1982 GS850GL makeover project

[phydeauxmutt]

It's a thinner material and doesn't have the same sheen as the original. With that said it looks better than a torn seat.

When you are comparing "sheen", don't forget that one of those covers is over 30 years old, the other is brand new.

[BillH]

Yes sir - the old one has more sheen (shiner appearance) the new one is duller finish. Maybe there is a product out there that could give it more sheen without making it slippery. I don't know.

[BillH]

IMG_2778.jpgUpdate - the carbs and airbox is finally on after cleaning and servicing both. Dipped the carbs, even put new idle jets in. I destroyed one idle jet taking it out and another was corroded so bad it was deformed. Put weather stripping in airbox with new air filter. New spark plugs were installed. Was able to rig up way to start the bike with a small tank where I could get to the mixture screws on top of carbs. The bike started with a little choke and warmed up to release choke to idle about 1100. YAH ! That was a good feeling. No leaks in the carbs so that was a big plus too. So I think I got them put back together right

When it warmed up the throttle seem responsive when I blimped it. Ouu looking good so far. Now for the adjustments. I had static balance the butterflys on the bench before installing the carbs. I didn't have to touch the adjustment screws pretty close as they were. While running, the gauges were pretty close to the same readings across all cylinders. Another good sign. I checked them up to 2500 rpm. I had set the mixture screws to 3 turns out before I started the bike. I decided to try my hand at the mixture screws adjustments without doing anything to the sync adjustment screws. Turning them up made the idle go faster, it was subtle and I had to go slow with it. So I adjusted them all for best idle and then turned the big idle adjustment knob down for 1100 rpm. Seemed okay so far.

I shut the engine off and went inside the house for a bit. I came back out to restart and this is when the trouble started. It had cooled so I applied some choke and it started and ran for about a minute then it bogged down and died. It would not start again. I checked the fuel line and it was getting fuel. So I looked at one of the plugs, it was all dark and sooty. These were brand new plugs when I started. Obviously too rich and apparently fouled out now. Well I put the mixture screws back to 3 turns out from seated. I then measured the voltage at the coil connector I had 9 volts. So it appears the combnation of weak spark and too rich did me in. I will be doing the coil relay mod whether I was ready to or not.

[BillH]

Did the relay mod, have nearly 12v at the coils now. Now to fix exhaust leak issues. I have the pipes off and have ordered new exhaust gaskets. I'm cleaning up the pipes while I have them off. I'm using the white vinegar and tin foil method for now getting some rust off. Here's a before shot of cylinder 3 pipe.IMG_2799 [test1].jpg

[BillH]

Here's the after shot of cylinder 3 pipeIMG_2800 [test1].jpg