WOOOOHOOOO!!! Got her runnin!

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to pass along the good news, I put my new Carb boots on lthe 82 GS650G last night, and not without a lot of foul language, got them carbs back on. She started right up! Idled a bit high, I may need to adjust the throttle cable. NOW, starting out she runs kind of sluggish, but you can feel it kick in, at first thought I figured I still have a problem with the smaller jets, but would that not cause an idle problem? I figure I need to get the carbs synced. If I gradually give it gas, like normal driving, it runs fine but if I punch it in first gear it hesitates a bit and then kicks in. any experience with this? Anyway, Thanks again to Moto_Dan for the carb boots, I hope to get this bike purring like a kittten so I can join you GS'ers on the fall hill country ride!
Take care and thank you for all of the great info and help that has enabled me to get her on the road.
Tom

[moto_dan]

Congratulations on getting it running. The slight hesitation you feel when you quickly open up the throttle is a characteristic of CV type carbs, also typcially if your bike idles smoothly then your carbs don't need to be synced. BTW are you running an air cleaner?

[Anonymous]

I tried putting on that filter that you gave me, it did fit, but I dont believe it was restrictive enough. (less dense of a foam) I was not sure also if I was supposed wet this filter with oil and wring it out. My stock air filter requires dampening with oil for both protection to the engine from dust and for the proper restriction of air flow. I will run it some tonight and check out the plugs. Wether lean or rich, I will try tweaking the air filter to adjust, it idles smooth, and I have not adjusted any of the air screws on the carbs when cleaning them. so maybe it is in sync and just needs a little riding time to smooth things out.
I will be sure to give it plenty of that
Wish me luck, I will let you know how it goes
Tom

[Anonymous]

The slight hesitation you feel when you quickly open up the throttle is a characteristic of CV type carbs, also typcially if your bike idles smoothly then your carbs don't need to be synced.

Not to start a flame war, but I can't agree with either of the statements made above.

CV carbs were designed to give better off-idle response. Think about it- the old slide valve carburetors required an enrichening device (usually an accelerator pump, though many were just set up with a rich idle) to keep the bike from stumbling when you whacked the throttle open. With CV carbs, the slide moves in response to engine vacuum signal, so the engine gets what it can handle, as fast as it can handle it. Maybe I'm not making this particularly clear, but the slide movement being controlled by engine vacuum is what makes CV carbs inherently better with respect to throttle response.

That being said, if your idle circuit is set up too lean you can get an off-idle stumble- your description of your bike's behavior is a classic example of this. And since the EPA has, since the 1980's, essentially demanded that carbureted bikes be set up to run on the ragged edge of lean, a lot of people have come to believe that an off-idle stumble is inherent to CV carbs.

I had this problem big time with my SV650. Pulling the carbs (on the SV it is difficult to get to the idle mixture screws any other way) revealed that one was set to 1 turn out, and the other was at 1 3/4 turns. Setting 'em both at 3 turns out made for a smoother idle and got rid of the off-idle stumble. Whack the throttle open at 1500 rpm now and she pulls away just as strongly and smoothely as you please.

As far as synchronization goes... I just synched the carbs on my brother's GS700E this last weekend. The bike idled nice and smooth beforehand, but had an odd, two-tone sort of exhaust note. There was nothing obviously wrong with the way the bike idled, and I'd have sworn that it would need no attention. Hooking up the gauges proved otherwise. 5 minutes spent synching the carbs resulted in a dead smooth idle and, more importantly, gave a good boost in power in the 4000-6000rpm range. In my experience, carb synchronization should be checked any time you remove the carbs, and after a valve adjustment as well.

HTH

Bill

[Anonymous]

Synchronize the carbs then......

Synchronize the carbs. The valve clearance should come first (I havn't done mine yet either). If you still have an off idle check the intake manifolds for leaks. Better yet do them both at the same time.

[moto_dan]

The slight hesitation you feel when you quickly open up the throttle is a characteristic of CV type carbs, also typcially if your bike idles smoothly then your carbs don't need to be synced.

Not to start a flame war, but I can't agree with either of the statements made above.

Bill

No war from me. I guess it comes down to one's definition of smooth idle and slight hesitation.

[Anonymous]

ok, the hesitation is gone, turns out I had 2 things wrong.. I dinked with both of them and it fixed the prob. I just dont know which one did it.
1. my idle adjustment bar (screw) was set too high, and
2. I forgot to tighten the clam that holds my air-box to the filter compartment.

noe I have no hesitation, I took it for a 30 minute ride last night, and I have a couple of new questions.

1. Being an unexperienced motorcyclist, how can you tell if the shocks need to be replaced? they have spring in them, but it just felt like I could feel every little bump on the road.

2. I pulled my plugs after my ride last night, and they have a very light tint to them, almost white. This would mean the bike is running too lean. can anyone give me a list of solutions that would richen up the mix? or is this light gray/white tint normal?

3. I know running an engine lean can cause it to get over heated, when I stopped and turned off the bike last night in the car-port, it was making a popping noise every second or 2, I dont have a temp gauge, is the popping/clicking/tinking noise normal after getting warmed up and shutting it off? or is it running way too hot?

Thanks for any help in advance..
Tom