BSW30SS Parts for Carb Cleaning

[GSJim69]

Alas, I have determined that the carbs on my '85 GS550L do need to be cleaned. Now I am in search of all the parts that I am going to need for this project.
I am ordering the bowl gaskets from the dealer. From everything I have read so far, the only additional parts that I need are o-rings. I would like to purchase an o-ring kit somewhere to make sure that I am not missing any when I am going to reassemble them.
I checked with Mr. Barr at Cycle O-Rings, but unfortunately he does not carry any kits for these carbs.
Does anyone else know of a good source other that the dealer to purchase the o-rings that I need?
Is there anything else that I will need for this project.
As you may guess this will be the first time cleaning motorcycle carbs. I am sure that I will be asking many questions as I go through this.

Thanks in advance

[Steve]

Here is my list:

Alpha Sports

Babbittsonline

Bike Bandit

Carolina Cycle

CYCLE-RE-CYCLE

Flatout Motorcycle parts

Full throttle

Motogrid

MR Cycles

Partsnmore

Ron Ayers

Stainless screw kits

Stainless screw supply

Z1 Enterprises

[hikermikem]

I re-built the same carbs last year with a kit from Mr. Barr. He doesn't have an off-the-shelf kit for that model,, but the CV carb o-rings are the same across the board. You will have some extra parts; the fuel tee o-ring, maybe the choke, etc...

The mixture screw , needle valve, & bowl drain plug o-rings are all better then OEM IMO.

The only ones you need to tell him the size on are the intake boot o-rings. Measure one you have, and macth it to what I remember as the "smaller' of the two offered.

That "L" model carb seems to run particuarly lean, it has smaller jets & the like as its "E" cousin, even though its the same 16v TSCC engine. If I were to do it again, I would raise the jet needles a notch (2 washers) & go up one size (at least) main jet (match the "E's basically) and give that a try. At present, mine screams along pretty well, but runs quite lean. I'm always surprised at the relative power this bike has as compared to my shaft driven 650 & 1100. Very nimble bike.

Check your front sprocket for wear, new one makes it pop...

good luck,

mike

[GQROD]

[quote=jwebb6906;883078]Alas, I have determined that the carbs on my '85 GS550L do need to be cleaned. Now I am in search of all the parts that I am going to need for this project.
I am ordering the bowl gaskets from the dealer. From everything I have read so far, the only additional parts that I need are o-rings. I would like to purchase an o-ring kit somewhere to make sure that I am not missing any when I am going to reassemble them.
I checked with Mr. Barr at Cycle O-Rings, but unfortunately he does not carry any kits for these carbs.
Does anyone else know of a good source other that the dealer to purchase the o-rings that I need?
Is there anything else that I will need for this project.
As you may guess this will be the first time cleaning motorcycle carbs. I am sure that I will be asking many questions as I go through this.


I just completed the carb rebuild and tuning of my set of BSW30SS's on my 83 GS550E ( thanks again melodic and all who helped ) finally got it running well, some hints on these.....

1-Use very little petroleum jelly on the o-rings inside the carbs it will help when installing them without breaking them.

2-Don't forget float bowl darin screw O-rings as these are no doubt shot and you may need to take these screws out during tuning to see if fuel is in the bowls.

3-Don't forget to clear the orifices of the emulsion tube and the starter pilot jet fuel tube. ( little brass tube on one side of the bowl that has a microscopic hole on the end.)

4-Do plug chops before you remove carbs as a reference point for tuning the carb mixture screws after you clean them and put them back.

5-Don't forget the O-rings for the plastic nuts that hold the choke cables on, if these are shot air can get in or gas can come out.

6-Check your needles for wear !! if these are shot fuel can overflow and you will have to take the carbs out again. REAL PINTA sometimes it's a tight fit there.

6a-Make sure your float heights are set correctly according to the manual and you will never have to touch them again. Don't assume that raising them will make the bike run richer or lowering them will make the bike run leaner, i have not seen this to be true if all cleaning is done meticulously.

7-Bench sync the carbs as per the manual, very easy and you won't need to do it with a paper clip, it shows you exactly how it should be done accurately with a drawing.

8-You may want or need to go one number higher on the pilots and possibly the mains to resolve the lean running problem these bikes suffer from, have the jets handy just in case.

9-Check the rubber seat on the choke plungers to make sure they are not brittle if so replace these, cheap insurance agains starting problems.

10-Don't paint the carbs you may have to take them off and this will only scratch all the paint. Once they are tuned and the bike is running perfectly then take them off and paint them.

11-Do not put any oil, wd40 or penetrating oil on the slides, only clean them with carb cleaner and dry ( don't use carb cleaner on the rubber diaphrams it will destroy them )otherwise they will get stuck and your engine could redline.

12-Do not put the needles in carb dip it will strip the brass off of them.

13-Don't forget to clean the pilot AIR jets in the front of the carb. These are harder to come by than the pilots and mains so don't take them out or strip them just run fine wire through them.

14-Lastly the only " weird " thing about these carbs is half assing ( excuse my french ) the cleaning. Don't cut corners with just spray cleaner you will only have to take them part over and over again. Chem dip the metal parts including the jets and following the carb cleaning series on this site you should be fine.

Hope this helps

[Calvin Blackmore]

I got the boot o rings form robert barr but he did not have the others

there are only 2 tht are likely to be a source of trouble these are on the fuel pipe.

I got em for free from a supply spot cos it was too much bother to do up an invoice for such a low cost itme

[GSJim69]

Main Jet Identification

I am lucky that I have a trashed set of these carbs to look at before I start this on my bikes carbs.
I took a look at the main jets on the spare carbs to determine what size they were. I was going to order a set of jets one size larger. However, the only marking I could find on the jets was an R.
Am I missing something?
All jet sizes that I have seen to order are numeric (90, 92.5, etc.).
Does anyone know what size I should be going up to and at what position?
The local dealers website gives 90 or 92.5 for left and right (outboard) jets and 97.5 or 102.5 for the inboards.
Should I just order two 92.5 jets and two 102.5 jets?