Late last season I was driving along the highway and suddenly the bike started to lurch in a way that felt like it wasn't getting steady gas. I thought "oh, better switch to reserve," switched, and then realized my tank mileage didn't match what should be 'empty.' Also, the lurching didn't stop. It didn't matter how much gas i gave it, the bike would dip and rise in power, leaving me uneasy on the highway, so I exited. Eventually I took the bike to a mechanic I was referred to in south philly. He said I had a bad connection under the tank and that I also needed a new battery. After 30 minutes & $60 poorer, I drove away on my GS. I bought a new battery right away and the bike felt fine... until now.

I got the bike out from storage a few weeks ago and started to ride it. It's been less than 400 miles since the mechanic had my bike, but one day last week on 76, it started to lurch again. When I come to a stop, I have to be careful or it will stall out. I have NO idea what is going on with the bike and I'm not sure if I should take it back to that mechanic. The bike has 23k miles on it and I am not sure what to try to make it reliable again.

As a female rider, I have become very skeptical of mechanics so I try to go to shops/wrenches that people can refer me to as being fair priced & knowledgable.  I have done many of the easy scheduled maintenance routines but don't know how qualified I am to continue since I don't know what it causing the problem.

Can anyone refer me to a mechanic in/around Philadelphia or want to take on a wrenching project? Or is this something I can do myself with a little guidance? I have changed my oil, installed spark plugs, signals, battery, replacement instrument bulbs, and a katana shock. That's the level of skill I have.

Help and advice is greatly appreciated! 

simple thing...

Did you charge the battery after taking it out of storage?

If you're willing to get your hands dirty and deal with spark plugs, oil filters, etc etc other wrenching on your bike shouldn't be too hard for you. Last week I cleaned my carbs for the first time. It wasn't too hard, nerve racking, but in the end easy. So don't be afraid to wrench on the bike.

As for your problem I'm not sure I can help much. I'm new here as well. If I had to guess I'd go ahead and say sticky floats. As far as I know, floats regulate the amount of available gas to your engine. If they get stuck, which I guess they do sometimes, you can end up in a situation where your engine is starved of fuel (which may explain unresponsive throttle and bouncy idle). Again this is speculation as I'm not an advanced troubleshooter on the gs....yet    But hey it makes sense to me  Maybe some of the more knowledgable guys can help you out or back me up. 

Quote from: ghettorigged on April 14, 2006, 10:42:06 AM
I got the bike out from storage a few weeks ago and started to ride it. It's been less than 400 miles since the mechanic had my bike, but one day last week on 76, it started to lurch again. When I come to a stop, I have to be careful or it will stall out. I have NO idea what is going on with the bike and I'm not sure if I should take it back to that mechanic. The bike has 23k miles on it and I am not sure what to try to make it reliable again.

How did you storage it, and what did you do to prepare it for storage?

How does it idle, right now?

How does the fuel filter look (in tank)?

How does the air filter look?

Otherwise, it might need the carbs cleaned and that's all.

When was the last valve adjustment done?

You could do the carb cleaning this way: http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=12280.msg103682#msg103682

Quote from: TragicImage on April 14, 2006, 10:53:29 AM
simple thing...

Did you charge the battery after taking it out of storage?

New battery, sat on a tender during winter. 


As for storage, it sits on the street under a NelsonRigg cover. Did the usual tank fill up, fuel stabilizer, removed battery, etc. It was stored this way before and was fine starting up out of storage. The symptoms came on suddenly, not gradually. It rode fine for over a tank before it started to act up again.

Also, I don't know if the valves have ever been adjusted, nor do I know how to get to the fuel filter. The air filter is the K&N one and appears to be fine.   

Guess I should check my book on how to look at the fuel filter? Does the tank have to be empty?

My first guess after a long down time is bad gas.  Do you have fresh gas in the tank?  Had you treated the gas that was sitting in it all winter with Stabil or something similar? 

If you just park the bike at the end of the season, by spring the gas will have had plenty of time to start breaking down and gumming up the works. 

If you've got old gas in there, siphon the tank, drain the carbs and hoses, and fill 'er up with fresh gas.  Throw in half a bottle of Techron Concentrate and see if it helps.

jeff

Quote from: Jeff P on April 14, 2006, 11:46:26 AM
My first guess after a long down time is bad gas.  Do you have fresh gas in the tank?  Had you treated the gas that was sitting in it all winter with Stabil or something similar? 

If you just park the bike at the end of the season, by spring the gas will have had plenty of time to start breaking down and gumming up the works. 

If you've got old gas in there, siphon the tank, drain the carbs and hoses, and fill 'er up with fresh gas.  Throw in half a bottle of Techron Concentrate and see if it helps.

jeff

The problems occurred near the end of last season and were supposedly repaired by a mechanic. I have ridden SEVERAL hundred miles (meaning at least 2 tanks) since this all was reportedly fixed. I'm fairly certain it's not bad gas unless I am getting it from the station that way.


FYI to everyone - The bike didn't act up on the Stabilized gas, it has been used & filled up again since storage.

You can see the filter with the gascap open; use a small flashlight and look to the left, you should see a nearly all white (or depending how old it is, off-white to beige) filter tower sticking up from the bottom left of the tank.

Quote from: scratch

You could do the carb cleaning this way: http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=12280.msg103682#msg103682

so wait a second... just pour some yamaha carb cleaner in my gas tank? 
really?? *feeling really stupid all of a sudden*

4r

Could it be the very common fuel flow problem? (In many older GSses the petcock doesn't allow enough fuel to pass  to have her run continuously at WOT.) If it is, you can work around it by switching the petcock to PRI. The soution is a petcock that allows higher fuel flow.

Yeah, sounds like a fuel starvation issue to me, at least, that's a possibility.  I had that exact lurching (and it eventually died), but putting it on PRI worked like a charm.  One of these days I'll probabyl replace the petcock.

Valve adjustments are suggested to be performed every 4000 miles.

How many miles on your bike now?

Quote from: scratch on April 14, 2006, 04:25:10 PM
Valve adjustments are suggested to be performed every 4000 miles.

How many miles on your bike now?

um, 23 thousand 

running it on PRI doesn't help the problem. I guess it sort of feels like a cylinder isn't firing right?? popping sound... but the spark plugs are fine. 

I put the battery in and the connections seem fine since it starts up fine.

Man I hope this doesn't end up being expensive... 

Okay, either it's overdue by 3000 miles or you'll need one in 1000.

k4

Quote from: tussey on April 14, 2006, 10:55:51 AM
If you're willing to get your hands dirty and deal with spark plugs, oil filters, etc etc other wrenching on your bike shouldn't be too hard for you. Last week I cleaned my carbs for the first time. It wasn't too hard, nerve racking, but in the end easy. So don't be afraid to wrench on the bike.

As for your problem I'm not sure I can help much. I'm new here as well. If I had to guess I'd go ahead and say sticky floats. As far as I know, floats regulate the amount of available gas to your engine. If they get stuck, which I guess they do sometimes, you can end up in a situation where your engine is starved of fuel (which may explain unresponsive throttle and bouncy idle). Again this is speculation as I'm not an advanced troubleshooter on the gs....yet    But hey it makes sense to me  Maybe some of the more knowledgable guys can help you out or back me up. 

lol. I guess I'm way off. No one has even remotely backed me up.

Quote from: Wrecent_Wryder on April 15, 2006, 06:03:37 AM

Quote from: ghettorigged on April 14, 2006, 06:47:45 PM

I put the battery in and the connections seem fine since it starts up fine.

So did mine.

What was happening is the battery connection was fine until I accelerated, which would cause the battery to rock, which killed the power, which caused it to lurch, which reconnected the battery, which caused it to lurch forward again, breaking the connection... I had to pad the battery box a bit better and tighten the connections and it was fine.. but it always started with no problem whatever.

ah-hhhaaa, I get what you're saying here.... Sounds easy & cheap so I'm going to give it a whirl, thanks! 

g5

never just add carb cleaner to your tank, it does not clean out all the orfices and it is just a waste of time and money on the actual cleaner.

Take the carbs fully apart and clean them properly (let them soak and blow out all the orfices) remove all of the green varnish from stale gas, and then put everything back together exactly, and either have a mechanic fine tune it, or, if your gutsy just drive 'er till it blows

Curtis