new to gstwin

[joshmadison]

about 2 months ago i purchased a 90 gs500. i am not able to reach 10-11k rpms if i get to like 9k it starts stalling. i have put a uni filter on it. i have an understanding with installing after market pipes or air filter i will have to rejet the carbs. My take offs are rough too. sometimes not as bad as others but in order to have a smooth take off i have to give lots of throttle. i have ran sea foam straight through the fuel line and also into tank a few times. I'm not by any means a mechanic. this bike is the first bike/automobile i have done work on. i have changed oil, plugs, chain and sprockets, and did a little painting. turns out everything has been pretty easy so far. just wondering, am i really gonna have to take the carbs off and take it all apart and rejet it. is there anyway i can adjust without taking off the bike?

[black and silver twin]

first off, Welcome to the board!

as far as your carbs, unfortunately in order to do any adjustments the carbs must come off. But with stock exhaust and filter (uni is stock replacement) the carbs should be fine as far as jetting. it does, however, sound like the jets are clogged, meaning take off the carbs open them and thuoghly clean out the jets. its actually pretty easy and straight forward. your only potential problem is, if the carbs have never been disassembled before (unlikely) the screws will be stupidly hard to remove without the correct tool. So ide go ahead and invest in an impact screw driver now.

[tt_four]

Was the bike giving you the same trouble before you put the new filter in? Mine has some problems similar to yours when I got it, and cleaning out the carbs solved it. Pull them off and soak the jets in a little bit of carb cleaner, and make sure the holes are cleaned out. You can pull out one little piece of wire from a wire brush to make sure the holes are poked clean. You don't have to pull the whole carb apart either. Drain them, flip them upside down, and just remove the bottom piece. You can pull the jets out with a screwdriver(one normal size, one small), and then put them back together the same way.

Replace the screws with hex key bolts while you're at it. It'll save you from some headaches later on.

And welcome to the board!

[DoD#i]

Does it behave differently if you set the petcock to prime? Don't leave it there when parked, but see if it makes any difference, or no difference at all.

Check float height. http://www.gstwin.com/float_height_check.htm

While checking float height, make sure that anything not like clean fuel gets out the carb drains.

I think someone posted that the uni stock replacement filter had a problem with the bottom falling off, or somesuch. I'm quite happy with a clean stock filter in there, and the bike runs well.

[joshmadison]

well when i first got the bike i rode it home from 50 miles away the night after i got about a 8 in of snow ha. anyways the bike ran fine for what it was. the clutch lever is messed up so at first i just figured that was making the take off rough. but after i put new air filter and changed front tire it started having problems. the fuel petcock is unable to shut off for some reason. gas flows nonstop. I've been looking at this site for awhile. what i really want is to get a loan and send my bike to Buddha and have him get it in tip top shape lol. anyways i have been debating and debating about takin carbs off. ive done enough research to where i feel pretty comfortable with doing it. i almost feel like I've done it plenty of times before...does that sound weird??? oh and by the way. after i ran sea foam through it i was able to see my rpms go about 8-9k but i get the starvation problem. right now i have 5/16" hose with no fuel filter on the line as of now. took it off to while i figure a new way to run the line from tank to carb.

[DoD#i]

Nice thing about bikes is they are small and easy to work on, compared to cars.

You do have to get over the hump of "OMG I'm tearing the whole bike apart" to get to anything - it's not really that far torn apart, but it looks major once the seat and tank and plastics are off. That being about 5 minutes once you've done it a few times...

Dive in, you'll be fine. If you have a garage to work in, good. If you can clean the garage somewhat before you start, better. A bit of clean cardboard on the floor to set parts on helps. If you take pictures as you go in, you'll be able to answer some questions you might have about where things go on the way out (or post them and ask if they look wrong, which they might, depending who's been into the bike before you.)

My airbox/carbs tip is to take the air filter out, which lets you reach into the airbox and fiddle with the carb boots form the inside. Some folks are under the impression that the carbs and box have to be taken off as a unit, but I can assure you that they are wrong, having yanked the box alone several times. It is a bit contortionist, but it's doable. I'll try to remember to take pictures the next time I do it.

Something is definitely wrong with your petcock, or possibly with the way the hoses are connected to it, if it won't shut off.

[joshmadison]

is the petcock a real problem with it not being able to shut off? i took it out today and it kinda ran stronger i thought. whenever i rode at a high rpm for a while soon as i let off throttle engine would die. while rolling after it would die  i would  just use clutch to get it to start and it fires right back up. im sure its the fuel starvation problem and its drivin me nuts.

[Lifeforce99]

Did you try to turn it off from the stopcock under the tank? This is the first bike I've had where the OFF is underneath the tank instead of on the petcock by your left knee...

but then if you changed the filter you know this...