A little direction on Carb Tuning

[mike-s]

best suggestion i have is to take the boots off and redo the gasket material as well as visually inspect the lip of the boot that go around the carb. as the boots are 7mm+ thick its not likely to be a problem with a hole, moreso damage on the lip or the gasket seal.

[Roostabunny]

Hey fellas - here's a link to some pics of #1 and 4 boots. They look pretty normal to me, but let me know what you think. http://picasaweb.google.com/roostabu...eat=directlink

When I checked things out I found I was able to snug up the 3 & 4 sync ports a smidge, but that didn't effect the leak. Band clamps were all the way tight.

After snugging down the sync ports I still got about 500 extra rpm by hitting #4 or #1 boot with carb cleaner spray. Less rise from #3 and no effect from spraying #2.

Oh, and the spark looked good to me. Someone here described a good spark as "fat" but that's just a figure of speech right? It was definitely a clear blue arc visible in my normal garage light.

Next I'll pull those boots off and check the o-rings and other sealing areas. I replaced with new nitrile rings about a year ago - seems unlikely those those failing this quick?

Thanks!

[first timer]

you boots are toast, there is rubber that covers the metal flanges, that rubber has now dried up and cracked off. boot are about $25 each, if you get them from bike bandit. I have tried many things to get the boots to seal, (the leak usally occurs where the rubber boot meets the metal flange.) everything from silicon, to a lighter rubber cement stuff, and it never holds. Best thing is to just get new boots. I wouldn't bother even checking your o-rings on the boots, or even pulling your carbs until you get new intake boots. I would put money on 99% of your troubles are those boots.

[Roostabunny]

I would put money on 99% of your troubles are those boots.

How much money, First Timer? Say, 99% of $100 + shipping?

I'll say one thing - this didn't happen overnight even though it kinda felt like it. It was probably waiting to happen and got noticeable when the weather cooled off and you get those two materials expanding and shrinking at different rates from the heat cycles. Hopefully I'll get the grin back when I get this thing properly sealed and adjusted.

My work internet blocks Bikebandit. Doh! Gotta wait and lose a perfectly good shipping day. Unless... phone order? Does this technology still exist? We'll see.

Cheers

[Nessism]

flatoutmotorcycles.com is the cheapest for parts. You might want to check there.

[Roostabunny]

flatoutmotorcycles.com is the cheapest for parts. You might want to check there.

Great call - forgot about those guys.

I can access the site, but the fiche image is blocked (grrr). I'm thinking 2 each of these puppies from the "Cylindar Head" fiche (at $19.87 apiece) is what I want?

PIPE, INTAKE RH
13110-45100

PIPE, INTAKE LH
13120-45100

[Roostabunny]

OK, Chris at Flatout confirmed the part for me - and they're ordered. And dang... now the wait.

Sounds like a good time to check overdue valve clearances, get my battery load tested, and do a little contact cleaning. Maybe I'll even remount my windscreen for the rest of the winter.

[Roostabunny]

another picture link

Hey fellas,

Took some high-res pics while checking my valve clearances in the middle of waiting for my new carb boots.

http://picasaweb.google.com/roostabunny/GS850GXValveAdjust2008?authkey=IhpsS0NIH70&feat=directlink

There are also some spark plug pics, don't know how useful they are, since all I've done recently is run it in neutral while trying to diagnose my air leak. But it's a nice way to show off the nice lens and high megapixel count on the Christmas gift digicam. If the plugs say something to you, please let me know.

Cheers

[bwringer]

Did you order new o-rings for those boots as well?

If not, Robert Barr can set you up easier than amending your Flat Out order: http://cycleorings.com

[Roostabunny]

Did you order new o-rings for those boots as well?

If not, Robert Barr can set you up easier than amending your Flat Out order: http://cycleorings.com

I didn't. The current one were purchased from Robert a little over a year ago to replace the crumbly OE ones - you think they'll need replaced again?

Edit: Almost forgot - the Suzuki warehouse shipped the wrong RH boots to Flatout. Doh! Kudos to Chris @ Flatout for calling me with the bad news and not charging me for the promised overnight shipping once the parts arrive from Suzuki.

[duaneage]

Resync the carbs when you are done, they are probably out of sync. you'll be surprised what a difference it makes

[scrapper]

I seen some stuff on ebay that is for coating rubber things, the picture showed intake boots. It made them black again. It said would not work with cracks all the way through. just surface cracks. Hope it helps


sorry missed a page didn't relize you bought boots. I was wondering if anyone had tried the black stuff?

[Roostabunny]

OK, at long last my new boots arrived! Wrong parts from the Suzuki warehouse and then a ground (instead of overnight) shipping error made for a LOOOOOONG wait.

I put them on and got everything back together - then struggled to get the bike to idle at less than 3000 rpm. Evetually I got it settled in around 2000 rpm and fairly smooth, but I felt like the idle adjuster was cranked way more than usual. Turns out I was right...

When I disconnected the long auxiliary fuel line I used to connect my tank from the seat position, no fuel spilled out, which I though was odd. Then I looked at the 6" loop that was hanging down by the side cover and thought "I wonder if the gas has a hard time going uphill to the carbs?"

Lo and behold, when I got the tank hooked up right my RPMs shot up to 4500 and I set about adjusting to something more reasonable. It still sounded a little punky, so I set it around 1500 and took it for a test ride. After clearing its throat things seemed OK, but I was back where I was when I started the whole thing. A little puffing and popping from the left-hand pipe.

I'm hoping that now that I've fixed the air leak (and figured out my stupid too-long fuel line mistake) I'll have a better shot at actually adjusting my mixtures. The we'll resync and see where we're at.

Here's pics of the new boots and a video (if it works) of the engine running. Thanks!

http://picasaweb.google.com/roostabunny/GS850GXNewCarbBoots?authkey=DDm1uWCB2J0&feat=directlink