Do I need a parachute? Carb issues...

[Anonymous]

I just acquired through a "will work for bike" out placement program an '80 GS1100E w/ 10k miles on it from the second owner. He only rode it rarely and it sat for a year and a half with fuel in it...UUUGGGGHHHHHHH... So he drained the fuel out and ran new stuff in it but it didn't run too good and would not throttle up w/o dying.

I got it turning over and everything seems to be ok (minus the few electrical gremlins running around but I have the technology to fix that) but I know the carbs are glued shut for sure and I am figuring that they need to be pulled, stripped, tanked and reinstalled. Here's my dilem...mon...thingy... With there being four carbs and me having dealt with nothing more than one at a time (sorry, first bike here for me guys) I am a little reluctant to jerk them off and tear them down without knowing a few things...

First of all, if I tear them down am I going to throw them all out of whack that will require a guy with a PhD in motorcyclophyscology to retune and balance them or can I just simply pull everything apart and count the turns to get it back in some semblance of order?

Secondly, will it be easier and cheaper (as in "Where the he'''ll did that go) to just pull the bank of carbs off and hand them to a dealer and say "fix 'm up charly and spare the KY"?

I don't have much in the way of chump change running around but would like to at least hear this thing sing before my wife takes away my driving privledges(have not done a brody in the lawn yet...but it is coming...got that feeling from its sheer brute size:-)

Any criticism or feedback is welcome. I am a mechanic of sorts (diesel anyway) and can do the job with a little reassurance that it will not turn my bike into a money pit if I tackle the job.

Thanks guys and good GS'n to ya all from Washington State...

Colley
colley@>remove this before sending<handymanspecialties.com 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O :? :x

[Anonymous]

Carb syncing isn't hard, but it requires a tool you're not likely to have if you've never done it before. Mercury carb balancers can be had at any decent dealer for about $40. And don't even consider the calibrated-eyeball method; I can guarantee it won't work. You should also consider picking up a Haynes or Clymer for this bike before ripping the carbs into tiny bits.

[AOD]

the GS Masters have taken care of this for you.

http://www.thegsresources.com/gs_carbrebuild.htm

g'luck.

~Adam

[Anonymous]

carbs

The GS carbs may look intimidating because there are four of them, but what you see are just four relatively simple devices. If you are a mechanic (of any type) you know that when you take something apart, remember how it goes back together. If in doubt make a diagram. I like to keep the parts from the individual carbs separate because of differences in wear. Like you stated, you should count the number of turns in for each needle. I have never had a reason to take the individual carbs off of the bank. Remove the bank as a unit and work on the carbs that way. The most common problem with a bike that has been sitting for a time is that the old gas turns to varnish and gums up and plugs the idle jet and passages. If the bike was stored on the side stand (you guess it) the left carbs will be worse because the gas from the right two often drains down into the left two. The float needle and seat may often be varnished. I don't dip the bike carbs because some of them have little o-rings hidden down in sealed passages. I prefer to use a spray carb and choke cleaner that I spray directly into the passages, let soak for a couple of minutes, then blow out with compressed air. If the jet/passages are very plugged you may have to use a very fine wire to force out the varnish plug (already softened with the carb and choke cleaner). The purists will advise against this because you MAY scratch the jet, but...... I use a high E guitar string (very stiff and very light gauge and only cost a dollar at the guitar shop). I sharpen mine to a point on the bench grinder and crank it into the bad plugs (kinda like rotorooter).

Doing a basic cleaning like this will get your bike running. Buying a vacumn gauge set or mercury sphyg set is definately worth the investment for carb synch but it doesn't have to be the first thing you buy. When reinstalling the carbs lube the induction boots and carbs with silicone lube and heat up the boots (to soften them and make them more pliable) with hot air from a paint stripper so you don't rupture your spleen trying to push the carbs back on. Another issue with a long sitting bike is rust and condensation in the gas tank so drain it completely, disassemble and clean out the petcock and install an inline fuel filter between the petcock and the carbs, or any remaining crud in the tank WILL find its way down to plug your jets again.

Have fun!! I think working on bikes is a blast because you can do it with light tools (no hoists or jacks, don't have to crawl under it and bang your head, etc.)

The GS are tough and reliable. The one you got is a real find. The GS weak point is the charging system. Check yours over well. Refer to the stator papers in the In The Garage section of this site.

Good Luck

Blaine [/img]

[Anonymous]

One little tid bit I didn't know before hand.

One little tid bit I didn't know before hand. The carbs look as if the throtle bodys are all on one rod. They are actually seprate and linked together with the linkage that you will use to balance them. Once you take the choke assembly off and the two brackets they come apart and go back together easy. After you read your manual and see how the separate you'll have a better understanding of how to balance them.

[Anonymous]

seems straight forward to me...

I am not intimidated... no really... ignore the shaking knees:-)

Seems like it is a very simple deal to do and will tackle it this week.

Blaine... Yeah, I have heard that this GS1100E is a great specimin of bike-a-tood. The first owner took it to S.I.R. (Seattle International Raceway) and ran out of raod before it ran out of top end. Not what i want to do with it cause I am not a speed freak but when it is time to get out of the way of doofus -the on the phone, head up rectum, freeway driver, then I want to GO. My friend I bought it from says that it is super quick and could get away from me at the drop of a hat due to its power. I look forward to taking it for a run and seeing what kind of power it has. I can imagine that it is alot since it has almost as much engine in it as my civic did:-) Wish me luck.

This bike only has 10k on it and is in good condition. It was dumped once and needs some paint work but I plan to clean it up and keep it for a long while.

[Anonymous]

I just finished putting my carbs back together tonight (1980 GS850 GL that had sat about 10 years before I bought it -- and then spent 3 additional years aging in my garage.)

If you decide to leave the carbs connected, you might want to go ahead and replace the Fuel Inlet Needle Valve Seat O-ring. It won't take a minute.

You can probably find the O-ring at the local auto parts store. If you suspect you will ever break the carbs apart from on another -- and replace all the O-rings -- the O-Ring Kit offered by Robert Barr (of this forum) is a good value. It is a mere $12.00 and comes with all the O-rings you will need. You can find more info at: http://home.att.net/~robert.barr/

You might want to buy one 'just in case.'

I cleaned my carbs 3 years ago, just before I started using my bike to organize my garden hoses. (This year I got one of those garden hose reels and decided to work on the GS some more.) I cleaned them then while they were connected together.

I decided to take them off the brackets this time as they were still problematic. I don't know if I missed it then -- or if I damaged it then by hitting it with carb cleaner -- but one of my FINVS O-rings was not doing the job Suzuki meant it to do. It was hard and shrunk enough that it was not providing a seal.

Anyway, I took the set apart. Cleaning was fairly straightforward. I used the Carb Cleaning Series on this site as a guide.

I had purchased 4 carb kits (about $90 with shipping from Dennis Kirk) thinking they would be what I needed. I can honestly say I don't know that it was money well spent. I used all the parts that were appropriate for my project -- they were shiney after all -- but the only thing I feel I really needed were the pilot jet plugs. Had I ordered the O-ring set first, I would've waited on the carb kits. As it was, I didn't want to get it all back together, have a problem, and wonder if the new bits would have made a difference.

Good luck.