GS keeps dying on the road :(

[Mdow]

kinda sounds like flooding have you cleaned the carbs latly? check the jets and floats

[dwoloz]

What exactly does "cleaning the carbs" entail?
I've never dealt with carbs in my life

I the float height is off on the driveside carb by half an inch, the other carb is fine

[dwoloz]

Just took her out for a short 8 mile ride through the city; didn't go over 45mph

Absolutely no problems, ran fine. Gave it just a tiny bit of choke for the first couple minutes and that was it.
By the end of the ride idle was a bit higher than normal, 1500rpm instead of 1200.

Next ride I'll do some freeway riding to see if it only happens at high speed (although I loathe the thought of dying again in 70mph traffic)

[dwoloz]

Died on me again!!! ARGHHH

This time, 40mph, 4k. Prior to it finally outright dying, it would lurch, power surge, etc. I would be cruising at a constant speed, I'd feel power drop, then return, then drop, then return. RPMs would stay  steady but I felt it lurching and hiccuping

Tried to start it about 4 times but then it stopped cranking, battery was out. Previous times it was able to attempt to crank way more than 4 times, not sure why the battery was so weak.
Coincidentally it died in front of a motorcycle shop of all places  The guy there was able to give me a jump and I was back on the road.
2 miles later I felt the power lurching again. For the hell of it I reached down and turned it to prime. Can't say if that prevented another die out or not but I didn't die the 6 miles after that.

THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING

[lilbill]

You said that you checked the hoses, no kinks anywhere right?

Pull both plugs to compare them...this should give you a good idea of whether one carb is providing more fuel than the other.  A cleaning and synch might be in order.  Mine were out of synch with crap autolite plugs of too hot a heat range and I had very bad surging just not dying. 

I know that I will hear it so if you do do a synch a valve adjustment should be done beforehand.

[galahs]

Did you check that vent hose? I had a similar problem tou you and it was because a wasp built its next in the vent pipe.

Also have you tried a fresh batch of fuel?

[substudio]

Hey what's the latest on your dilemma?

I've been having the same problem on my '93 too!

My right cylinder plug looks fine but the left plug continues to show it being carbon fouled.

[joshr08]

Sounds like vaper lock to me.  next time it does it as soon as your on the side of the road with helmet off open your gas cap see if it makes a sucking sound.

[Canonball]

crap i just made a thread similar to this, guess i should have checked first.i'm gonna try a few options that have been offered here and see if that helps at all.......

[Canonball]

so.....any progress?

[lopee]

I had the exact same problem and have worked it through to the point that I know whats wrong with "My Bike". Heres what ive figured out.

MY FLOAT HEIGHTS WERE TOO HIGH !

My problems were the same, the bike would instantly loose power at a steady throttle. My plugs would foul in about 3 miles. I started carrying spare plugs and an 18mm wrench when i left the house to get me home. Checking the float height with the bike on the center stand so the bike is level, i used the tube method and they were both high, left .25" and right .5" above the float bowl gaskets. You will need to learn these carbs and familiarize yourself with there construction and assembly to keep service cost low. The GS is notorious for float heights rising even when new so reset those first. That helped my my performance tremendously.


Keep in mind these carbs, even though connected, both act independently and can very the amount of fuel if there are differences between them, ideally they should act the same.
If the jets are clogged or any passages are gummed up that impairs fuel delivery. Clean them one at a time, so not to loose any pieces or mix them up, w/ aerosol carb cleaner and a small brush and thin wire. After the float heights were set properly and the carbs cleaned thoroughly, the right cylinder plug would still foul, but get me about 100-130 miles before it would be clogged with carbon. By this point, I was pretty confident with my carb rebuilding skills but found the air/fuel mixture screws. There is one on the underside of each carb, close to the spout to do the float height check. They come covered with brass caps from the factory, but mine were removed by the previous owner. These are set at the factory and usually are not to be adjusted unless doing aftermarket performance air filter and exhaust mods.

My right carb air/fuel mixture screw has been tightened beyond its limit and has stretched the aluminum part of the carb body that it fits into to regulate the amount of fuel its letting in at idle.
By adjusting the right side only i have eliminated the plug fouling all together.

Best scenerio, clean the carbs, set the float height, change the plugs (no matter what, its like $4), if there are brass plugs on the air/fuel mixture screws leave them alone. I would then change the oil and oil filter to be sure that no fuel has contaminated the oil.

If you think its your mixture screws after none of this works, tighten them all the way down( but just until they seat, do not over tighten) and then twist them out to stock, 2 and .25 turns. Then move in .25 turn incraments out to add more fuel to the mix.  If there closed , no fuel..............open up more, more fuel. but this adjustment only affects the bike at idle so performance should be quite well with all other previous cleanings and procedures.