Fuel line and carb problems

[biker_guy]

I got problems this may take a while. I did search so don't chew me out but please feel free to link any helpful post I missed

I've got a 82 gs850 (I think GL) bike came from Canada so the odometer says 59xxx km. It sat around for a few months before I arrived but when I went to pick it up he started it and it fired up so I put it in the truck drove to an unloading spot (close to home don't have my license yet) drove it the rest of the way home. In town I don't like the wind jammer. I'm saving it for a trip (when I can get the bike in "trip" condition) I promise all I did was take off the wind jammer put on a headlight and turn signals to pass inspection. Went to get it inspected today gas leaking all over! coming from the fuel filter. Went and got a new one (O' Reilly's smallest one they had) still leaking. The gas line is bad I guess. Went got new gas line. (O' Reilly's didn't have motorcycle gas line but I got the same I.D.) No more leaking. Now not idling very well. Fuel filter won't fill up. Every now again will die and won't start up like I ran out of gas. I tried pouring gas straight in there. I guess the hole is too small for that or it was going straight in to the carbs. Put the old one back on it still didn't fill up. I can drive it and everything but I have to have the choke on about half (The only reason why I think that's kinda related and not just need a carb clean or something when I drove it home the first time I didn't have to do that. in fact the choke was loose so it would shut off on it's own) I know the carbs are going to need cleaning and some other maint. stuff. the other stuff I did was drain all lube and put new lube in. If I'm not clear on some things let me know I still feel like beating stuff with a hammer so I probly didn't type too well.

[Zook]

Might be some junk in the tank blocking the fuel pickup tubes or the petcock itself.
Empty the tank, remove the petcock and ensure there is no crud on the screens.

You said the filter won't fill with fuel so there is a restriction before the filter.
Maybe it is out of gas. Switch the petcock to reserve.
I know it sounds stupid but you won't be the first or the last to do it.

[ryonker]

You should get Basscliffs welcome note soon. I am not sure what type of fuel filters you get at auto stores, but not all of them are designed for gravity feed lines (verses a fuel pump). Your petcock could need a thorough cleaning and you tank may have rust in it (impeeding your fuel flow). Just do everything that these guys suggest (I mean everything...in detail) and you should have her running soon.

Rick

[biker_guy]

what's a trick to not getting gas all over. If I was out in the county I wouldn't care quite so much I'm in the middle of the city with probly somebody watching me at any given point so I don't just want to dump this gas in the yard. and I didn't even think of bad gas clogs etc. Once it's out I don't want to put it back in no matter how good it looks just it case. So what do I do with it?

ryonker spoke about gravity feed. This is something I was thinking about but wasn't sure on. I do have quite of bit of fuel line in the bike right now. It kinda curls around. I tried to get rid of most of it (it was also starting to get dark so I was rushing) So if the fuel line goes above the petcock in anyway will that slow or stop fuel flow? Is there any kind of vac. at all on the fuel line? if the petcock is turned to on or reserve and I pull the fuel line off the petcock should gas just start pouring out? also I always thought there was supposed to be an off position on the petcock. I have reserve, on, and prime. no room to turn it up it'll hit the gas tank.

[Zook]

There may not be junk in the tank but condensation. IOW there is water at the bottom of the tank and the carbs are picking it up.
Water is heavier than gas-ever seen an airplane pilot take a fuel sample from the gas tanks?
They are checking the color of the fuel (avgas is graded by color, 100octane is blue) and for water. The water will be quite visible in the sample. They drain the fuel until there is no more water.
There are drain points at the lowest point of the tanks.

What to do with the gas you drained?
How much are we talking about?
Mix it with weed killer in the garden sprayer. They even mention it in the instructions.

[biker_guy]

Ok so tank is off and everything off the tank. I had about 2 and 1/2 gallons of yellow nasty fuel. I can't get all the gas out though. and with what's left I can just hear this nasty rust sliding around in the tank. How do I get it all out? or do I just sit there and shaking it around all day long? since there is rust am I going to need to get this re-coated? I've heard about some coating or something for inside tanks in certain situations. Everything else is all cleaned up and should be ready to rock once I finish with the tank.

[almarconi]

Look at this thread for tips on cleaning your tank

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=127463

[BassCliff]

Hee Haw Howdy!

Hi Mr. biker_guy,

That rusty tank probably clogged your carbs. Electrolysis for the tank (and maybe a coating) and the rebuild series for your carbs. Maybe a new petcock and try not to use a fuel filter if you can.

Didn't I give you a mega-welcome in another thread? Oh well. Here's another one.

Dear fellow GS rider,

Let it be known that on this day you are cordially and formally welcomed to the GSR Forum as a Junior Member in good standing with all the rights and privileges thereof. Further let it be known that your good standing can be improved with pictures (not you, your bike)!

Perhaps you've already seen these, but I like to remind all the new members. In addition to the carb rebuild series, I recommend visiting the In The Garage section via the GSR Homepage and check out the Stator Papers. There's also a lot of great information in the Old Q&A section. I have some documentation on my little BikeCliff website to help get you familiar with doing routine maintenance tasks (note that it is 850G-specific but many tasks are common to all GS bikes). Other "user contributed" informational sites include those of Mr. bwringer, Mr. tfb and Mr. robertbarr. And if your bike uses shims for valve adjustments, send an email to Mr. Steve requesting a copy of his Excel spreadsheet that helps you keep track of clearances, shim sizes and other service work.

These are some edited quotes from one of our dear beloved gurus, Mr. bwringer, with ideas on basic needs (depending on initial condition), parts, and accessories.
***********Quoted from Mr. bwringer************
Carburetor maintenance:

Replace the intake boot o-rings, and possibly the intake boots. Here's the procedure:

http://bwringer.com/gs/intakeorings.html

Here's an overview of what happens with this particular problem:

http://cycleorings.com/intake.html

You'll also want to examine the boots between the carbs and the airbox. There's a good chance these are OK, but check them over.
And finally, if things still aren't exactly right, you'll want to order a set of o-rings for BS carbs from the GS owner's best friend, Robert Barr:
http://cycleorings.com
Once you receive these rare rings of delight, then you'll want to thoroughly clean and rebuild your carburetors. Here are step-by-step instructions that make this simple:

http://thegsresources.com/gs_carbrebuild.htm

***********************************
Every GS850 (and most other models) has (or had) a set of well-known issues that MUST be addressed before you have a solid baseline for further troubleshooting. It's a vintage bike, and it's quite common (as in, every single GS850 I have had contact with) that there are multiple problems that have crept up and slowly gotten worse over the years. It's not like a newer vehicle, where there's generally one problem at a time.

These common issues are:

1. Intake O-rings (install NEW OEM or Viton only - common nitrile O-rings will quickly deteriorate from heat)
2. Intake Boots (install NEW -- these cannot be repaired)
3. Valve clearances (more important than most people think)
4. Carb/airbox boots
5. Airbox sealing
6. Air filter sealing
7. Petcock (install a NEW one)
8. On '79 models, install new points or Dyna electronic ignition (or at least verify that the old points are working correctly)
9. On all models, it's fairly common to have problems with the spark plug caps. These are $3 or $4 each, and often worth replacing if you're keeping the stock coils/wires.
10. Stock exhaust with NO leaks or holes -- good seals at the head and at the junctions underneath.
***************************************
OEM Parts/Online Fiches:

I would definitely double and triple the recommendations to use Cycle Recycle II and Z1 Enterprises as much as possible. These guys are priceless resources. Z1 tends to have slightly better prices, CRC2 has a wider range of goodies available. If you're near Indy and can bring in an old part to match, CRC2 has a vast inventory of used parts.
http://denniskirk.com - Put in your bike model and see what they have.
http://oldbikebarn.com - seems to be slowly regaining a decent reputation, but it's still caveat emptor. They don't have anything you can't get elsewhere at a better price anyway.
http://www.babbittsonline.com/ - Decent parts prices. Spendy shipping. Don't give you part numbers at all. Useful cross-reference if you obtain a part number elsewhere. Efficient service.
http://bikebandit.com - Fastest. Middlin' prices. Uses their own parts numbering system to obfuscate price comparisons -- can be very confusing for large orders. Cheapest shipping, so total cost usually isn't too bad.
http://flatoutmotorcycles.com - Slow. Cheapest parts prices, crazy shipping costs. Don't expect progress updates or much communication. Real Suzuki part numbers.
http://alpha-sports.com - Exorbitant parts prices. Different type of fiche interface that's quite useful at times, especially with superceded part numbers. Real parts numbers. Shipping cost and speed unknown due to insane, unholy pricing.

Stainless Bolts, Viton o-rings, metric taps, dies, assorted hard-to-find supplies and materials, etc:

http://mcmaster.com - Fast, cheap shipping, good prices. No order minimum, but many items like bolts come in packs of 25 or 50. Excellent resource.
http://motorcycleseatcovers.com - Great quality, perfect fit (on original seat foam), and available for pretty much every bike ever made. Avoid the textured vinyl -- it's perforated.
http://newenough.com - You DO have riding gear, don't you? Great clearances, always outstanding prices and impeccable service.
***************End Quote**********************
Additional parts/info links:

GSR Forum member Mr. duaneage has great used upgraded Honda regulator/rectifiers for our bikes. Send him a PM.
New electrical parts:
http://stores.ebay.com/RMSTATOR or http://www.rmstator.com/

http://www.ricksmotorsportelectrics.com/index.php

http://www.electrosport.com/

For valve cover and breather cover gaskets, I recommend Real Gaskets (reusable silicon):
http://www.realgaskets.com
The Rice Paddy (salvage/used)
http://www.ricepaddymotorcycles.com
Carolina Cycle
http://www.carolinacycle.com
Ron Ayers Motorsports
http://www.ronayers.com
MR Cycles
http://www.mrcycles.com
Moto Grid
http://www.motogrid.com
If all else fails, try this:
http://www.used-motorcycle-parts.org/
Used bike buying checklists:

http://www.amadirectlink.com/roadride/Riderresc/checklist.asp

http://www.clarity.net/~adam/buying-bike.html
Lots of good info/pictures here:
http://www.suzukicycles.org
http://www.cyclechaos.com/wiki/Motorcycle_Wiki
http://www.bikepics.com
Basic motorcycle maintenance/repair:

http://www.dansmc.com/mc_repaircourse.htm

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed of your progress. There's lots of good folk with good experience here.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
(The unofficial GSR greeter)

[biker_guy]

Ok well heres what happend. after my last post I went back out to work on the tank some more until someone replied. I got quite a bit of rust out and I decided I'd see if that was it. Even still with some rust in there I'd have some run time. Put gas in it cranked it up and it ran ok for about 30 sec then it started running like crap. What in the world? should be running better! After much throwing and banging of things I learned something very important. My bike does not like weed eater gas. Not one bit. Dumped the tank again. As I was dumping started messing with the petcock. Turned it to prime gas started pouring out. I then took off the petcock again so the rust wouldn't put me back where I was. I don't know if there's something up with weed eater gas but when I was done dumping I couldn't hear really anything. And there was rust everywhere on the ground. I'm sure it still needs some sort of rust removal you all have directed me to. Put good gas back in this time I turned the petcock to prime. Fired up and the fuel filter instantly filled up, but I still have to use the choke quite a bit. So after getting the tank fixed up I guess I'm going to be learning how to clean the carbs on this bike. Thanks for all the help, info.

BassCliff thanks for the welcome. you must have posted in my other thread first. I had to problems at the same time.

[SqDancerLynn1]

If it was mine I would check with local radiator shops about boiling it out & coating it.

[chef1366]

Get the right filter. A gravity filter with 5/16 ends.

[BassCliff]

BassCliff thanks for the welcome. you must have posted in my other thread first. I had to problems at the same time.

Ooops. So many new members show up during riding season, it's hard for me to keep up.

Be sure to get that tank cleaned out so that the rust doesn't mess up your carbs too badly. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff