78 gs550 carb? problems? maybe?

[Anonymous]

I recently built a bike from some pieces a man gave me from his 78 gs550. Everything was there except i needed a new frame, so i found an 81 gs550t frame and went on my way. Everything is put together now but here are my problems.
1. engine starts idles very high at first than when hot idles down a bit until it finally dies. Then will not restart unless i blow air into the vaccuum lines.
2. Gas leaks from airbox and one of the four carb lines. There s one nipple on the top of my box and one on the bottom what connects to those.
3. One of my headers (far left) on my 4 into 2 exhaust gets red hot.
4. please help me its spring, my first bike and i want to ride soooo bad. thanx
Neil Scharmer

[SqDancerLynn1]

I would start by giving the carbs a good cleaning pay attention to the float needle and float level, and remove the intake boots and replace the O ring. Make sure the choke linkage moves free and the throtle cables are adjusted Start with the bottom screw turned out about 3/4-1 turn and the screw on the side of the carb turned out about 2-2 1/2

[Anonymous]

the gas coming from your airfilter is probably the float-needle and seat not working or the floats not working, or both. heres how the fueling prosses is supposed to work. The gas goes into the bowl, pushing up the float. As the float rises, it pushes up the float-needle into the seat. If the float-needle doesn't fit into the seat correctly, then the gas will be pushed through the carbs into your airbox. I had the exact same problem. I ended up taking the carbs apart, cleaning them, and rebuilding them.

[AOD]

a few things to check. make sure the vent lines that go to the carb are not clogged. there are two of them that run into the backside of the carbs, on a rail...

there is a vaccume line that runs to the petcock, make sure that is hooked up. this lets fuel be drawn through the petcock in the ON position.

also, check the fuel cap vent, to make sure it is not rusted shut.

lastly, i would pull the spark plug on the exhaust pipe that is getting hot. hot usually means lean...so you could have a plugged jet, or something is not letting enough fuel into the cylinder. be careful, or you'll burn it up.

~Adam