a few more questions

[shadowfist]

ok so i have a couple of questions now that i have my bike up and running great. (well, reliably)

now first question is simple. now that i am riding with my headlight on all the time (and NOT frying my battery) thanks to my new R/R (thanks for all the help by the way) i have noticed that my 'beam' is green. is this normal or a stock light? if not does that mean anything about what type of headlamp is in this baby?

second question i have noticed now that i am driving it regularly. i am courious if it is a 'classic' symptom of something or if it will be another puzzle. it seems to be bogging down a bit when i open the throttle more than say half way... don't get me wrong, half throttle is PLENTY of power but it seems that if i crank it up slowly it gets to about the half-way point and suddenly looses a LITTLE bit of power (like maybee 1/8th or 16th of a turn back on the throttle) and seems to stay around there in terms of power untill full open with only minor variation. if i pull the clutch it doesnt seem to affect it the same and when opening up it will redline in just a fracton of a second so it seems to only do this under load (most of my experimenting is 4th or 5th gear). is this a classic symptom like "replace your airfilter bozo" or "DORKHEAD, you're running to rich" or something like that?

my last question is (being as i have driven a car my ENTIRE life until about 5-6 months ago. i am courious about cleaning my bike... with my car you can just hose it down and scrub away. most of the bike is exposed engine will i hurt it if i just blast it with a hose? is there anything i need to take care about? something that i am about to do that is majorly bad?

[hampshirehog]

The green headlight is a new one. Is your reflector and glass clean? the lights on these bike weren't brilliant white - more of a yellowish white - but I've never heard them described them as green.

Are you running a standard set up - ie standard airfilter and exhaust. If so you'll need to check for air leaks on the rubbers and maybe strip the carbs and rebuild them using new rubbers. If you've changed something it sounds like it's rejetting 'fun'. (I trust you've checked your timing, valve clearances etc).

Oh - and clean you bike with soapy water and a soft brush, then rinse. You won't hurt anything with a hose but you might get water in the electrics somewhere.

[shadowfist]

awesome, thanks for the advice!

it seems i spoke too soon, it was a bit cold yesterday morning on the way to work and on the way home I did some 'experiments' with the throttle (it was warmer and i had run the bike a bit longer) and i did not experience the lack of power when opening the throttle all the way. so it seems it was just that the engine just hadn't warmed up yet.

I did have a new question though..
my fuel tank cover (the flap that has the lock on it that covers up the gas cap) has started to rattle at certain RPMs. will adjusting it to latch higer up eliviate the problem? or do i have to move it how it was previously, when i first got it there was NO clearance. it latched completely tight on the tank and there was no room for vibration, but that is very hard to accomplish...

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. shadowfist,

Have you adjusted the valves yet? Long warm up times are indicative of tight valves on the older 2-valve per cylinder GS motors.

Will your headlight accept a Sylvania SilverStar H4 bulb? It's a very BRIGHT white.

Is there a gasket you can replace on your gas cap?

I don't use a high pressure hose to spray my entire bike. But I do use a low pressure nozzle to rinse off selected parts so as not to get water into sensitive areas.

Check out these Youtube videos on How To Clean Your Motorcycle. The guy's a little obsessive, but he's got some good tips.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff