New to forum 1983 GS550 E questions...

[martyman]

Hello I'm in the process of trying to get my GS to run after it was sitting for seven years...I cleaned out the carbs 4 times and yesterday it finally ran. I had to put my hand over the carb to get it to suck fuel and flood it and then let it sit and it would start after that...It would not rev up unless I held the rubber pieces that go in-between the carb and airbox, is this the way it works? I took of the rubber pieces a thoroughly cleaned all the silicon that previous owner gooped all over them and took the carbs of and cleaned the goop off the ends of the carbs and assembled. Today I thought with the suction of the rubber pieces and the airbox it would start right up but nothing...why is this carb not drawing fuel on its own? I'm stumped on this bike, very hard to get running.

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[KennyJ]

Here is what I can tell you from owning and riding one for 22+ years....

You have to have the boots and airbox in place for it to run at all. If you can get it to run without them you are either way overjetted or are flooding and just getting lucky!

There are 3 positions on the fuel petcock, down is on, back it reserve and up is prime. The petcock uses vacuum to open so it will not flow fuel when it is cranking or not running. When you clean the carbs they are dry, move the petcock to prime (up, which then flows fuel without vacuum) let it sit for a minute, then try to start it. Do not...do not use any throttle when trying to start.

It should take full "choke" to start. It is actually and enricher system but these bikes are really cold blooded! On the enricher you should be turning 3000 rpms...when it rises higher, back it off until the revs drop below 3000 then keep doing it until it will hold an idle.

Did you replace the pilot jets? I always do when I pull them down...just too hard to clean the small orofice.Teh mains are cleanable. Did you make sure you put the jets back in right? The middle jets (cylinders 2&3) run larger jets than the outside for cooling.

Set the floats in the middle of the range. If you use the high setting it seems to flood even with good needle and seats.

You need to make sure the carbs are "bench synched" before they are reinstalled. I dial up the idle screw until they are open as far as possible. Then I take a drill bit and insert it under the butterfly and back down the idle until it touches (looking the the engine side of the carbs, the right is the base carb), then I set the "left" carb to match. These are weird carbs on a small engine...little changes make huge differences.

Do a good synch once it runs!

Make sure it has and air filter...it will run like crud without it.

Kenny

[martyman]

wow...thank you for the information I know have to look at those jets, I'm sure I have them in the wrong order....I haven't messed with the original float settings or the idle settings...I will try following your instructions and see if I can get it to work tomorrow. The rubber boots seemed to have shrunk over time and I'm wondering if I should silicon them to get proper vacuum?

[GQROD]

wow...thank you for the information I know have to look at those jets, I'm sure I have them in the wrong order....I haven't messed with the original float settings or the idle settings...I will try following your instructions and see if I can get it to work tomorrow. The rubber boots seemed to have shrunk over time and I'm wondering if I should silicon them to get proper vacuum?

DO NOT silicone them! it will be more headaches down the road.

Make sure your choke cable is working and adjusted properly or it WILL NEVER START at least not without dynamite and a lot idle speed adjusment.

Buy new boots if they are not cracked. Make sure you have the metal clamps that go around them to tighten them up.

Get new Intake O-rings

Set float bowl heights to factory spec using a metric ruler or vernier caliper.

Chemical dip carbs in berryman's chem dip. Make sure all orifices are clean! Follow the carb clean up series at intro on this site.

Get new o-rings for carb from Robert Barr at wwwcycleorings.com

Make sure vent hoses are not kinked.

Make sure your petcock works this may be why you are not getting fuel to the bowls. In prime position fuel should come out, in run and reserve fuel should not come out until the engine is running.

Write down your jet numbers before you rebuild the carbs this way you have a frame of refernce for when you start tuning them. You may have to go one size up or down when tuning but as the prior post said buy them new the holes are too small to really clean them well.

Do a bench sync. Per factory manual. You can download it free on Basscliffs site.

Once running do Vacuum sync. ( Morgan Carbtune better than mercury filled or guage types )

I have an 83 GS550E as do others on this site if you have questions pm me.

Hope this helps.

[martyman]

I have an 83 GS550E as do others on this site if you have questions pm me.

Hope this helps.

I will thank you again both of you for your great info...

[Steve]

If you had to clean the carbs four times, it appears that you did not do something right.

Cleaning the carbs is outlined in the garage section on the home page of this forum. Choose the type of carbs that fits your bike. You are looking for the CV carbs or the BS series carbs, NOT the VM carbs.

Proper cleaning involves dipping the carb bodies, and based on the info you have given, you should probably do each carb body overnight, not for the 15-30 minutes suggested on the can. This is followed by mechanical cleaning of the jets with a wire strand, then spraying with carb cleaner and air. You will need new o-rings to put them back together, they are available very inexpensively from forum member Robert Barr.

When things get back together, the airbox and filter must be installed for proper operation. Starting drill should be something like this:
1. Set 'choke' between half and full. You will eventually find the 'sweet spot' for your bike.
2. Pull choke lever to engage safety switch (unless this has been disabled).
3. Turn key to ON.
4. Press start button.

Notice that no mention was made regarding twisting the throttle. DON'T DO IT. There, now it's been mentioned. Twisting the throttle while the 'choke' is applied will negate its function. Modulate engine speed with the 'choke' lever.

Many more details are covered in the carb cleaning series, do not skip ANY of them.

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