gs450l story and questions

[03svrider]

let me start by saying this is a great forum and i have received alot of sound advice in the past. i'm baaaaack!
you may know this already or it may sound familiar so bear with me. last summer i bought an 81 gs450l to commute on. i work at a bike shop on sat's and a mechanic there that has been working on bikes his whole life (he's mid 50's i guess and has won national titles on his late 70's kawi drag bike) got the carbs straightened out for me. the receipt says 2 drain plug gaskets were replaced, along with 2 filters, 2 needle gaskets and a clear plastic inline fuel filter was added. the bike ran like a top all summer long. it was scary how few cranks this thing needed to instantly fire up. it takes forever to warm up but i think that's just the bike.
then the winter came and a sedentary job behind a computer prompted ebay to rear it's ugly head. i scored a set of new mac 2 into one pipes and a brand new recovered sargent seat so dang perfect you have to see it (possibly again!)

i put the pipes on and started it up to hear the new sound. without the baffle it was way too loud. so i am keeping it in. it idled fine and sounded great but i had to coax the throttle for it to rev up. the bike kept bogging down. i expected this.
i have been told before that just moving up one size in the main jet might be enough for the bike to run ok but it may be difficult to get it just right with much trial and error. "keep the stock exhaust" was typed by a few. it's just my commuter and doesn't have to be perfect so i'm hoping this jet change will suffice.
i have the clymer and a circa 1981 suzuki shop manual for the bike but i looked at the excellent pics in the carb thread here and proceeded to take the carbs off. when i took the float bowl off the first carb the main jet was not where i thought i was going to be. so i took the drain bolt out of the float bowl and there it was! i took them out of both float bowls and it looks like they say 115 on them.
let me note that the internal (inside the bigger boot screwed to the engine) rubber boots from carb to engine were perfect but the ones from carb to airbox were not. they were a little torn but not dried out. i will be replacing the carb to airbox boots when i put it back together and keeping the stock airbox, no pods for me.
i am also rebuilding the forks with new seals and progressive springs.
here come the questions if you've held on this long.
1. do i need to lightly grease the boots when i put the carbs back on or something similar to help it seal?
2. what is the next size main jet if these jets say 115?
3. is there a special "main jet screwdriver" for that oddly shaped slot?
4. can this be THAT easy?
AND...
4. why didn't anyone tell me that when i removed the cam chain tensioner to rebuild it utilizing the excellent write up i found on this site that fuel would come pouring out? i thought that it was leaking oil!
anybody who helps (or wants them for that matter) can have my old clamp on highway pegs (just the pegs, i'm keeping the engine protectors), windshield, and backrest/rack. you just pay shipping! i took them off to trim the bike down when i put my stock sv650 handlebars on the bike. the backrest/rack is a little rusty and was too wide for the little 450 frame but i got it on with spacers and the pegs are heavy as hell so think about what they may cost to ship to you from jersey. might not even be worth it but they're cherry. hope you lasted this long. i had to write this thing twice! it was erased the first time by accident and the computer TRIED a second time but i copied it just in case. the computer's lucky my fiance needs it for work! thanks for any help! here's a pic of the backrest and stuff on the bike.

[tkent02]

Next main up would be 117.5, you can raise the jet needles by replacing the washer above the clip on the needle with a thinner one.

[03svrider]

anyone but the gentleman above? thanks for your response gentleman above.

[chef1366]

Get a gravity fuel filter to replace the old one. The mac really should not warrant a rejet.

[03svrider]

Get a gravity fuel filter to replace the old one. The mac really should not warrant a rejet.

then why didn't it run right after the pipes were installed and what does a "gravity feed fuel filterlok like?

[chef1366]

I don't know.
What throttle positions are you having trouble with?

[03svrider]

the bike will rev to higher rpms if i coax the throttle. if i just dump the throttle it bogs down but if i do short 1/4 throttle chops progressively it will get into the highest rpm's. it ran fine before the pipes and nothing changed but the pipes.

[chef1366]

On the filter they are cone shaped with what appears to be a stone inside. Get them from Sears or a lawnmower shop. Get the 5/16 type.
The bike ran good with the old pipes and like crap with the new one. Were there any holes in the old one to warrant someone to jet for a lean condition?

[03svrider]

the stock pipes are rusted but i didn't see any holes. i have since looked them over pretty good and they are solid.

[chef1366]

Your condition sounds rich by the feathering of the throttle. What does the spark plugs say?

[NetBSD]

not to take anyone off topic here but how does the 2 into one pipe sound? i hear the 450's like a 2 into 2 pipe better then a 2 into 1 but if it sounds better i might do the swap. can ya get a video of idle and higher RPM?


oh i also go with the bike acting rich, once again (i know i bring this up alot) but i had a 78 ford f150 that i had running REAL rich and id have to do what yer doing to get it in higher RPM

[03svrider]

i ran the bike months ago and pulled the plugs this morning. they are black so it seems the bike is running rich. would that mean i would use a smaller main jet than the 115 stock jets that i took out of the float bowls on the mikuni carbs? the manual says stock is 115 and that's what is microscopically stamped on the jets themselves.

[03svrider]

not to take anyone off topic here but how does the 2 into one pipe sound? i hear the 450's like a 2 into 2 pipe better then a 2 into 1 but if it sounds better i might do the swap. can ya get a video of idle and higher RPM?


oh i also go with the bike acting rich, once again (i know i bring this up alot) but i had a 78 ford f150 that i had running REAL rich and id have to do what yer doing to get it in higher RPM

once i get it running i'll put up a vid. it sounds ALOT better than stock and without the baffle it is just wayyy too obnoxious. nice, deep bub bub bub sound with the baffle in.

[03svrider]

i ran the bike months ago and pulled the plugs this morning. they are black so it seems the bike is running rich. would that mean i would use a smaller main jet than the 115 stock jets that i took out of the float bowls on the mikuni carbs? the manual says stock is 115 and that's what is microscopically stamped on the jets themselves.

just keeping the thread curent for answer to this latest question. i think i'll put the 115's back in, reinstall the carbs and battery. then i'll do the run test ( i think you just run it at like 5000 rpm's for a minute and then cut it offf and pull plugs for inspection right?) and see what the plug conditions are then.