GS850 GN Whining & Dying...

[jrazz]

So, I road the bike today about 170 miles on the interstate and in Memphis, TN and then back to Jackson, TN. It road great. No problems. It still idles high after warmup but I think it is either the carbs being out of sync or the boot o-rings. (will fix soon).

Then, this evening/night, I took it out with my wife to eat. We drove through town and ate at Olive Garden. We then drove back home. Once we got about 3 miles from the house I started noticing the gauge lights flickering on occassion. Not in such a way as to flicker when we hit a bump or constantly, just on occassion. Maybe 20 times in 3 miles. I also noticed that the bike wanted to die when idleing and even while giving some gas. There was also a whining noise coming from the front part of the bike- not sure where and it only does it when we are going and I can only hear it when we are in 1st-3rd (it is not the gears) and it sounds like a rattle/whine/loose cable, but all is hooked up well around the front- speedo, tach, brakes, etc. Usually when I have been riding, it idles up around 2000-2500 rpms (when warm). Tonight when I came to a stop, all the lights wanted to fade and the bike wanted to die. When I pulled in to the driveway it died. It restarted just fine but I had to keep the throttle up. Even when doing that (rolling the throttle) there is a hesitation as if I am flooding it and it is sluggish. Again, this all happened in about a 3 mile stretch. As long as I was going, it was fine. Whenever I slowed or stopped, that is when the problem was most evident (except for the flickering lights- that was constant).

Any ideas?

j razz

[TheCafeKid]

Start with your charging system. Check the battery, the stator, and the R/R. Hit up the Stator Papers on the GS home page and use the troubleshooting steps. Sounds like it may be the source of your problems...or at least part of it.

[propflux01]

Battery Connection. Crank it down tight!

[Dave8338]

Fix the boots and o-rings...if the charging circuit checks out fine. You may have sucked in a piece of the crusty old and brittle o-ring; and are now running too lean on a cylinder or two to keep the thing running on it's own. Can you throw the choke on and keep it going, without touching the throttle?

[bwringer]

How are the points? Is the felt oiled? I recently saw a '79 850 where the felt had not been oiled, so the rubbing blocks were making a noise, and the timing kept changing.

It mainly sounds like you have two other problems as well -- intake leak(s) and a possible charging system problem. The charging system problem could be as simple as a loose connection or dirty switch somewhere. The solution is simple: clean everything. Take the tank and side covers off, get a can of connector cleaner and some connection grease from Radio Shack, and spend an hour or two cleaning every last connector and connection. If you find any that look burned, replace them with spade connectors.

The intake leak is causing the high idle -- the bike should idle at about 1,100 rpm, and this should only change by maybe 100rpm when it warms up fully. The procedures for replacing your intake boots and o-rings and sealing your airbox are very simple and well-documented.

[jrazz]

Okay, here is what I found out so far, the blinking of the lights was caused by a loose wire going into the handlebar control. That has been fixed.

The rattling/whining/ noise that I was hearing appears to be from the gas tank. This may very well be wrong, but I did get it started again and increased the throttle while in neutral and during a certain rpm range I heard a rattle/whine noise and if I applied pressure to the gas tank onto the frame, it goes away. I may just need to tighten it some more or look underneath and see what it is rattling against.

As for it wanting to die, I am still unsure. it is raining here and I don't want to get out in it right now.

Thanks for the suggestions and pointing me to the stator info.

j razz

[TheCafeKid]

Okay, here is what I found out so far, the blinking of the lights was caused by a loose wire going into the handlebar control. That has been fixed.

The rattling/whining/ noise that I was hearing appears to be from the gas tank. This may very well be wrong, but I did get it started again and increased the throttle while in neutral and during a certain rpm range I heard a rattle/whine noise and if I applied pressure to the gas tank onto the frame, it goes away. I may just need to tighten it some more or look underneath and see what it is rattling against.

As for it wanting to die, I am still unsure. it is raining here and I don't want to get out in it right now.

Thanks for the suggestions and pointing me to the stator info.

j razz

Prolly need the tank rubbers replaced. There are two up near the neck, two round puck type, and one UNDER the tank itself. These can get old and dryrot, and then you're vibrating on the frame and what not.

[n1elkyfan]

your r/r could be bad. I would definitly suggest reading the stator papers

http://www.thegsresources.com/garage/gs_statorfacts.htm

[79 sh850]

Hey

Perhaps the r/r is gone and AC flowing through the coil on the fuel sensor is causing it to ring.

This is purely a guess; I'm not sure if its even possible.

Best advice to read the stator papers as suggested.

Andy

[jrazz]

Hey all, thanks for the advice and pointing me to the stator papers.

I have found the culprit for it wanting to die while throttling up... you ready for this? This is where I need the dunce cap and to be placed in the corner: It was out of gas; well, it had gas in it but was low enough to not run right with what was in there. Before, my petcock had not been working right and would only allow gas through on PRI. Since then I have drilled another hole for the vacuum to work correctly and now my settings on the petcock do work- I just have never had to take it off fuel and move it to reserve before. But, that was all it took in this case. I then put more gas in it and all was well in regards to that issue. Thanks.