Intro and help with 81 850g

[devilman]

Greetings all-
Been lurking on the site for a while now and have really liked what I have seen out there. I got an 81 gs850g from my wife for my 30th back in april. Finally got it home last weekend and started tinkering with it. The only background I really know on the bike is that it was garaged for the past year and a half and ran and drove before that. I am waiting on the carb kits and new air cleaner to come in at the end of this week but I wanted to try getting it going.

New battery, new plugs, hit the starter and it sounds like it wants go, a few burps here and there, and then nothing. Hit it with starting fluid, rev'd right up to 3k strong then started to trail off. Would stay running if I kep the throttle going but not on its own. I sprayed the carbs with carb cleaner but haven't broken them down, wanted to wait until the kits came in before i messed around in there. I sprayed outside the intake boots with carb cleaner while it was running and the rev's were jumping up pretty high. I thought I read this was a test of something but at this point I am not sure of what, or if I really even read that to be honest (Just turning 30 and having a newborn has been a lot to deal with hah)

I know there is a lot going on with the post, but any idea what to start looking at first? If it sounds like air or fuel? I tried using the search on the site but was getting a lot of hits on threads that weren't really relevant. Any help would be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance

[chuckycheese]

Good for you!

I admire your enthusiasm and can certainly understand your impatience!

I'd suggest you take off the carbs, dip them and get them rebuilt (no shortage of experienced help here on the forum) and then try to make it run; I suspect that it will run...and it will run well. Until you get those carbs cleaned, you're 'beating your head against a wall' because it will never, ever run correctly.

These old bikes are really 'works of art' but having 4 carbs is a tempermental thing. So many of the difficulties that all of us have encountered revolve around the carbs and they do need to be clean and tuned.

Get a good shop manual (Suzuki or Clymer's is OK..I prefer both) and take care of a bunch of needed things at once. If you do, you'll be really glad you did because you'll be cruisin' down the road and not worrying about things that should have been done.

By the way, list your bike's year and model number in your signature so you can get the most accurate advice from others who might 'chime in' on this and other questions in the future.

[bwringer]

Don't install the crap parts in the kits -- just get a set of o-rings from Mr. Barr: http://cycleorings.com and clean and re-use everything else.

Seriously -- the kit parts are nothing but pure 100% junk. Sell 'em off on eBay or something.


Look around for Basscliff's Grand Welcome post -- he might be a little slow on the trigger right now, but it's got all the info you need, specific to your bike.

[devilman]

thanks for the prompt replies. I mispoke when I said kits. I actually order the O-rings and some fasteners from the site and float bowl gaskets and a few other pieces seperately. Couldnt see shelling out the crazy money for most of the kits they have available. I appreciate the advice

[mike_of_bbg]

The effects of the carb cleaner indicates a leak around your intake boots. They should be sealed but they're not, and the carb cleaner is temporarily providing some seal (and probably a bit of fuel too). There are a few potential sources: failed o-rings, which apparently you have purchased new ones of; separating boots at the head (the rubber is coming loose from the metal part of the boots and leaking between), meaning you need to replace them as there is no repair; also, leaking boots between the carbs and the airbox can cause lean conditions. Inspect and replace as necessary.

Thanks for reading up and taking the initiative to clean your carbs. That's a good start - along with checking valves, etc. BassCliff should be along at some point to give you your "mega-welcome" with the top 10 issues, of which you're already suffering from 2. As noted, consider adding your bike to your sig, and add your location info to your user control panel. You never know what GSR experience might be a nice Saturday ride away from you!

[devilman]

Thanks. I'm glad it was actually a test for something and I wasnt just making it up in my head. I noticed tonight when I took of the left airbox cover that the rubber seal around it was practically melted to the cover. going to check the boots and see if I can get the cover a little tighter of a seal

[DPage]

Replacing the airbox and side cover seals (search "airbox"), including the one that jams up against the air filter, is critical. You can rebuild the carbs, but they need to suck air without leaks. I haven't rebuilt my carbs yet after 32K miles (shame on me) but I've replaced those intake seals twice.

[bwringer]

Replacing the airbox and side cover seals (search "airbox"), including the one that jams up against the air filter, is critical. You can rebuild the carbs, but they need to suck air without leaks. I haven't rebuilt my carbs yet after 32K miles (shame on me) but I've replaced those intake seals twice.

Yup, sealing your airbox lids and air filter cage with weatherstripping is one of the secret initiation rituals to the High Order of the Shafted Ones.

[devilman]

I appreciate all the information. Im going to grab some weather stripping tomorrow and try to get a decent seal on it. Im funding all the parts/maintenance/add-ons for the bike with a ton of stuff Im selling on ebay. Hoping to get a few good sales so I can take a big chunk of the parts out early

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. devilman,

You'll find lots of 850G lovin' on my website. Here's my "welcome thing"...

Here is your very own magical, mystical, mythical, mind-expanding "mega-welcome". Please take notice of the "Top 10 Common Issues", the Carb Rebuild Series, and the Stator Papers. Now let me roll out the welcome mat for you...

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!

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[devilman]

got all of my o-rings in today. Float bowl gaskets should be in tomorrow or the following day. Stripping the carbs tomorrow and fully cleaning them out and hopefully that helps a bit. as far as the airbox goes I have the weatherstripping just a matter of having the time to cut it to fit. I will keep you posted if that gets her running

[rustybronco]

Don't forget to check the valve clearances...