Stock engine performance

[BIKERTUCKER]

Ed: Appreciate nudge on PM. That option was new to me. Replied this am.
Sounds like a good deal.


Tim

[gggGary]

As long as you are this far go whole hog and clean out the carbs, either do it or say duh-oh in a week or so. Pull the float valves, There are O-rings and small screens up above the float valve bodies, pull em, clean em, and spray out the fuel passages. put in the float valve o-rings and pull the rubber plugs and pilot jets. The pilot jets are the favorite hiding place for little pieces of crud. This group is big on soaking in berrymans but I have had great success with spray carb cleaner. I figure on two cans to do a rack. I just got my barn fresh GS1100EZ rack on the bench tonight and you can bet I will do all these items.

[BIKERTUCKER]

I did all the cleaning last nite. Did find a good amount of crud. Need to order O - ring kit yet. Filter screens under fuel valves were clean. As if they and only they were removed and cleaned. I too spray clean carbs,due to some have felt seals between carb and control shafts that get destroyed if dipped leading to air leaks and lean running. I do use Berryman B-12 spray,great stuff.

[BIKERTUCKER]

Ed: I'll take the air box. same part#'s on mine. Let me know the how's and when.


Thanks

Tim

[BIKERTUCKER]

While waiting for my new air box to arrive,decided to play with shimming
the carb needles. Went the nylon washer from the hardware store route. Found one previous message where the needle was raised .032 in, and owner thought he could have gone twice that amount. Made that my starting point. Raised the needle .064in or (1.63mm).At first I thought I had gone too far engine seemed like it was bogging down at higher RPM because the Large surge of power around 4800rpm seemed reduced. But once on the open road found it pulled much better from start till the 4800 rpm point. And since it was preforming better below 4800 rpm the kick did not seem as great from that point on but the speedo needle kept moving quickly till it was pegged. So it did make a nice performance improvement in all the right places. Plus now when given throttle at lower rpm it pops forward instead of making more noise but struggling to move as it did before. Was tempted to remove the last remaining washer but decided to see how plugs look after I install the new air box with snorkel. Right now after a 18 mile ride, plugs had a white/tan color to them.

[endlessGSgeek]

CV shimming

Jim:

What thickness of shim did you end up with on needle?

Tim

Tim,
I adjusted the needles on my 1100G...removed the plastic washer ('shim') on my CVs ('82 GS1100G) and replaced it with a stack of little washers in each carb. The stack (3 washers) was only about a mm thinner than the plastic shim, but it let the needle up just enough. It absolutely transformed the engine. No popping or backfiring on decel or surginess at constant throttle cruising. Previously, I made a pilot jet increase that made it always quick to come off choke and smoothed out idle (running with pods and header). Now power builds flawlessly in the pilot to needle transition even when hot (1000-2500 rpm). Needle shim also REALLY beefed up the midrange where the pilot jet is not involved (2500-5000rpm).

JimFJ also road it after the shimming...and found out why I was smiling. It was obviously too lean with stock shim height, especially at our elevation (we are at ~600 feet, practically sea level!). Here is a diagram of the needle with some explanation in case it is helpful. Have you had a chance to do this yet?

[BIKERTUCKER]

Thanks for the great Diagram and info. After I shimmed the carb needles performance was greatly improved. But still bogged down a bit around 3800 to 4800 rpm. Received in the mail today an airbox with snorkle from Nessism. I'll see what that does.

[BIKERTUCKER]

Bought an airbox with snorkel from Nessism, thanks Ed. Installed it and went for a ride. Just the addition of the snorkel took care of the last little glitch of bogging down from around 3800 to 4800 rpm. It also seems to pull harder from start to 5000k. Now the feel of the bike and motion of the tach is smooth strong pull through 4800 rpm, then pulls harder till I shift at around 7000. Much better, Im very happy with improved performance. Now its just hit the gas shift, hit the gas shift, with very little time between shifts compared with how it was in the beginning. This was a nice bike to start with this makes it all that much better. I think this is as good as it gets performance wise with a stock engine.
Thanks to all for your input and knowledge.
This is what I call fun.

Tim

[Nessism]

Glad that airbox finally found a good home. Enjoy!

[BIKERTUCKER]

Just wanted to post a thank you to all for responces to my question of stock performance on my 82 GS1100 GLZ back in January. I've cleaned carbs, shimmed carb needles, added airbox snorkle, (thanks ED), and just this weekend checked and adjusted valve clearance. Found four valves below min. specs., two above max. spec., and two were in spec. First time through a valve shimming procedure, learned to like the set up. No setting the gap, tighten the nut, then more often than not, do it all again. Just rotate cam, check gap, change shim, what you see is what you get. Even though I'm an amateur at all of this I have been impressed with the design of this engine when compaired with other 1100cc engines I have worked on. From the carbs to clutch drive compared to say my 1100 Goldwing the parts are massive. The carbs looked designed to pass large volumes of air and fuel. The main jet and needle jet look twice as large as my old wing.Now my old GS1100 pulls hard, purrs like a kitten and runs so smooth at 70-75mph I forget the engine is down there. In fact, after all the suggested repairs were complete, clutch would break loose at around 6000 rpm. Now after new springs and trading clutch plates from the spare engine all is well. So thanks again, I,m very pleased with performance that has been tranformed with your help.

Take Care

Tim

[Don-lo]

It's great to read posts like this. Keep up the good work, Tim.

What area are you in? Will you attend any rallies?

[endlessGSgeek]

That's great news Tim. The extensive experience of the GSResources members here has been extremely helpful to me as well. After I deal with income taxes , I will be supporting the site.

[BIKERTUCKER]

I'm located in northwest S.C. I don't make it to very many rallies due to work and family being so far away. If I can "retire" in a few years my range would increase. I'll have to check out how to support $ the site.

Tim