Stalling

[Cam]

Hello everyone.  I picked up a 2001 GS500E back in November and took it to my preferred motorcycle shop for a tune-up.  I know the bike is known for being a bit of problem in cold weather starting, so that's why I had the shop do the work rather than trying to learn something new on my own.

The weather was great two weekends ago and I took the bike for a ride with my daughter on Saturday.  Rode with another cyclist for over an hour without any problems.  Sunday was another beautiful day in the 60's and I was looking forward to taking it out for another spin.  It started fine and I let it warm up for a couple of minutes, but as soon as I gave it some gas, it would die.  Restarted it numerous times and it would idle fine again, but as soon as I tapped the gas, it kept dying.

The tank is full, so my initial thought is reduced gas flow, but it dies even at the very start of turning the throttle, where I'd normally expect it to bog down a bit instead.  What am I doing wrong or what should I be looking for to rectify this problem?

Thanks for the WOTL.

Cameron
'01 GS500E
'02 Kawasaki Vulcan 500 LTD with Velorex 700 sidecar
'97 Honda PC800

[joshr08]

sounds like you sucked something outta the tank and clogged the carbs

[The Buddha]

Yes that sounds most likely.
Cool.
Buddha.

[joshr08]

  see i been paying attention...lol

[Cam]

I've been reading some of the other posts regarding stalling and it does appear to be the most likely culprit.  First thing to do is take a look inside the tank for a layer of water in the bottom, correct?  I'm surprised there isn't an inline fuel filter, but whatever.  I have the service manual for the bike as well as what appears to be a carberator gasket kit that came from the bike's previous owner.  I'll await some nicer weather - got some snow this morning - to start taking apart the bike.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Cameron

[joshr08]

when you pull your carbs its a good time to install your own inline fuel filter.

[fred]

If you're looking for water in your fuel, just get some gas out of the carb drains and see what it looks like. If there is water, it will sink to the bottom and it should be pretty easy to see that its there... Draining your carbs will also probably let you see how much crud you've been dealing with. If the gas comes out all crusty and full of rust, you'll know that it's probably time to treat the inside of your gas tank, or get Buddha to do it for you...

[Cam]

I got a can of Seafoam and am planning to drop some in the tank.  I saw in mentioned on another thread and it looks like it might be able to help out.  Worst case scenario, I've paid $10 for stuff I didn't need.  Best case scenario, it clears up the problem and I don't have to take apart the bike.

I'll let you know the outcome either way.

Thanks for the wisdom of the list (WOTL)

[fred]

I think the worst case is actually that the seafoam loosens all the crud at the bottom of your tank and it clogs your carbs more...

[Cam]

Well, the Seafoam made absolutely no difference.

I did notice that while it will idle very fast (5,000 rpm) on choke, as soon as I turn the throttle at all, iit iniitially (maybe a second) sounds like it's going to crank up, but then the rpms drop way down and the bike wants to stall.  As soon as I let go of the throttle, it'll jump back up to high idle.

I'm assuming the choke and throttle fuel comes through differently.  Is the most likely issue still clogged carbs?

[Cam]

Well, I finally got around to pulling the carbs and taking a look.  The screws holding the float bowls were so difficult to remove that I had to try an impact wrench and even that didn't help.  Ended up cutting one off with a hacksaw and even then I only got one of the bowls removed.  What a PITA.

Regardless, I dumped what little gas was in the carbs out and just took a look at the jets, etc.  There were enough dissimilarities with the carb kit that came with the bike, that I realized it wasn't the right one for the bike.  Couldn't see anything specific that looked wrong, so I put the one carb (that I could open) back together and just put it back onto the bike, figuring I'd just tow the thing to my favorite shop.  Just for kicks I started it and guess what?  It ran great and has been a kick to ride again.       Must have been a little bit of crud in the one jet I could open.

Still gotta put an inline fuel filter on.  Is there a specific size or type that won't starve the engine if it gets a little clogged?  I'd rather not have to change it out more than annually.

Thanks for this forum.  It's helpful to have the wisdom of the list (WOTL).

Cameron