New (to me at least) GS450 help!

[Steve]

Hopefully you plan on putting the windshield back on sometime, too. That is a nice little shield.
You would be amazed at how much protection it gives you while tooling down the road.
As the insect population increases over the summer, wind(bug)shields become even more popular.

.

[robertbarr]

Is your kit going to be O-rings only again, or will it include any of the orange-ish gaskets (needle valve seat, choke plunger) ?


--sarge

Just O-rings. The gaskets tend to last forever, and when they don't they're usually available somewhere else.

[lookoutdriftmike]

so, the idle fuel mixture screw oring IS my problem. it looked so close... as soon as its ready, ill be ordering a set too.

[Draketh]

ALRIGHT!

Words cannot explain how happy I am right now. I was getting to the point where I was ready to say screw it and sell the bike but I held on and made it through. I rebuilt the carbs completely, replaced the boots on the airbox, replaced the fuel lines and cleaned the tank.

The boots came in Saturday morning and it was go time. I unscrewed my airbox and moved it as far back as I could and I swear to god it took me the next two and a half hours to get those boots back on. I got so frustrated I was ready to dump the bike over in the driveway and go do something else. I finally got the boots on, switched the petcock to prime, waited a bit, turned her over a few times, and she fired right up!

Brought the choke out after about 30 seconds and she purred like a kitten. No more idle problems without the choke, and no more throttle delay! It was very frustrating at first to do the work myself but it all paid off as soon as I was going down the street on my newly fixed bike.

[Draketh]

Next up in my list of "to do"

The front wheel makes a little squeal while riding. Should I WD40 the axle but make sure to keep it away from the disc or does anyone know what could be causing this?

[buster]

It may be time to dive into the next project...replace the bearings.

[Craiger]

It may be time to dive into the next project...replace the bearings.

Yep! This project should be a breeze compared to getting carbs back on. LOL!

[Draketh]

Yep! This project should be a breeze compared to getting carbs back on. LOL!

Your not kidding, I seriously feel bad for people with a four block carb, my two block drove me insane, forget a four block.

[Craiger]

Your not kidding, I seriously feel bad for people with a four block carb, my two block drove me insane, forget a four block.

Been there, done that (see signature pic). Not fun. Seriously considering pods at some point in time.

[Draketh]

Is the bearing problem something that needs to be taken care of like asap? It's got a little bit of break squeal it seems, so I'm not sure if its the brakes or the bearing making the noise but eaither way I'm worried about the bike being unstable at high speeds, or the front wheel locking up on me out of no where.

I had it up to 45 last evening on a back road and it was very stable.

[Craiger]

I'd certainly be checking it out. Better safe than sorry. You don't want that bearing coming apart at any speed....or brakes failing, either, for that matter.

[Draketh]

Ok so tomorrow I'm going to tackle the noise that the front wheel is making. I pushed it around the driveway and listened and it sounds like the brake pad might be slightly brushing up against the rotor, is there any way to adjust the distance that the pad is at when the brakes are not engaged?

I'm going to put it on its center stand tomorrow and check for sure to see what the problem is but it sounds like the brake pad rubbing to me.

I think it's time to get a clymers manual.

[Draketh]

Ok, so after a full day of riding yesterday it seems that the sound from my front wheel is in fact my brakes, because if I very lightly brake with my front brake the sound goes away. Is there anything I can lube up or is there a way to adjust the pads to keep them from touching the front disc because as it is now it makes my bike sound like a piece!

[Draketh]

Also does anyone have any recommendations on spark plugs? I'd like to get those changed too because it seems the previous owner neglected the bike pretty good and if I had to guess they haven't been replaced in a long time.

[Craiger]

I replaced mine with Splitfires.

Regarding the brakes, it might be the material of the pads. Perhaps a simple change of pads would do the trick. Is it constant or intermittent? Could it be the rotors are grooved or warped a bit? I wouldn't use any kind of lube near the brakes.