Hey everyone, I am new to the forums, live in Wisconsin. I have a 1990 gs500e with a 1993 engine. I got it last fall right before winter and it was all stock and ran great before putting it away. I have repainted all the plastics and tank to black and added an integrated led taillight for a 2001 R6, windscreen for early 2000's ducati SR2 or SR4, a 2001 Buell dual headlight, special handlebars only available from the UK (I cannot remember what they are called, got them from a friend on the forums who got them from another friend on the forums) and mirrors with integrated front facing led turn signals. The bike looks GREAT and very clean with the added parts! I purchased the K & N lunchbox and full vance and hines along with jets from a friend over the winter. I put on the filter and exhaust, cleaned the carbs and rejetted to 40 pilot, 150 main and 1 washer on the needles with 3 turns out on the mixture screws just like instructed on the wiki. It also has a full tank of new premium gas. It fouled out a brand new set of plugs right away. I replaced them and the bike runs fine but I cannot get it to idle. I have the idle screw cranked and it still wont idle. It will rev up to about 3500 rpm's like normal if I put the choke on. It trys to idle just under 1000 but will not sustain an idle for too long, stalls at stop signs if I don't keep on the throttle. My brother said he started it this spring before I put on all the aftermarket stuff and rejetted and he said it ran beautifully. There is also some white smoke coming out of the exhaust. I am used to my 1981 Honda C-70 passport that never gives me anyproblems (I love my moped, don't make fun of it!) I have been playing around with different mains, 140, 128, 122, etc and haven't really found a set that works yet. The 128's seemed to work the best. I have also been playing with the mixture screws but I just cannot tune it in. I am very mechanical but new to 2 cylinder machines and these problems. I am to the point of setting it up exactly to what the wiki says and then just shortening the idle screw spring so I get more throw on it since I cannot get it to idle with the idle screw all the way in. Or, I will set it all back to stock which I DO NOT want to do since I love the sound of the exhaust and would love to have the added performance. I will smell the exhaust later and update what it smells like. I would love some help or suggestions!!! Sorry if there are grammar errors or parts do not make sense, I am typing this during chemistry, lol.
I'd say start from specs. Work from there.
Remember to use the choke until it warms up.
If everything is spec, you can analyze it and adjust the correct thing.
If everything is changed - hard to tell what is causing the problem.
Airbox will cause lots of changes since that determines what the mixture will be. Exhaust won't have much effect since it is what it blows out the end.
You can stay with 40 pilots. That's what the rest of the world uses. Only the US had 37's.
Some smoke when cold is normal.
Do a compression test.
(A little formatting of your post will help. Hit the RETuRN (aka ENTER) key once in a while for some paragraphing.)
I think I have read enough "lunchbox/pipe/rejetted and now it won't run" threads to last a lifetime LOL
I remember a friend putting on the lunchbox. Hard to get it on without air leaks. I'd look there first. Spray WD-40 around it and see if things change. If they do - air leaks.
40 pilot won't cause problems. It will actually help.
Mains: others can comment
Exhaust: minor problems if any. Since it is after the sir/fuel was mixed and burnt, it may cause minor issues in performance but not to the extent you're having. What goes in is more critical than what comes out.
Quote from: adidasguy on April 11, 2012, 12:57:24 PM
I remember a friend putting on the lunchbox. Hard to get it on without air leaks. I'd look there first. Spray WD-40 around it and see if things change. If they do - air leaks.
40 pilot won't cause problems. It will actually help.
Mains: others can comment
Exhaust: minor problems if any. Since it is after the sir/fuel was mixed and burnt, it may cause minor issues in performance but not to the extent you're having. What goes in is more critical than what comes out.
Yes and no...freer flowing exhaust leans the mixture a little.
It isn't going to cause the motor not to run, though. I like your advice...it's kind of where I like to start. Get everything back to stock and go from there - a lot of people don't understand how jetting works and will blindly throw stuff in their carburetors without knowing what it's actually doing.
Perhaps check the mixture needles. It's possible they were over-tightened and one snapped off inside the carb.
I agree. I am going to put it all back to stock just to test it out and see if it runs the same as when I put it away. I think the only things I will leave in are the 40 pilot jets. Not a bad ideea to just start fresh!
I got it figured out. I put the original pilot jet back in and everything was running great and the smoke coming from the exhaust disappeared!
Turns out the pilot that I took out was already a 40 but it was a different style from the new one.
The old style had the sized orifice going all the way through the jet with no holes drilled in the one end. The new style was identical to the old one except for the the sized orifice only ran through about half the jet and then near the end there were 4 sets of 2 holes spaced evenly around the base of the jet.
From my basic knowledge of jets, in theory the new style should atomize the fuel better and the bike should run better. I guess not in this case. All in all I appreciate the suggestions and advice!!! The important part is that I got it figured out and it is running great! I had an extra ignition plate assembly and did the DIY ignition advancer and I think it runs even better, so I would say the DIY advancer works!!!
She's torn down again for new paint on the tank and all the plastics but I should reassemble her this week! I have done my own approach to the LED indicators and will post pictures when everything is complete. I will post more detail on that with pictures upon completion. I think people might like how it turns out and it is easy to do as well as fairly inexpensive!!!
Just a thought, and I know you're already into this, but I have found that most of the time, if I could go back,
I would have like to have ridden / used a bike / item more before I altered or upgraded it, just to get a feel for what it once was. And after getting comfortable, gone ahead with upgrades.