I have had my 04 GS500 for a couple of weeks now and it has been running great. A week ago I installed a delkevic 9 inch stubby exhaust and they continue to run well. This weekend I ran the tank almost completely out for the first time just to see how many miles I can get on a tank. I coasted into a gas station with it starting to sputter at 2:07 miles on the trip meter. I filled it up with 87 octane and then drove home and parked it.
I have taken the bike to work the last two days and both mornings after being kept in a garage overnight going to full choke alone wouldn't start the bike. I had to twist the throttle all the way and hold it in order to get it to start.
I noticed yesterday that someone messing with me had changed the petcock to Prime. I changed it back to on or run whichever it says.
I am guessing based on my limited knowledge that either running it solo stirred up sediment on the bottom of the tank or I got a tank of bad gas from that gas station.
For those who are more knowledgeable, what should my next step be at this point? Drain the relatively full gas tank?
I appreciate your advice
UPDATE: Last night when I went out to my garage I noticed a strong smell of gas but there was no fluid on the ground so I didn't think much of it. This morning when I went out to get the bike out of the garage to ride to work I noticed a small 4in wet spot underneath the front cowl of the bike. I wheeled the bike out into my driveway without starting it and as soon as I did gas started streaming out of a black fuel hose on the right side of the bikes just above the exhaust. I quickly unbolted my gas tank and turned off the tank petcock valve.
The hose I'm talking about came to sort of a flat tip on the end. Is it some kind of a overflow hose from the carb?
Based on this new information, can anyone give me any further insight into what I might be dealing with?
Bad gas is a possibility. If nothing else changed I'd run that tank out and fill it from a gas station that sees a lot of traffic. Adding some Sea Foam to the gas can help clean up any gunk in the system. If you still have problems then the issue is elsewhere.
I had a similar problem on my bike. The tank looked fine on the outside, but was quite rusted on the inside, and this totally clogged up my rebuilt carbs.
Give the bike a couple good leans left and right, to slosh up the gas tank. Then get a good flashlight and look inside the tank. If it looks cloudy then you may need to do a rust removal cleanout of your tank. This can be a laborious task, but definitely preferable to breaking down along the highway.
Or you could alternatively disconnect the fuel line to your carbs, and see if your gas runs clear after that sloshing.
I've also installed a small clear fuel filter on mine, between the tank and the carbs. This lets me check the cleanliness of the gas, and hopefully prevent any clogged jets. Others may have objections to running a filter, as it can pose a point of obstruction by itself.
Going down the line, if you did suck up a bunch of rust into your carbs and the bike is still running poorly, you may have to take the carbs apart to clean out the jets.
I updated my initial post with new weirdness
The only black hose with a flat tip I can think of is the airbox drain.
It is possible one of your carb float valves is not closing. Maybe your carb drains have a similar black hose? Try tracing the hose back to where it attaches to something.
Yep.....airbox drain.
Yep......float valve not sealing.
You need to get the carbs off and apart for an examination. You also need to make sure fuel hasnt gone the other way into the combustion chamber, past the rings and into the crankcase.
Thanks guys. I will do that.
Quote from: sledge on May 09, 2018, 11:09:30 AM
You also need to make sure fuel hasnt gone the other way into the combustion chamber, past the rings and into the crankcase.
Ugh, this takes me back to what happened to me last year. I flipped to Reserve while riding when I felt the bike start to run outta gas and ended up setting it too far. My bike sat overnight with the petcock set right between Prime and Reserve.
Gas went into the airbox, out the drain and onto my garage floor... and I ended up reading here on the forum somewhere to check the oil level in the engine to see if gas had gotten in there too... it did :technical:
The only good thing about it is it gave me the opportunity to install a couple new gaskets I'd been wanting to change :laugh: