82 GS850GL CV carb questiosn

[Anonymous]

Hey all,

I've completed an engine and carb rebuild on my '82 GS850GL, and now have the bike all back together, and believe it or not it runs. I'd like to fine tune the carbs now, but I'm not very knowledgable in this area. I'm not even sure what to look for in the way the bike rides.

Here's what I've done so far: Complete carb rebuild, set the idle mixture screws to 2 turns out, adjusted the idle. I've read a lot of the posts on carb adjustments, but I think my carbs might be different than most. For one, the idle adjustment screw is on the top of the carb body, not the bottom. The air screw is in the intake cylinder, which is then covered by the airbox boots. When I disassembled the carbs, all the air screws were turned all the way in, so that's the way I have them now. Since they are covered by the airbox, it seems they are not supposed to be adjusted on these carbs, but please tell me if I'm wrong.

Now so far the engines seems to idle fairly well. It stays running around 1050 rpm, but sounds slightly rough. While riding throttle response seems pretty smooth, but acceleration doesn't seem to be as strong as it should be. Kind of like it sounds like it should be taking off, but it really isn't. Does this mean it's running too lean? Should I turn the idle mixture screw in a bit?

Also, how many miles must I ride before I can read the condition of the new plugs?

Thanks for any help,
Adam

[Anonymous]

I have an '83 850L. I've got my mixture screws about 2 1/4 out, and it runs pretty good. I would leave the air screws alone. Fuel mixture screws basically are for idle, and just off idle. Anything past that, the needle jet, and then the main jet take over. If throttle response and power are lacking in the midrange on up, your problem lies elsewhere. Make sure you don't have air leaks, air filter is clean, carb vents open..

[Anonymous]

I turned the mixture screws in .5 a turn (all at 1.5 out now), and the acceleration seemed to definately improve, but it still chokes up starting from a stop. I'll try setting them all at 2.25 out like yours, and see how it goes.

I checked the plugs and they were pretty carboned up, especially considering the bikes only gone about 5 miles since the rebuild with new plugs. I read in the manual that this could be from excessive idleing. I have been letting it idle quite a bit to check things out.

Carb vents are open, air filter is new and freshly oiled, and I don't think I have any air leaks but how do I tell?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

air leak

one way to check for an air leak is to spray a can of starter fluid around the outside of the boots while they are warm. If there is a leak it should cause a rise in rpms as it gets sucked in to the carbs. using a spray straw like on that of wd40 should help to pin point the location. but becarefull the starter fluid is very flammable.