1985 GS550E: Can't seem to get the bike running past 35 MPH

[Anonymous]

I'd been trying to figure out what's the cause why I can't go past 35 MPH. The bike hadn't been running for 4 years, the gas in the carb gummed so I cleaned everything (both carbs), emptied the gas tank, cleaned the jets. Now the bike runs, but only up to 35 MPH. Any suggestion as to what's the culprit? Thanks for your help.

[Anonymous]

re: GS550E: Can't seem to get the bike running past 35 MPH

Have you looked into your compression? Sounds like a loss of compression, which can come from many places. But In your case (where the bike has been sitting) could mean head gaskets. But this is all just a guess.

[HiSPL]

Make sure that your carbs are synched and your intake boot have no leaks. Double check the o-ring that sits between the intake boots and head. If they are flat they need to be replaced.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a lack of fuel, are you sure you cleared the idle passages? What exactly happens at 35mph? Does it bog? Does it backfire? Does the choke help? Does it idle normally after warm up? Did you check your spark plug gap? Any info could help solve your problem.

[Anonymous]

You said you cleaned "both" carbs. If it's a GS550 it should have 4 carbs. Did you only clean the outside carbs?

[HiSPL]

The later 550's had two carbs that fed four cylinders. They oddball little things with dual outlets for each carb.

[Anonymous]

Weird! My mistake.

[Anonymous]

The bike has only 2 carbs, 1 cab feeding 2 cylinders. What happens after 35 MPH? the engine just bogs down, the choke doesn't help at all. The engine idles beautifully though. And as far as I can see, there's no leak on the intake boot. I'm still waiting for the carb floats that I ordered from bike bandit, see if replacing the float will do the job.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like fuel starvation. Just for fun have you tried running it on the "prime" setting on the fuel petock?