I can't junk this bike

[predator]

duanage, I'll check the o-rings when i'm doing the valves, The guy that did my carbs is pretty thorough, but he might have not known about the o-rings. I am having a little problem getting the 4 boots to slide all the way on the carbs and stay on tight. I think the bracket at the top that holds the cannister is bolted on wrong and pulling it back off the intake lips of the carbs. Man its going up into the 40's this week, the motor gods must be on my side.

[kokopelli]

you may wanna go ahead and check that clutch assembly while you're at it if you really suspect it...
rebuilt the top end of one of my 2 650's last fall (without a manual) and my mechanic friend who helped here and there didn't think to tell me check the timing before i pulled the cams mainly cause the manual that got there over a month after i finished was supposed to be there day or two after i started the tear down so why would we need to... right?
long story short he set the timing at a "average spot" for the old jap bikes and bike was a pain to start cold but ran decent at low speeds but had a pretty poor take off and couldn't get it over 55
i suspected the clutch or the timing and after a few weeks of hearing it was this or that no way the timing was off cause the bike wouldn't run i rechecked the timing with the manual... WTF!!! the exaust cam was off 1 tooth and the intake was off 3 teeth! i got it all set perfect to factory specs and the bike cranks great even cold and the take off had a great improvement... but i was right, the clutch was goin and even bein easy and building up speed slowly the bike still wont go over 70-75mph b4 the clutch starts slippin and the motor starts whining
if your bike is down right now and you think the clutch is goin then you might as well at least check it. even with other problems with the bikes i've had when i thought the clutch was goin... it was and it's easier to just get it now than after it's back on the road

[predator]

KOKO, I hear what you're sayin. I have 4 other bikes but this one is just to mess with, everything else runs. I still want to do things in steps simply because of the cost and to make sure I know whati'm working on is worth it.

[predator]

I went out today to put sea foam in each cylinder and let it set but figured i'd start it and let it run a while to make sure it was still running. Fired right up. BUT I can see gas in a fine spray coming out of one of the intake manifolds on the outter head on the brake side so I think I'm gonna pull the carbs and put in a new gasket (s). Then I noticed something I hadn't noticed before , maybe an idea on what the deal is. The left outer head on the shifter side exhaust tube is getting a lot hotter than the other tubes. In fact the pipe is rusted and you can feel the pipe giving off more heat when you put your hand near it. I want to try a coolant temp guage and touch it to the pipe to see if I can get a reading. This has me a bit worried. But that SOB started right up . I can't do anything cause I'm letting the oil/seafoam drain out so i can refill it.
Does a single hotter pipe strike anybody with thoughts a problem.

[renobruce]

You are probably running lean. Pull the plug and see. You probably have an intake leak, or your carbs need going over.

You might be chasing your tail here. Sounds like you need to go over everything on that bike. Pull the carbs, clean them as per the carb clean-up section on the home page, replace all your orings, adjust your valves, synch your carbs. You can get your orings from www.cycleorings.com Might as well do it right while it's cold outside. You have lots of help here.

My dad used to say "if you don't have time to do it right, where will you find the time to do it over?"

[predator]

Reno,
I think you hit the nail on the head here. I'll get what I can off but it's still too cold to get into things to deep. I hate taking things apart and then leaving them sit around....I can get the carbs and stuff off now though. Thanks for the advice. I'll be back crying in the spring now may we all say a liitle prayer that winter ends soon.....and only cause this gas bill is killing me.

[Big T]

Well, you should be able to remove the carbs, drain them and take them inside to check them and clean them.

Get your can of dip and order up carb and intake boot O rings and go from there.

Once it warms up a bit you can start on the valve adjustment.

Post up pictures of what you find and never, ever be afraid to ask a question here.

We've all be thru the same stuff ourselves

[themess]

Predator,

How many miles?

What do you know about the history of the bike?

[Suzuki mad]

These old classic bikes keep on going with a little attention. The engine is an easy fix for compression and won't cost the earth to do. At worst its a base gasket, head gasket, hone the bore, new rings, valve guide seals, 'lap' the valves back in and a rocker cover gasket. About 2 days work and she'll last for another 20 years!

The inlet rubbers and 'O' rings will be expensive and the philips may not want to let the old inlet rubber come off the head so it may be a strip anyway.

The over heating on one cylinder is probably the one thats leaking where its running lean.

Suzuki mad.

[predator]

Well its been a while and it warmed up enough. I put a cap of seafoam in each cylder, let it set a few days and the bike fired up. I was getting ready to strip it down to adjust the valves and hit a problem that I haven't ever had to deal with on a bike. The previous owner changed the oil and stripped the freakin threads on the drain plug. It spins both ways but won't tighten or come out. The cooling fins got the plug inset so I can't get a pair of vice grips on and pull while i'm turning. Then i'd throw in a self tapping plug. I don't know if all the oil will drain out if I take the filter out so I don't have to mess with the plug right now. That way i can get all of that seafoam out of the oil (I previously dumped some in the oil to) and let it run a while on clean oil to help the rings and my compression problems. So basically, will taking the filter cover off drain the entire engine? Any ideas on getting this plug out? Oh yeah, the bike sat for a while in the garage and didn't even need the choke to start it up. It's gonna be a runnin machine when i'm done.

[first timer]

Try wedging a flat tip under the plug head to apply pressure on the threads while you try to unscrew. Otherwise you will have to pull the pan, which isn't a bad idea. You would be surprised what you find in the oil pan from these old bikes. It will be full of sludge you can count on it.

[predator]

SOB, I was hoping I wasn't gonna have to pull the pan. The plug is inset into the fins pretty deep to get a screwdriver under it but i'll give it a try first thing tomorrow. I'll be up all night lying in bed taking that damn plug.......
Before I go through all the work of doing the pan what I was wondering is getting the valves done and make sure everything looks good and runs good before I start worrying about the plug. So, once again I was thinking if I pull the filter, will most of the oil drain out? Just so I can get some clean stuff in there while i'm doing the valves.

[first timer]

very little oil will drain from the filter. Do you have a stock exhaust system? Either way you can remove the pan with the system on it's just a little tricky with the system on. A box wrench is your friend, and you might need to remove the bolts by the passanger pegs that hang the exhaust to get a little more wiggle room but support it so it's not hanging just from the head. The oil pan gasket is about 12 bucks.

[gustovh]

You could try useing a strong magnet to get a little tug on the plug when unscrewing it.

V

[snowbeard]

interesting story. I have an 850 that I have resurrected to nearly your condition, it will start, idle and run up to speed, but doesn't have pull at higher revs. I have thought it must be the airbox leaking, as I've heard that can really make it a bear to get anythign figured out.

I've been told that keeping the valves adjusted is extremely important, but I've also heard that the results are typically hard starting, since you say yours starts right up, I wonder if that's really the problem? also, if your buddy checked the compression on it after it had barely been run since sitting for years, and it was not warmed up, I would be careful not to spend too much time on the compression right off the bat?

I'd say get 'er running a bit and keep going thru the seafoam, new oil, etc. see how she feels after a couple months of daily running? seems like these old bikes like life better when they're being run.

good luck!!