Starting Issue

[Big Red]

ok now everything back together. and..... nothing. fuel not even getting to the carbs now from the tank. I know the petcock works as the carbs were getting fuel before redoing them. I was taking the tank out of the equation last night when i got pulled away. any suggestions?

[bonanzadave]

When you switch the petcock to PRI do you get fuel ? Its just gravity. ON and RES you'll need to suc or have vacuum on the other line to get flow.

[Big Red]

I knew that was going to be asked. The petcock is missing the lever so i can't just switch it to pri or on. i have to use a screwdriver to turn the petcock. but using even that method even when the tank is off the bike i turn it and can't get it on pri. I have been looking for a used petcock but nothing yet. no funds right now to purchase a placement and it was working so no great need to replace right away.

EDIT: just looking over the manual for the bike and found that there is no lever for my petcock. it IS controlled by the a screwdriver. and it has now shown me what position the PRI should be in. i don't feel so bad anymore.

[tom203]

If you discover that your petcock is IFFY,don't waste your money on used petcock- just get new and not worry about it again. This Florida guy seems to have your model-leverless- $50

http://www.georgefixs.com/servlet/the-524/1980-GS550%2C-GS750%2C-GS850%2C/Detail

[Big Red]

Got it running!!!!!!!!!!!!!! still was not able to get the petcock into the Prime position but i just took the vaccuum tube off the carbs gave it a good suck to get the gas going. did that until the carbs were filled. put the tube back on and it fired right up .. now i can't get the RPMs down. rpms are staying up about 3500 i have adjusted the idle screw but it seems to not be changing. I still have to carb tune but need to get the RPMs steady to be able to do that. will try to back off the idle some more tonight to see what happens. Thanks for all the help so far guys. this forum has been a great help.

[OLDENUFF]

The 80 L petcocks had no lever. You turn them with a small flat screw driver. When the slot is horizontal it is in run position. When the slot is vertical it is in prime position. There is no off or reserve position.

[Big Red]

Went for a quick ride last night. noticed a few more things that need to be looked at.

when starting out in 1st gear almost stalls out then the throttle kicks in but that is the gear or point there is hesitation.

last turn signal: not flashing

first start is hard but after that it starts right up everytime.

I hope to get me hands on a carbtuen this weekend to tune in the carbs. but everything seems great right now. so far.

[Big Red]

Signal lights

Ok folks bike running great still need to tune-up the carbs but other then that engine running great. now for some electrical and appearance work.

left signal light works most of the time if it is not working i just give the signal relay a tap with a knuckle and it starts working fine. but the right signal doesn't work at all. is this an issue corrected by changing out the signal relay following the steps found on the forum. or is the issue somewhere else..

Edit: replaced the signal relay works great now. NExt up Carbtune...