1982 gs650L fuel Issues newbee

[farmnfly]

I just got a great deal on this 1982, bought it on graiglist. brought it home drove it around the block several times and on different days. Next day it didn't start right off so I left it, next day it started right off, I didn't drive it just checking it. Next day I drove it around the yard then parked it and started polishing it. Later when I finished I started it drove it around and could tell it was'nt running on all cyls so I parked it.
I found this forum and did some checking, pulled the tank took apart the petcock there was some rust not bad didn't find a problem. Put it back on the bike it fired up on two cylinders then the third and fourth caught on and in ran great just revving it. Next day I was going to take it for a spin, it started died and would not start again. The bike shows 11,300 miles and looks it I spent this morning checking fuel related things and still didn't find a smoking gun. Here is what I have found 1. I pump vacuum to the petcock with my Mytvac and it opens like it should with minimal vacuum 2. I connect the vacuum sorce from the bike and crank the engine and plenty of fuel paulses out 3. I pulled the fuel line from the petcock and it was full of fuel in the hose I cranked the bike over and watched but the fuel never went down to the carbs 4. I put pressure on the fuel with my Mytvac to push it down a long clear line and got it to run, same thing two then three then all four, number four? (right outside) being the last to fire (feeling the pipe) I have a coffee can with a 1/4 nipple that I fill with gas when test these fuel problems to eliminate fuel sorce as the problem.
After I got it running I poured a high concentration of carb cleaner through it, just running it in the shop. When I finished I reconnected the fuel tank and was going to ride it to clean out the carb cleaner from the carbs and it would not start. Sprayed a touch of either in the box and in would fire off then quit. So I think I'm dealing with a fuel problem. I haven't tried anything else yet I'm hoping to get some Ideas on where to go next.
Is there a check valve in the fuel line where it feeds the carbs, It seems odd that all the carbs are starving for fuel at the same time
The bike also seems to have weak spark on all cyls. but maybe that normal. It does run great when it runs, no skips.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Great forum glad I found it

[Steve]

Welcome to the 'family'.

Nice find on the bike.

BassCliff will be along shortly with his little welcome.

Look through his welcome, there are many links of interest. The ones you want to pay particular attention to are the ones concerning cleaning the BS carbs. If you are in a hurry, you can go the the GSR home page, then look for the Garage section to find the carb cleaning series.

.

[terrylee2u]

Welcome aboard... you have found the right place to get some really good info...

[farmnfly]

Update on the fuel issue

I't was bugging me enough so I pulled the carbs off. I did find alot of rust collored fuel that drained out the overflow when I tip them up, I kick myself for not draining it into a clean bowl. There was some settlement in the bowls, I took out the jets and needle and seats and gave everything a good cleaning and blew out all the passages. Put it all together and got it started without much trouble. It ran fine took it for a spin it ran great shut it off uptown and it started hard almost drained the battery. Drove home shut it off and tried to start it again and nothing. I'm going back out to check a few things, not sure if it is still a fuel problem when hot.
When I first bought and drove it it started fine anytime.

[BassCliff]

Hee Haw Howdy!

Hi Mr. farmnfly,

Sounds like you need a good carb cleaning. Other suggestions to follow in your very own mega-welcome!

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************
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.


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

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

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

Salvage/Used

http://www.ricepaddymotorcycles.com

http://www.ozpowersports.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
Online Clymer manuals:
http://search.ebscohost.com/ Click on "Small Engine Repair" then "Motorcycles". User=library, password=library. Note: This link may not work if you are on a school campus.


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)

Click here to visit BikeCliff's website.

[doctorgonzo]

"I't was bugging me enough so I pulled the carbs off. I did find alot of rust collored fuel that drained out the overflow when I tip them up,"

Carbs are gonna have to be totally torn down and dipped/cleaned properly. There should be a link to the carb rebuild pictorial guide in BassCliff's links.

[Jack L]

I ran into a problem a lot like yours. A friend of mine that is a harley tech helped me out and we fixed the problem the second time by not only cleaning out the carbs, but the tank the rust come from also. As he said to me " you dont fix the sorce of the problem it will come back".

[farmnfly]

I'm making progress

I sprayed some starting fluid in the air box again and tried it, nothing alittle more cranking and a backfire resulting in a burnt up air filter. I let it sit, did some running for a couple hours. Went out and tried the bike and it started, I checked the pipes and #3 was still cold. Shut down the bike and pulled the plug, it didn't look bad, put the wire on and cranked it over, the bike started but no spark on #3 as I moved the plug further from I could make the spark jump the gap. I look thru my plug assortment and found a new NGK plug similar in style and plugged it in. This plug showed a better spark. Now I'm thinking the plugs are part of the problem. The are Autolite and look to be platinum style and are better suited for automtive HEI type ignition. I will go to the auto parts store in the morning and get a new set of plugs. I still can't figure how it ran so good the first couple of days with what I've found so far

[Clone]

The screens above the float needles are dirty. You need to flush your tank and clean the carbs.