I had basically started to flatten my battery trying to fire her up, with the car attached i cranked it for long enough and she started. not good for the bike i know, but i wouldn't have gotten home otherwise. In the morning starting her in the nice warm garage she starts up with very little difficulty.