81 GS450S Build

[jeffasaurus2]

Ha! No Jimi in those trees.

I gotta say though, open headers were sweet for a week, then I got really annoyed with it. Some shorty, reverse cone mufflers with a little more packing on those sound amazing and do everyone around you a huge favor!

[Notz]

Look closer, are ya sure.....??

I must be having a 'flashback from the 70's....


And that sound might just be some Marshall overdrive distortion!

[jmaresca]

Ha! No Jimi in those trees.

I gotta say though, open headers were sweet for a week, then I got really annoyed with it. Some shorty, reverse cone mufflers with a little more packing on those sound amazing and do everyone around you a huge favor!

I'd like to do the Mac 2-1 at some point, but I'm in a race against time before it gets too cold. There are other things I'd like to do also that will have to wait until next year.

[jmaresca]

Got a new front master cylinder installed. Just have to put on my bar end mirrors, get the ignition in order and I'm good to go.

The carbs are getting gas. I pulled the plugs out and they were black and dry with what looks like carbon. The motor near the plugs looks wet. After doing some research, it looks like I'm running too rich. Is this a correct assumption? I'm going to buy a bunch of new NGK plugs and try those out. If they end up the same as the old ones, I'm probably running rich. If I'm running rich, do both the pilot and main jets need to be lowered? Or just the pilot?

[jmaresca]

Just installed new plugs. I'm getting spark when they are grounded. I made the dumbest mistake ever. When I painted my engine, I forgot to remove the tape covering the engine breather hole. Then I ran it for a few minutes (not well). What do I have to do now to get this thing running again?

edit: also, there's white smoke coming from the pipes.

[pete]

I have pods and free flowing pipe on mine... 145 mains and stock 17.5 pilots. Needles are half a notch richer than stock and she's now running better than ever. I dropped the needles half a notch last Sunday and leaned the mixture screws out a quarter turn to get to this point.

If your plugs are black, then yes too rich.

Leave the big mains in and go back to stock pilots and see what that does to the plugs. Clean them up first otherwise they will take too long to colour.

I would be lifting your needle as well otherwise you'll be lean once you get off the pilot circuit.

You will need to ride and go by feel and plug chops to know exactly where your fueling is at.

If you only had the breather tube blocked for a short time it will be ok, that won't do any damage I'm aware of.

Edit: Forgot to mention the white smoke... mine does that occasionally after hard running (can only see it at idle), and at this stage I think it's because I was too rich on the needle. I didn't see any yesterday but we weren't riding as hard as usual. The last time I saw it was after some awesomely fun twisties where I was constantly in the 6 - 9K RPM range.

[jmaresca]

I have pods and free flowing pipe on mine... 145 mains and stock 17.5 pilots. Needles are half a notch richer than stock and she's now running better than ever. I dropped the needles half a notch last Sunday and leaned the mixture screws out a quarter turn to get to this point.

If your plugs are black, then yes too rich.

Leave the big mains in and go back to stock pilots and see what that does to the plugs. Clean them up first otherwise they will take too long to colour.

I would be lifting your needle as well otherwise you'll be lean once you get off the pilot circuit.

You will need to ride and go by feel and plug chops to know exactly where your fueling is at.

If you only had the breather tube blocked for a short time it will be ok, that won't do any damage I'm aware of.

Edit: Forgot to mention the white smoke... mine does that occasionally after hard running (can only see it at idle), and at this stage I think it's because I was too rich on the needle. I didn't see any yesterday but we weren't riding as hard as usual. The last time I saw it was after some awesomely fun twisties where I was constantly in the 6 - 9K RPM range.

Thanks for chiming in. I read your thread but never saw what your final setup was. Sadly, my needle doesn't have clips on it. I wonder If I can swap mine out for some that do have clips.

I took my valve covers off and felt with a feeler gauge. I have no clearance on any of the valves. Next step is to get a small shim and take measurements.

[pete]

You may get away with just a shim on your needle, that's were I'm at now. Even though I have 5 notches, I'm back to stock position with one shim added which effectively lifts it half a notch.

There's a seller on eBay US that sells shims that I got and are very handy as they're not Mikuni shims but are made to fit, and there's actually 3 different thickness shims in there to give you more adjustment. Can't remember the seller but searching Mikuni shims should find them.

No valve clearance? Are you sure you're measuring right? If there really is no clearance to get a gauge in, try rotating the bucket with the cam lobe in the correct position to measure.

If you can rotate it, then you at least have some clearance and one shim size down will likely be right.

If you can't rotate it at all, then you have absolutely no clearance and will likely need at two or more shim sizes down.

[jmaresca]

You may get away with just a shim on your needle, that's were I'm at now. Even though I have 5 notches, I'm back to stock position with one shim added which effectively lifts it half a notch.

There's a seller on eBay US that sells shims that I got and are very handy as they're not Mikuni shims but are made to fit, and there's actually 3 different thickness shims in there to give you more adjustment. Can't remember the seller but searching Mikuni shims should find them.

No valve clearance? Are you sure you're measuring right? If there really is no clearance to get a gauge in, try rotating the bucket with the cam lobe in the correct position to measure.

If you can rotate it, then you at least have some clearance and one shim size down will likely be right.

If you can't rotate it at all, then you have absolutely no clearance and will likely need at two or more shim sizes down.

Thanks a ton for the help in the other thread. I should be sorted out with 4 2.50 mm shims now.

I found the needle shim kit here. From what I remember of when I broke down my carbs last time, the american version needle doesn't have notches on it. I wonder if I can use one of the needles listed here to swap with my stock needles.

[pete]

Yep that's the shim kit. Try adding one of those before trying other needles, you might find the cheap/simple solution solves the problem.

[jmaresca]

Yep that's the shim kit. Try adding one of those before trying other needles, you might find the cheap/simple solution solves the problem.

Just as I guessed, there's only one clip. The needle has the mikuni symbol and says 4C2. So you added one shim under the clip but over the washer?

Got my valve clearances sorted.

Left exhaust: 2.55x - .06 clearance
Right exhaust: 2.50 - .09 clearance
Left intake: 2.50 - .07 clearance
Right intake: 2.50 - .09 clearance

If my gasket ever gets here, I can get the engine buttoned up. When I got my clearance into spec, I could feel the engine turn looser with the wrench. Once I get this carb sorted and my new gasket, I should be done. (for this year)

[pete]

Excellent news on your valves, she should start a lot easier now amongst other things.

And yes, add the shimt between the washer and the E clip.

You do have a spring that goes under the washer too don't you?

[jmaresca]

Excellent news on your valves, she should start a lot easier now amongst other things.

And yes, add the shimt between the washer and the E clip.

You do have a spring that goes under the washer too don't you?

I do. I've also read I should remove the nylon washer. Pretty eager to finish.

[pete]

Cool, just thought I'd best check

Not sure why someone has said don't remove the nylon washer? The only thing that will do is let the needle sit even higher. It should be there...

[jmaresca]

Cool, just thought I'd best check

Not sure why someone has said don't remove the nylon washer? The only thing that will do is let the needle sit even higher. It should be there...

I'm referencing this:

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showpost.php?p=1829698&postcount=10