82 GS650Gl Running Too Rich

[Guest]

I rode my bike around quite a bit this weekend, and upon inspection of the spark plugs, all 4 were dark black....too rich. I'm in the process of cleaning the carbs, and I'm also putting K&N air filter pods on, so I'm wondering if it's running too rich, could the pod filters cancel this out? In other words would I not need to rejet it? Also, if I should rejet it I'm pretty unsure of what size to go to. The stock main jet is #110 and I'm hoping that's what I find in there. I was thinking about going up two sizes to #115. Thoughts?

[Agemax]

there is not much point in even guessing until you find out what jets you have in there already

[Steve]

Even then, just looking at the jets might not tell you much. It's quite possible that some well-meaning PO (previous owner) drilled out the jets for some reason, so there is no telling exactly what size they are.

Since you seem to be on that road to destruction by installing pods, get ready to get VERY familiar with the process of removing and re-installing your carbs. Besides the $100+ for the pods (at least you are choosing some good ones), be prepared to shell out another $100 or so for a jetting kit from Dynojet. Yeah you can get bigger main jets, but it's the needles that make all the difference when you go playing with the jetting. The only way to get the needles is to get the whole kit.

Then, even with the Dynojet kit installed, you will have to do some fine-tuning, so your "fun" is not over yet, the carbs will be in and out another time or three.

On the other hand, you could remove the carbs, do a thorough, PROPER "strip and dip" cleaning, set everything properly, then re-install them on the bike (with stock jets and settings) and do it all ONE TIME, then go enjoy some riding.

The 650 is probably the best power-to-weight ratio in the GS line-up, so it delivers a LOT of fun. Switching to pods won't add that much more power, and personally, I would rather spend the $200+ for pods and jets on gasoline. Even on my son's 650 (which is podded, piped and jetted), that would be well over 4200 miles of riding.

My guess is that your current rich-running situation is likely due to mis-adjusted carbs that are probably not clean. Plug chops will tell you which circuit(s) is(are) causing the problem, and you can go from there, but I would start with a rebuild.

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[tom203]

Honestly, skip the pods- as Steve said,this model runs nice and happy with the stock setup . Just inspect and clean the carbs properly and replace the o-rings and happy motoring awaits.

[Carusoat]

Steve, I'm not really looking for too much performance increase out of my pods, i think they look and sound better. And i'm not a fan of the stock airbox. Your son has the same bike as mine with pods, what did he rejet it to?

[Steve]

When he bought it (back in 2002), it was already podded and piped, so we had nothing to do with the jetting, at first. We have had no problems that we can attribute to jetting, so when I cleaned the carbs a couple of years ago, I just put them back in, I can't really say what jets are in there. I do know, however, that it's NOT a DynoJet kit, it's all stock Mikuni parts.

Whatever they are, they do seem to work well. There is instant start-up, quick warm-up, good response all through the range AND ... (drum roll, please) ... 55 mpg.

Next time he comes over with the bike, I have a surprise to add to his bike, I might just pull the carbs and take a peek at the jets, too.

.

[Carusoat]

That sounds awesome, let me know if you get a chance to look at em. I wasn't planning on going with a dynojet kit either, just mikunis...glad that seems to be the right choice