78 gs550e

[biglong350]

i picked up a 78 gs550e, problem is when its been sitting for say a day or however long ill start it up and it will take about ten minutesof warming up before i can get any throttle response out of it! whats going on can someone point me in the right direction? also if i put individual air pods on the carbs what jets will i have to change and how much do you think? or do i even need to change them?

[Big T]

Go back to the main page and read the Carb Cleanup for VM carbs. Order some new O rings for carbs and carb boots.

Pods are a step in the wrong direction at this point. Yes, you will need to rejet for pods

Hard starting is a symptom of tight valves. Have they been adjusted?

Your bike is 31 years old. Expect to give it a full maintenance plus fix some stuff that previous owners did wrong.

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!

Hi Mr. biglong350,

I'm glad you found us. Thanks for joining up. Pay particular attention to the "Top 10 Common Issues" as I roll out your welcome mat...

Please click here for your mega-welcome, chock full of tips, suggestions, links to vendors, and other information. Then feel free to visit my little BikeCliff website where I've been collecting the wisdom of this generous community. Don't forget, we like pictures! Not you, your bike!

You'll find lots of GS lovin' on my website.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Suzuki_Don]

You'll find lots of 850 lovin' on my website.
BassCliff

Yes Cliff, but he has a 550, pretty much the same model as the one I have.

[biglong350]

can u post a link to the carb cleaning thing

[Nessism]

can u post a link to the carb cleaning thing

Link through the GSR homepage... http://www.thegsresources.com/files/vm_carb_rebuild.pdf

[BassCliff]

Yes Cliff, but he has a 550, pretty much the same model as the one I have.

Sorry Don. I was too lazy to type so I just did a "copy and paste" from another thread. Sometimes I don't pay attention. Doh!


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Suzuki_Don]

No worries Cliff. Good to see you're still helping people out in their hour of need. You're doing a great job. BTW I just picked up another 1977 GS manual in pristine condition.

[biglong350]

alright

i got the bike running better ran some carb cleaner through it and adjusted the pilot screw all the cylinders were running lean. man she pulls now! however one more kink i need to work out... the clutch is sticky when releasing i dont think its the cable or handle. i think its the clutch itself. is there clutch fluid in there? what does it hold? etc... has anyone had this problem before? its just when going from a dead stop and trying to get the bike moving....

[Suzuki_Don]

i got the bike running better ran some carb cleaner through it and adjusted the pilot screw all the cylinders were running lean. man she pulls now! however one more kink i need to work out... the clutch is sticky when releasing i dont think its the cable or handle. i think its the clutch itself. is there clutch fluid in there? what does it hold? etc... has anyone had this problem before? its just when going from a dead stop and trying to get the bike moving....

The clutch runs in normal non modified engine oil. It might pay to pull the clutch cover and clean the clutch plates and see what condition they are in. There could be a warped plate or something similar. Try changing the oil first and see if this improves things.