Difficult to Start, and refuses to idle

[psyguy]

I think what I'll do is send the carbs in to get professionally rebuilt.

before you spend big bucks, ask if someone on the forum whod done it can do it for you for less $ if someones in your area
or why not do it yourself?

[almarconi]

If you are going to attempt to adjust your valves then you have the mechanical ability to rebuild the carbs. The guide on this forum is pretty straightforward. All you need is some carb dip, o-rings and some bowl gaskets. Disassemble, clean and reassemble one carb at a time. By the time you get to your 4th carb you'll be putting it together with your eyes closed.

I work with a guy who spent $400 to have his carbs cleaned. I said to him "wow that alot of money to rebuild a rack of carbs" he replied .."no not really considering the guy will rebuild them and bench sync them..all I have to do is take them out of the box and install them on the bike." I just shook my head and walked a way.

Take your time and learn how to do it yourself. It's a good feeling after putting those carbs back on your engine and it starts right up.

[Steve]

Joe, where are you located? Maybe one of the more experienced 'wrenches' on the board lives close enough to come over and help you.

By adding a little information to your profile and sig line, you might get a little more help.

.

[7mJoe]

I had initially planned to rebuild the carbs myself, but after getting into it and finding that I had no idea what I was doing and was more worried about breaking something I got myself discouraged.

I have all the o rings I need and all the bowl gaskets I need, I'm just worried that I can't do it myself. I printed the whole rebuild guide and was using that but some of the parts in the carbs were so stuck that I was doing more damage just trying to get them out. I figured it would be best to have someone that has done it before, do it for me... but that turned into a mess.

I live in Saint Peters Missouri, and I'd really like to get this bike running before I head off to college.

[7mJoe]

Ok, got the carbs off today and had a look at em, just eye balling them and they look alright. Drained the bowls and found some black particals, almost like gasket material. But all the carbs had fuel in them, so my petcock at this point has to be working and it must be a carb issue.

Now, I plan to give it another go and attempt to dip the carbs and get it all back together. I'll let you guys know what happens.

[almarconi]

Relax man...take your time, follow the instructions and you'll get them cleaned in no time.

Is the bike your sole means of transportation? If not and it takes you a week to rebuild the carbs thats OK. Look at it as a learning experience..have fun and stop worrying.

[7mJoe]

Got into the first carb yesterday to find new internals; yet, I'm baffled as to why I no longer have an airscrew on any of the 4 carbs! Below is a picture of the 4th carb, and as you can see the location the screw is supposed to be at, is blocked off. My question is why anyone would do this, and will it effect the ability of the carb to do its job?

If I'm wrong correct me, but I did not remove an airscrew yesterday Instead I found them in my box of extra parts.

[psyguy]

that is a location of a PILOT MIXTURE SCREW, not an air-screw
what you see is a plug on top of it
you need to carefully drill it, insert a tip of a screw and pull it out to get to the actual adjustment screw

pilot air-jet is located at the back side of the carbs (intake)

[7mJoe]

that is a location of a PILOT MIXTURE SCREW, not an air-screw
what you see is a plug on top of it
you need to carefully drill it, insert a tip of a screw and pull it out to get to the actual adjustment screw

pilot air-jet is located at the back side of the carbs (intake)

Is this necessary to get at? Is there any negative to leaving it like it is now? Why would it be blocked off?

I recently finished dipping the first carb and cleaning all the components. I did however notice there wasn't a pilot jet plug, would the plug being absent cause problems?

I really appreciate all the help, never done this before.

[psyguy]

the pilot mixture screw plug is there because of the emissions regulations back in the day, so the people wouldnt upset the factory settings
the screw has an oring seal that you want to replace as it's old and as the dipping solvent is likely to damage it
its a good idea to inspect the screw needle tip and the spring as well
and you also want to be able to do your own adjustment on that screw as that is pretty much the only adjustable screw on those carbs
having the screw out will help clean the coresponding fuel mixture passage (which is indeed a tiny passage)

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. 7mJoe,

Starting around 1980, the government started to limit emissions on motorcycles such that the carbs were set (pretty lean) at the factory and the ability to adjust them was (somewhat) taken away from the end user. If you look at the carb specs for bikes from other countries you'll see actual adjustment parameters for the mixture screw on the CV carbs. But not for us in the US. We're not supposed to touch them because we will pollute the atmosphere and cause all of our kids to be born with nine heads!

But, seriously, read up on the carb stuff around the GSR website and you'll find that it's common practice to drill out the plugs to get to the mixture screws so that we can adjust them properly. It's all part of the fun.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[7mJoe]

Ah, well that makes sense. Now what about the plug on the pilot jet? I didn't have one when I got the fuel bowl off. Should I get a new one or can I leave it off?

[psyguy]

having no plug on a pilot jet is somewhat like having no pilot jet itself... so, yeah, definitely get a new SET for all the carbs, you want them to seal well

[7mJoe]

I finally finished dipping the carbs. I checked all the float heights and set them according to spec. and I put new pilot jet plugs on since I didn't have any prior. I also set my air screws 1 1/2 turns out. I got the carbs back on and put everything back together. But now I can't even get it to start. I believe I have no spark.

The plug tips were wet, and I took them out to see if I had any spark and there was nothing. So my question now is what can I do to remedy this problem? I have a multimeter but I'm not exactly sure what to check with it. I also plan to do the coil relay mod.

Thanks guys.

[psyguy]

a service manual usually goes a long way

you need to check the voltage at the coils and also the resistance on both sides
you want 12v or so for the voltage
resistance, hm, i dont quite remember the numbers, sorry