A couple of questions

[wolfman]

This is Terri (Wolfie's Wife). Forgive me if any of these questions are stupid. You can just blame it on me being female

Now that John was finally able to actually get the bike out of the garage and ride it for a bit yesterday , we have some questions. I am sure there are more, but he is at work and I was thinking about things. We are just trying to figure out what is "normal" for these bikes and what we need to fix.

Now that we have gone through the whole electrical system, it is time to move onto a new area of the bike. We worked on the airbox a couple of weekends ago. We didn't pull the whole airbox, just opened it up to check the filter. We discovered the snorkel wasn't even attached to the airbox, it was just kinda wedged inbetween the airbox and the battery box. I got the snorkel all back in (gotta love small hands )and it feels like the rubber flanges are all in good shape. John cleaned up the air filter as it was WAY over oiled. We have not gone through and actually pulled the airbox and sealed it ... yet. We pulled the plugs and cleaned them up yesterday so that we can see how it is actually running. The po told us it was running rich and needed carb work and that's why it was popping and fouling the plugs. It is still popping, but doesn't seem to be running very rich now (as far as the plugs show). It still smells like a lawn mower. Is that normal?

Also, we discovered yesterday that the fuel guage doesn't work right. It still says there is 1/2 a tank when it is actually empty and you have to switch to reserve. I did a search and it sounds like we get to take the fuel sender apart and out and check and the connections and probably adjust the float. Am I right in my thoughts?

Thank you so much for all your help. Seeing him ride off on that bike yesterday made all the hours worth it. We couldn't have even gotten it on the road without you guys!

[wolfman]

Seeing if my new siggie worked.

[Nessism]

In my experience the carbs need to be surgically clean and sealed for the bike to run properly. Airbox and intake boots need to be properly sealed as well. On all the GS bikes I’ve bought (four so far), the first thing I do is pull off the carbs, clean them, and install all new O-rings inside the carbs and on the boots. Renew the foam seals on the airbox also. Doing this work up front will provide you with a solid foundation from which to build from; 28 year old o-rings are almost sure to leak, either now or soon.

Hope this helps you two.

Enjoy!

[wolfman]

We definitely will be doing the carbs and airbox, but probably once riding season is over. Right now we want to get the 2 oil leaks taken care of and do a little cleaning up. Since it is running, we want to enjoy it I am just trying to figure out if it is normal for it smell like a lawn mower and pop.

[Nessism]

We definitely will be doing the carbs and airbox, but probably once riding season is over. Right now we want to get the 2 oil leaks taken care of and do a little cleaning up. Since it is running, we want to enjoy it I am just trying to figure out if it is normal for it smell like a lawn mower and pop.

Not normal. Carb mixture is most likely messed up. Valves may be too tight also. Hard to say until you start verifying some things.

[Steve]

I am just trying to figure out if it is normal for it smell like a lawn mower ...

I grew up (well, I got older) in a household with an electric lawn mower.
If your bike smells anything like that you have some serious problems.

What you are probably smelling is an over-rich mixture, and no, it should not really smell like that unless the bike is still on 'choke'.
Once the bike is warmed up and off 'choke', there should be virtually no smell to the exhaust.

.

[TheCafeKid]

I grew up (well, I got older) in a household with an electric lawn mower.
If your bike smells anything like that you have some serious problems.

What you are probably smelling is an over-rich mixture, and no, it should not really smell like that unless the bike is still on 'choke'.
Once the bike is warmed up and off 'choke', there should be virtually no smell to the exhaust.

.

Unless of course you are RIPPING on the tach...then it would smell like the cars at the races Steve and I went to tonight did. I love that smell...Like oil and cordite almost. The smell of HORSEPOWER !! UGh UGH!!

[seuadr]

Also, we discovered yesterday that the fuel guage doesn't work right. It still says there is 1/2 a tank when it is actually empty and you have to switch to reserve. I did a search and it sounds like we get to take the fuel sender apart and out and check and the connections and probably adjust the float. Am I right in my thoughts?

yep. good times, good times. will also give you a chance to check out the inside of your tank and see if Por15 is in your future or not.

that airbox snorkle is a pain in the butt for me, too. when i put it on, it comes out of the airbox and gets wedged just as you experienced. might i suggest that if you have that problem when you put it back on after sealing it, use some marine goop or other flexable sealant to attach it to the airbox. i used marine goop and it has not budged an inch, and my bike was a little lean and seems to have straightened that right out. something to think on.

[wolfman]

yep. good times, good times. will also give you a chance to check out the inside of your tank and see if Por15 is in your future or not.

The inside of the tank is CLEAN! We totally lucked out on that one. It looks like the po to the po actually took really good care of the bike. The guy we bought it from only had it for a year and didn't do much to it. Not sure who did the number on the wiring. :-?

I will keep the marine goop in mind incase we need it. Thanks!

[wolfman]

What you are probably smelling is an over-rich mixture, and no, it should not really smell like that unless the bike is still on 'choke'.
Once the bike is warmed up and off 'choke', there should be virtually no smell to the exhaust.

I will have to check that out. John says he thinks that is what it is doing. Most of what I smell is when we are running it in the garage (with the door open) while we are checking stuff.

The po always ran it on prime with full choke! He said that was the only way it would run. Like I said, we put the snorkel back on and cleaned the air filter and now it will run fine. You can even take it off choke once it warms up, and run the petcock on "on"