1983 GS550 ES poor performance

[Anonymous]

I am working on a 83 550ES for a friend i am not 100% sure how the petcock works (prime,on,res) should prime be used for starting only? Since these are dual throat carbs what do the other two hoses do? are they vent and overflow?. This particular bike is very hard to start and keep running once it is warmed up the bikes seems to run fine at constant speed however when you accelerate from a stop the bike will bog and stall
I have cleaned the carbs and made sure the pilot and main jets were clean Thanks! for the help.

[Anonymous]

You should not need to use the prime function unless you have run, (or drained) the carb float bowls dry of fuel.
As far as your drivability problems go .....
How do your plugs look?
make sure there are no air leaks at the rubber manifolds, try spraying WD-40 or something with a straw on it. direct the spray toward possible leak areas and listen for the engine note to change, (up or down depending on what you are spraying). a trouble some area is usualy at the junction btwn the intake manifolds and the head. there are circular gaskets in this area.
I am sure that others will chime in on this also .

[Anonymous]

Since these are dual throat carbs what do the other two hoses do? are they vent and overflow?.

My carbs have 2 extra hoses. each one comes from a carb (from btween the carbs) and routes up onto the top of the frame rails. They do not connect to anything. just vent hoses I guess. If you need any pics of anything just let me know cause I can email them to you . My bike is still somewhat apart while I finish the Gixxer bodywork. :twisted:

[Anonymous]

Thanks! i figured they were vent hoses but was not 100% sure. I need to check the plugs since it has been run recently.

[Jethro]

Those two lines coming from between the carbs are overflow drains for the float bowls I believe. Am I right people?

[Anonymous]

1983 gs550

I'm having the same trouble as u, found it was only running on two cylinders, ignition modual is toast, check all your plugs and make sure you have fire. good luck