GS450 Rebuild

[steveb922]

Which plugs does it use. The common B8ES plugs are 14mm x 1.25 pitch.

[sam000lee]

Yup the B8ES

[steveb922]

Sounds like you have the right tool then. You said you had a spare head with one damaged thread? Try cleaning the other thread in that head. Lubricate the tap/chaser with a little oil, turn it in a little, making sure it's not cross-threaded, then back it off a touch, turn it a little further, back off, etc etc. If you think the tap is cutting a lot of swarf, remove it, clean it, re-oil it. Once the thread is cleared, try a plug and see how it fits. If it goes in cleanly and seals, you know you are ok to work on your good head.

[sam000lee]

Got it sorted out with the chaser. I was a little bit skeptical but just needed to actually put a little bit of force into it. I did it with the head on, a greasy rag in the piston and bunch of grease on the chaser taking it out every couple of turns to clean and regrease. The plug is a little looser than originally when you're threading it in but it tightens up nicely. Thanks everyone!

Here it is:


Now I have to figure out why my L/R cylinders are acting differently. I have another thread here for that issue, though.

[dantodd]

Glad it worked out for you.

[sam000lee]

Back on the road for the first time this year! I spent about 5 hours yesterday getting the carbs right with my setup. I'm running UNI Pods and EMGO shorty mufflers. I have 140 main jets, 40 pilot jets and shimmed the needle by `1 washers worth'. It's definitely running a little rich.

I went for a little ride, and the engine cut out. It wouldn't start again at all and for some reason I was worried that maybe I had set the timing incorrectly or something. I ended up walking the bike home about a mile. What it ended up being was that spade on my coil relay coming from the battery vibrated off. I checked the timing anyway because I'm paranoid... everything checked out. Whew.

Here's the bike taking a rest on our walk:


Here's my mockup for my new LHS side cover:



Here's how I secured the exhaust:


Just have a few things to clean up still and I have a week until I start my new job so I'm going to be riding as much as possible until then!

[m-gaardbo]

Wow this is a cool bike!
I'm going to see a Gs400 tomorrow, might be my first bike!
How is the sound with your new mufflers? They are really cool!

[sam000lee]

Thanks! They sound good, it's deeper than stock and a little louder, but I re-wrapped them in muffler packing today which quieted it down a little. It's crazy the junk that came in the mufflers, this is it after about 80 miles:

[sam000lee]

Spark Plug Reading

I did a couple hundred miles going out to Western MA this weekend. I'm pretty happy with how the bike held up and how it feels although I am getting a little bit of popping on decel. A couple of things I would appreciate input on:
When I got back I checked my plugs (B8ES). The right one looks okay to me:

When I went to pull the left plug, I noticed it was a little loose (I few posts back in this thread I chased the plug hole so) so I need to remember to make sure that one's snug every time from now on... but the tang looks like it's been bent inwards a little bit:




What would cause this? I'm guessing some kind of mechanical interference but don't really see how that could happen without also having bigger problems. I'll throw a fresh pair in today to see what happens.

Another thing I have noticed is that, once warm, the bike will occasionally miss at idle. It's normally right when I come to a full stop at a light - there is a little thud noise and a slight jolt and the idle drops for a second but then picks right back up and acts just normal. This happened in my old engine as well and I never really worried about it so it makes me thing that it is not what bent the spark plug tang. What would case this? Should I be worrying about it?

[John Park]

Do you have children? They'll sometimes drop something and then put it back where it was, hoping you didn't notice. Looks like somebody dropped it. I always reflexively look at the tip just before screwing in a plug - a good habit.

My 450 does the same little hiccup once in a while if I come to a halt after a while, as if the idle circuit had run dry from lack of activity, like after a long downhill. There might be a cure in the pilot screw setting, but then you may just get other problems in trade.

[sam000lee]

No kids, but I think you were right. Swapped the plugs out and everythings A-OK. I've put 1,000 miles on the newer engine now pretty much without a hitch. I think I need to bump the pilot jet up a size or two since I'm getting some popping when I let off the throttle quickly and am still getting those occasional carb. backfires.

New grips, or at least the left one, I'm going to use a thinner leather on the right side since it has the throttle tube under it:


I made up a new front brake line thanks to the Homemade Brakelines thread in Popular technical info. (shout out to Nessim for giving me a bunch of tips and answering my questions). Very straight forward process and looks great and works great, too. Cost $43 + $15 shipping so $58 total.

Before:


During:





After (Sorry the picture sucks):

[sam000lee]

Pod/Exhaust update as a reference for others.

I have UNI Pods and Emgo Shorty exhausts. I was running 130 mains, 35 pilots and the needle shimmed by 1 washer (stock setup is the width of 4 washers). I had been experiencing a dead spot on acceleration that was mostly noticeable in first and second gear.

Well I took out another one of those washers so now there are 2 washers above the clip (2 less than stock setup) and the acceleration is much smoother. Plugs look good and I'm getting 50mpg on the highway cruising about 65mph.

[John Park]

I seem to remember that the pilot jet for a 450 was a 45. I'm not sure where I read that; I'm running 40s but that's what came with some GSX400 carbs I'm running on a 450 - stock air box and pipes - because it's what I have.

Maybe look up the original part on cmsnl.com . This could/may be part of your popping problem. They also set up the US models pretty lean compared to other markets, so using a Euro spec jet may give you more room on pilot jet adjustment.

You'd think these bikes would do better mileage than that, but that's about all mine gets at highway speed. Bigger motors suck more gas in town, but once you're rolling it's a wind resistance game and a two cylinders wider motor doesn't change that much. Half as many cylinders working twice as hard and spinning faster evens thing out.

[Jmanor]

Pod/Exhaust update as a reference for others.

I have UNI Pods and Emgo Shorty exhausts. I was running 130 mains, 35 pilots and the needle shimmed by 1 washer (stock setup is the width of 4 washers). I had been experiencing a dead spot on acceleration that was mostly noticeable in first and second gear.

Well I took out another one of those washers so now there are 2 washers above the clip (2 less than stock setup) and the acceleration is much smoother. Plugs look good and I'm getting 50mpg on the highway cruising about 65mph.

I am going with the same set up Emgo shorties and pods from Z-1. Can you send an updated pocs of pods and exhaust. I have a 82 GS1100. Thanks.

[sam000lee]

Don't have any more pictures at the moment but I'll put some up when I get a chance.