REALLY LEAN. ARE YOU REALLY KIDDING ME?

[J_Walker]

Okay, I haven't ran my bike for 3 days, been WAY to cold, finally cooled down to a safe 76 today. just turned over the bike. let it sit for sometime on idle.. heated up. Got on. Started to go, it backfired like a B!tch, loudest one I ever heard come from my bike. It didn't shut off or anything and kept going, didn't even slow down or chug when it did that. Just popped? after about maybe 5 mins of riding I went and parked back at my house. it was getting dark, realised my Pipes were red all the way to the actual end of the Muffler :0 I was like O-snap. My engine casing was so hot you could cook a steak on it! So how come it was fine, 3 days ago. now I haven't even touched it. and its doing this? Gotta be kidding me..

[Kijona]

Okay, I haven't ran my bike for 3 days, been WAY to cold, finally cooled down to a safe 76 today. just turned over the bike. let it sit for sometime on idle.. heated up. Got on. Started to go, it backfired like a B!tch, loudest one I ever heard come from my bike. It didn't shut off or anything and kept going, didn't even slow down or chug when it did that. Just popped? after about maybe 5 mins of riding I went and parked back at my house. it was getting dark, realised my Pipes were red all the way to the actual end of the Muffler :0 I was like O-snap. My engine casing was so hot you could cook a steak on it! So how come it was fine, 3 days ago. now I haven't even touched it. and its doing this? Gotta be kidding me..

I would triple check for any exhaust leaks. If you can, remove the header and check the gaskets - this kind of behavior is usually indicative of an exhaust leak. I wouldn't ride it again until you figure out what's wrong with it if I were you. Not saying you would, but you should know it's very bad for it to get that hot. If it is what I think it is, the gasket might've come loose or if the pipes are rusty, it might've actually finally rusted through and you have a hole in one or both the header pipes.

Another possibility is valves but...I don't know why they would just suddenly screw up like that.

Also...CHECK YOUR OIL NOW!

[adidasguy]

What about the air filter suddenly falling apart? Or coming lose? Breather hose fall off the airbox? Anything like that would let much more air in.

Bad gas? Did you just fill up?

[twinrat]

this is only a guess..i think your backfire has possibly altered your ignition timing  or your timing was out to start with .check the timing rotor is located over the pin in the crankshaft.

[Kijona]

What about the air filter suddenly falling apart? Or coming lose? Breather hose fall off the airbox? Anything like that would let much more air in.

Bad gas? Did you just fill up?

Damn Adidas...I didn't even think of that. Good call

[Kijona]

this is only a guess..i think your backfire has possibly altered your ignition timing  or your timing was out to start with .check the timing rotor is located over the pin in the crankshaft.

How? (Not arguing, I'm curious how this would happen...I don't know myself)

[Funderb]

My question is: back fire or after fire?

Back fire is always bad news, and can some time do bad things to the carburetor, afterfire, in the pipe, is not so bad, but always has the possibility of damaging the exhaust system. You can get some mean gunshotty afterfires by opening the throttle when cranking the engine to a cold start.

If your pipes were hot enough to be red something may be quite wrong... maybe even an exhaust flow restriction. Others may know better. Check for torn slide diaphragms or vacuum leaks maybe, on the carb side, and exhaust leaks as recommended. I have never seen my pipes glow red, even after 200 miles of summer riding here.

[J_Walker]

Airfilter is almost BRAND NEW. breather hose is attached as far as I know. but I can't check till tomorrow. gonna strip the bike down to get to the bottom of things.. Also I filled my tank up like before it got cold. so almost 4 days ago. Haven't ridden so only have about 10 miles on the fresh tank.

Also

I don't know how I'm gonna get the exhaust pipes off to check the headers considering the screws them self got rusted.. Guess they weren't built for high temp? and their on an engine? And are the stock screws??? < Suzuki srsly?

and only exhaust leak I've ever noticed was between where the stock pipe slips on, there is a slight leak, but maybe 3% of the exhaust comes from there. I wouldn't think it would be that..

My first thing is going to be to take apart my carbs, Again for the 16th time since ive had the bike.. and go over EVERYTHING. Gonna write up a check list for myself tomorrow asap.

Also Afterfire/miss fire is what I ment, im sure it was in the pipes...

[Kijona]

My question is: back fire or after fire?

Back fire is always bad news, and can some time do bad things to the carburetor, afterfire, in the pipe, is not so bad, but always has the possibility of damaging the exhaust system. You can get some mean gunshotty afterfires by opening the throttle when cranking the engine to a cold start.

If your pipes were hot enough to be red something may be quite wrong... maybe even an exhaust flow restriction. Others may know better. Check for torn slide diaphragms or vacuum leaks maybe, on the carb side, and exhaust leaks as recommended. I have never seen my pipes glow red, even after 200 miles of summer riding here.

Are you talking about when you get a backfire into the airbox? My 07 does that sometimes...I was always curious as to why. Runs fine otherwise, only does it when you blip the throttle too suddenly. Kind of sounds like a firecracker going off inside the airbox. I'm guessing the idle mixture needles are set too lean? I know they're set lean from the factory anyway but I haven't messed with them yet.

[J_Walker]

By the way noticed your from the sunny state, Me too!

What parts do you hail from? I'm on the border of Kissimmee/Orlando about 10 miles from Disney sorta.

[J_Walker]

My question is: back fire or after fire?

Back fire is always bad news, and can some time do bad things to the carburetor, afterfire, in the pipe, is not so bad, but always has the possibility of damaging the exhaust system. You can get some mean gunshotty afterfires by opening the throttle when cranking the engine to a cold start.

If your pipes were hot enough to be red something may be quite wrong... maybe even an exhaust flow restriction. Others may know better. Check for torn slide diaphragms or vacuum leaks maybe, on the carb side, and exhaust leaks as recommended. I have never seen my pipes glow red, even after 200 miles of summer riding here.

Are you talking about when you get a backfire into the airbox? My 07 does that sometimes...I was always curious as to why. Runs fine otherwise, only does it when you blip the throttle too suddenly. Kind of sounds like a firecracker going off inside the airbox. I'm guessing the idle mixture needles are set too lean? I know they're set lean from the factory anyway but I haven't messed with them yet.

Old school firecrackers or the new made in china crappy ones?
If no one knows,
Old school firecrackers where like M80's back when my father was a teen. He saved a box full of them and they were awesome never the less...
Chinese: well everyone knows what you get from china...

[Kijona]

Airfilter is almost BRAND NEW. breather hose is attached as far as I know. but I can't check till tomorrow. gonna strip the bike down to get to the bottom of things.. Also I filled my tank up like before it got cold. so almost 4 days ago. Haven't ridden so only have about 10 miles on the fresh tank.

Also

I don't know how I'm gonna get the exhaust pipes off to check the headers considering the screws them self got rusted.. Guess they weren't built for high temp? and their on an engine? And are the stock screws??? < Suzuki srsly?

and only exhaust leak I've ever noticed was between where the stock pipe slips on, there is a slight leak, but maybe 3% of the exhaust comes from there. I wouldn't think it would be that..

My first thing is going to be to take apart my carbs, Again for the 16th time since ive had the bike.. and go over EVERYTHING. Gonna write up a check list for myself tomorrow asap.

Also Afterfire/miss fire is what I ment, im sure it was in the pipes...

Nope, a slight leak that far down the pipe is not going to matter in the slightest, other than dirtying up your slipon

As for removing the bolts, there's a product called "Liquid Wrench - Penetrating Oil(lube?)". That stuff works WONDERS. Careful though...I'm not sure if it uses studs or just long nuts. If you do manage to break one, I'm sure a trip to your local hardware store could fix that. That is, providing they don't snap off in the motor or to where you couldn't grab them with a pair of vicegrips. Even still, if that happens, there are options.

Word of advice, if you haven't figured it out yet, the best way for removing the fuel system and which will result in the fewest spills, is to lift up the tank and shut the fuel chicken off from the right side of the bike. Then you can put the petcock on "PRI" and remove whatever's left from the drains on the float bowls.

[Kijona]

My question is: back fire or after fire?

Back fire is always bad news, and can some time do bad things to the carburetor, afterfire, in the pipe, is not so bad, but always has the possibility of damaging the exhaust system. You can get some mean gunshotty afterfires by opening the throttle when cranking the engine to a cold start.

If your pipes were hot enough to be red something may be quite wrong... maybe even an exhaust flow restriction. Others may know better. Check for torn slide diaphragms or vacuum leaks maybe, on the carb side, and exhaust leaks as recommended. I have never seen my pipes glow red, even after 200 miles of summer riding here.

Are you talking about when you get a backfire into the airbox? My 07 does that sometimes...I was always curious as to why. Runs fine otherwise, only does it when you blip the throttle too suddenly. Kind of sounds like a firecracker going off inside the airbox. I'm guessing the idle mixture needles are set too lean? I know they're set lean from the factory anyway but I haven't messed with them yet.

Old school firecrackers or the new made in china crappy ones?
If no one knows,
Old school firecrackers where like M80's back when my father was a teen. He saved a box full of them and they were awesome never the less...
Chinese: well everyone knows what you get from china...

Hey, you know, the only time "Made in China" is a good, is when you're buying fireworks. Chinese make the best fireworks!  Only reason the ones we get here in the US suck is because of how strict the regulations are on 1.4G products. Real Chinese firecrackers are about the size of chapstick tubes and I can guarantee that if one goes off in your hand, you'll be visiting the emergency room.

[J_Walker]

Airfilter is almost BRAND NEW. breather hose is attached as far as I know. but I can't check till tomorrow. gonna strip the bike down to get to the bottom of things.. Also I filled my tank up like before it got cold. so almost 4 days ago. Haven't ridden so only have about 10 miles on the fresh tank.

Also

I don't know how I'm gonna get the exhaust pipes off to check the headers considering the screws them self got rusted.. Guess they weren't built for high temp? and their on an engine? And are the stock screws??? < Suzuki srsly?

and only exhaust leak I've ever noticed was between where the stock pipe slips on, there is a slight leak, but maybe 3% of the exhaust comes from there. I wouldn't think it would be that..

My first thing is going to be to take apart my carbs, Again for the 16th time since ive had the bike.. and go over EVERYTHING. Gonna write up a check list for myself tomorrow asap.

Also Afterfire/miss fire is what I ment, im sure it was in the pipes...

Nope, a slight leak that far down the pipe is not going to matter in the slightest, other than dirtying up your slipon

As for removing the bolts, there's a product called "Liquid Wrench - Penetrating Oil(lube?)". That stuff works WONDERS. Careful though...I'm not sure if it uses studs or just long nuts. If you do manage to break one, I'm sure a trip to your local hardware store could fix that. That is, providing they don't snap off in the motor or to where you couldn't grab them with a pair of vicegrips. Even still, if that happens, there are options.

Word of advice, if you haven't figured it out yet, the best way for removing the fuel system and which will result in the fewest spills, is to lift up the tank and shut the fuel chicken off from the right side of the bike. Then you can put the petcock on "PRI" and remove whatever's left from the drains on the float bowls.

Always do this. Sucks on a full tank tho. Heavy heavy heavy... By the way speaking of drain screws, I'll have my carbs off tomorrow, anyone know the metric size to the drain screws on a 2005 GS500f? one of mine leaks, and I just wanna make the horrible smell of gas go away once and for all. and yes that's the only thing leaking. And go figure its on the problem side - Right side FTW!?

[J_Walker]

My question is: back fire or after fire?

Back fire is always bad news, and can some time do bad things to the carburetor, afterfire, in the pipe, is not so bad, but always has the possibility of damaging the exhaust system. You can get some mean gunshotty afterfires by opening the throttle when cranking the engine to a cold start.

If your pipes were hot enough to be red something may be quite wrong... maybe even an exhaust flow restriction. Others may know better. Check for torn slide diaphragms or vacuum leaks maybe, on the carb side, and exhaust leaks as recommended. I have never seen my pipes glow red, even after 200 miles of summer riding here.

Are you talking about when you get a backfire into the airbox? My 07 does that sometimes...I was always curious as to why. Runs fine otherwise, only does it when you blip the throttle too suddenly. Kind of sounds like a firecracker going off inside the airbox. I'm guessing the idle mixture needles are set too lean? I know they're set lean from the factory anyway but I haven't messed with them yet.

Old school firecrackers or the new made in china crappy ones?
If no one knows,
Old school firecrackers where like M80's back when my father was a teen. He saved a box full of them and they were awesome never the less...
Chinese: well everyone knows what you get from china...

Hey, you know, the only time "Made in China" is a good, is when you're buying fireworks. Chinese make the best fireworks!  Only reason the ones we get here in the US suck is because of how strict the regulations are on 1.4G products. Real Chinese firecrackers are about the size of chapstick tubes and I can guarantee that if one goes off in your hand, you'll be visiting the emergency room.

I forgot about this! thanks for reminding me. But I always build a few of my own for the 4th. nothin funner than wipping up a batch of old school black powder 1 pound of it - shhhh don't tell the government. God forbid someone actually have fun with explosives in the USA. - PVC pipe.. some PVC cement. an electric fuse.. and say goodbye to anything it sits ontop off... Add gasoline for an epic mushroom cloud.. I didn't tell you this!

[Kijona]

Airfilter is almost BRAND NEW. breather hose is attached as far as I know. but I can't check till tomorrow. gonna strip the bike down to get to the bottom of things.. Also I filled my tank up like before it got cold. so almost 4 days ago. Haven't ridden so only have about 10 miles on the fresh tank.

Also

I don't know how I'm gonna get the exhaust pipes off to check the headers considering the screws them self got rusted.. Guess they weren't built for high temp? and their on an engine? And are the stock screws??? < Suzuki srsly?

and only exhaust leak I've ever noticed was between where the stock pipe slips on, there is a slight leak, but maybe 3% of the exhaust comes from there. I wouldn't think it would be that..

My first thing is going to be to take apart my carbs, Again for the 16th time since ive had the bike.. and go over EVERYTHING. Gonna write up a check list for myself tomorrow asap.

Also Afterfire/miss fire is what I ment, im sure it was in the pipes...

Nope, a slight leak that far down the pipe is not going to matter in the slightest, other than dirtying up your slipon

As for removing the bolts, there's a product called "Liquid Wrench - Penetrating Oil(lube?)". That stuff works WONDERS. Careful though...I'm not sure if it uses studs or just long nuts. If you do manage to break one, I'm sure a trip to your local hardware store could fix that. That is, providing they don't snap off in the motor or to where you couldn't grab them with a pair of vicegrips. Even still, if that happens, there are options.

Word of advice, if you haven't figured it out yet, the best way for removing the fuel system and which will result in the fewest spills, is to lift up the tank and shut the fuel chicken off from the right side of the bike. Then you can put the petcock on "PRI" and remove whatever's left from the drains on the float bowls.

Always do this. Sucks on a full tank tho. Heavy heavy heavy... By the way speaking of drain screws, I'll have my carbs off tomorrow, anyone know the metric size to the drain screws on a 2005 GS500f? one of mine leaks, and I just wanna make the horrible smell of gas go away once and for all. and yes that's the only thing leaking. And go figure its on the problem side - Right side FTW!?

I might be wrong but I believe the screws used are very special. What you'll need is this: http://www.ronayers.com/Search/N/687/PartNumber/13247-02340/Source/SU

I'm sure BikeBandit sells it too. The real question is...why is it leaking? Somehow it seems doubtful the cause of the leak is the screw. What's more likely is that the float bowl is boogered up. Another possibility is that, and it seems the most probable, you reused the float bowl gaskets a few too many times and it's seeping out and running down the side and appearing to be leaking from the drain and/or screw.

[Funderb]

hey there j walker, I'm from, well, between both jax and tally, I don't make it down to the flat hot section you're in too often unless I'm feeling pretty adventurous in the sail boat.



And kijona,

The wide world of the internet seems to point to the backfire being the product of a super lean condition just after the butterfly, when gas actually ignites in the carb.
Fun!
The fixed timing and leaned out settings of these bikes does not help prevent this. blipping the throttle i imagine is letting in a clod o air with no fuel. Hence accelerator pumps on larger carbs.

There is also the "spit" which is a quieter sound that is exactly that, a spitting sound. Which apparently comes from non-ignition of the respective  cylinder.



and the OP - haha
Sounds like you are leaning out, yes.
Could be from clogged carbs, leaky intake, or poor fuel flow. Do you have a fuel filter installed?
You might be headed down carb clean lane once again.

Somewhere on the interwebs, jwalker, there is a how-to on modifying the petcock, i suggest it. It may be where the problem lies, in poor fuel flow.

[J_Walker]

Airfilter is almost BRAND NEW. breather hose is attached as far as I know. but I can't check till tomorrow. gonna strip the bike down to get to the bottom of things.. Also I filled my tank up like before it got cold. so almost 4 days ago. Haven't ridden so only have about 10 miles on the fresh tank.

Also

I don't know how I'm gonna get the exhaust pipes off to check the headers considering the screws them self got rusted.. Guess they weren't built for high temp? and their on an engine? And are the stock screws??? < Suzuki srsly?

and only exhaust leak I've ever noticed was between where the stock pipe slips on, there is a slight leak, but maybe 3% of the exhaust comes from there. I wouldn't think it would be that..

My first thing is going to be to take apart my carbs, Again for the 16th time since ive had the bike.. and go over EVERYTHING. Gonna write up a check list for myself tomorrow asap.

Also Afterfire/miss fire is what I ment, im sure it was in the pipes...

Nope, a slight leak that far down the pipe is not going to matter in the slightest, other than dirtying up your slipon

As for removing the bolts, there's a product called "Liquid Wrench - Penetrating Oil(lube?)". That stuff works WONDERS. Careful though...I'm not sure if it uses studs or just long nuts. If you do manage to break one, I'm sure a trip to your local hardware store could fix that. That is, providing they don't snap off in the motor or to where you couldn't grab them with a pair of vicegrips. Even still, if that happens, there are options.

Word of advice, if you haven't figured it out yet, the best way for removing the fuel system and which will result in the fewest spills, is to lift up the tank and shut the fuel chicken off from the right side of the bike. Then you can put the petcock on "PRI" and remove whatever's left from the drains on the float bowls.

Always do this. Sucks on a full tank tho. Heavy heavy heavy... By the way speaking of drain screws, I'll have my carbs off tomorrow, anyone know the metric size to the drain screws on a 2005 GS500f? one of mine leaks, and I just wanna make the horrible smell of gas go away once and for all. and yes that's the only thing leaking. And go figure its on the problem side - Right side FTW!?

I might be wrong but I believe the screws used are very special. What you'll need is this: http://www.ronayers.com/Search/N/687/PartNumber/13247-02340/Source/SU

I'm sure BikeBandit sells it too. The real question is...why is it leaking? Somehow it seems doubtful the cause of the leak is the screw. What's more likely is that the float bowl is boogered up. Another possibility is that, and it seems the most probable, you reused the float bowl gaskets a few too many times and it's seeping out and running down the side and appearing to be leaking from the drain and/or screw.

No its coming from the drain screw, I've sat there and watched it drip directly from it. I think its bad is all.. I figured they were special. Wish I could just find someway to plug the damn hole with like a rubber stopper or something just so it won't leak. it isn't spewing just a drop about every 20 mins or so.. but if anyone's ever got gas on their hands, the stuff smells for like 3 days strait.

I might be fabbing up some sort of stopper for this. maybe it'll help someone else some other time.

[Kijona]

hey there j walker, I'm from, well, between both jax and tally, I don't make it down to the flat hot section you're in too often unless I'm feeling pretty adventurous in the sail boat.



And kijona,

The wide world of the internet seems to point to the backfire being the product of a super lean condition just after the butterfly, when gas actually ignites in the carb.
Fun!
The fixed timing and leaned out settings of these bikes does not help prevent this. blipping the throttle i imagine is letting in a clod o air with no fuel. Hence accelerator pumps on larger carbs.

There is also the "spit" which is a quieter sound that is exactly that, a spitting sound. Which apparently comes from non-ignition of the respective  cylinder.

Well, that makes perfect sense. So then a half turn out on the mixture screws would probably fix it.

[Kijona]

Airfilter is almost BRAND NEW. breather hose is attached as far as I know. but I can't check till tomorrow. gonna strip the bike down to get to the bottom of things.. Also I filled my tank up like before it got cold. so almost 4 days ago. Haven't ridden so only have about 10 miles on the fresh tank.

Also

I don't know how I'm gonna get the exhaust pipes off to check the headers considering the screws them self got rusted.. Guess they weren't built for high temp? and their on an engine? And are the stock screws??? < Suzuki srsly?

and only exhaust leak I've ever noticed was between where the stock pipe slips on, there is a slight leak, but maybe 3% of the exhaust comes from there. I wouldn't think it would be that..

My first thing is going to be to take apart my carbs, Again for the 16th time since ive had the bike.. and go over EVERYTHING. Gonna write up a check list for myself tomorrow asap.

Also Afterfire/miss fire is what I ment, im sure it was in the pipes...

Nope, a slight leak that far down the pipe is not going to matter in the slightest, other than dirtying up your slipon

As for removing the bolts, there's a product called "Liquid Wrench - Penetrating Oil(lube?)". That stuff works WONDERS. Careful though...I'm not sure if it uses studs or just long nuts. If you do manage to break one, I'm sure a trip to your local hardware store could fix that. That is, providing they don't snap off in the motor or to where you couldn't grab them with a pair of vicegrips. Even still, if that happens, there are options.

Word of advice, if you haven't figured it out yet, the best way for removing the fuel system and which will result in the fewest spills, is to lift up the tank and shut the fuel chicken off from the right side of the bike. Then you can put the petcock on "PRI" and remove whatever's left from the drains on the float bowls.

Always do this. Sucks on a full tank tho. Heavy heavy heavy... By the way speaking of drain screws, I'll have my carbs off tomorrow, anyone know the metric size to the drain screws on a 2005 GS500f? one of mine leaks, and I just wanna make the horrible smell of gas go away once and for all. and yes that's the only thing leaking. And go figure its on the problem side - Right side FTW!?

I might be wrong but I believe the screws used are very special. What you'll need is this: http://www.ronayers.com/Search/N/687/PartNumber/13247-02340/Source/SU

I'm sure BikeBandit sells it too. The real question is...why is it leaking? Somehow it seems doubtful the cause of the leak is the screw. What's more likely is that the float bowl is boogered up. Another possibility is that, and it seems the most probable, you reused the float bowl gaskets a few too many times and it's seeping out and running down the side and appearing to be leaking from the drain and/or screw.

No its coming from the drain screw, I've sat there and watched it drip directly from it. I think its bad is all.. I figured they were special. Wish I could just find someway to plug the damn hole with like a rubber stopper or something just so it won't leak. it isn't spewing just a drop about every 20 mins or so.. but if anyone's ever got gas on their hands, the stuff smells for like 3 days strait.

I might be fabbing up some sort of stopper for this. maybe it'll help someone else some other time.

So it's coming out of the screw hole? Uh yeah man...your float bowl is messed up. The screw is made out of a harder material than the bowl, so, what likely happened is that it somehow got cross threaded. Something you could try is Teflon tape but I really don't know if it's chemical resistant. They might sell some that is chemical resistant.