Hi all, this is my first post.  Had my 2001 GS500 sitting in storage for 2 years.  Pulled the carbs and took them to a shop for a good cleaning.  Just reinstalled the carbs today.  Bike idles and runs fine EXCEPT that it revs down really slowly and sometimes not at all.  I assume the throttle is sticking for some reason.

This is the first time i've reinstalled the carbs on my bike, could i have the throttle cables all out of wack?  Too tight?  If so, what's a rule of thumb on the cables?  Or could it be something the mechanics screwed up during the carb cleaning?

Any suggestions would greatly appreciated.  Trying to get the darn thing re-registered tomorrow     Thanks.

Quote from: PigMut
This is the first time i've reinstalled the carbs on my bike, could i have the throttle cables all out of wack?

Make sure that there is a tiny bit of play in the throttle before it starts to pull the cable.  Not sure what spec is, but I usually do it so that I can just barely wiggle the throttle.  Throttle should snap back easily also.

When you reinstall the carbs it's pretty easy to leave a gap where the rubber boots clamp onto the engine block.  The rims of the boots can fold over, or they can seem like they're all the way on when they're not.

If any gap exists, extra air will get sucked straight into the cylinders and will artificially increase the air-to-fuel ratio.  The result is what's called a lean mixture, meaning the ratio of air to fuel vapor is too high.  This can exhibit symptoms like the ones you've been seeing.

You can inspect the boots visually, but if you're like I was the first time I did it, you won't know quite what you're looking for.  If a visual (or tactile) inspection doesn't turn up anything, there is a more "sure fire" test.  Start the bike and then spray something good and flammable (WD-40 seems to be the solvent of choice) in the area where the rubber boots from the carbs meet the engine.

If the engine RPMs go up when you do this, you know that WD-40 is getting sucked into the cylinders along with some extra air.  In other words, you have an air leak and you need to reseat the boots.

I should have commented on your cables possibly being out-of-whack.

If your throttle cable is too tight, the idle won't necessarily come down slowly - it just won't come down far enough.  But if your choke cable is too tight it might cause both conditions: a too-high idle as well as an idle that drops too slowly.  Still, I can't imagine that you goofed up the choke cable.  If you got it put back on at all you probably did it correctly.

The throttle cable can be tricky to adjust if you try to do all of the adjusting at the carburetor end.  If you suspect a poorly adjusted throttle cable, try using the adjustment nut at the handlebar end of the cable before you give up and start stripping the side panels and fuel tank again.

Hey thanks for the suggestions.  I started messing with the cables again.  I was twisting the throttle and realized that there was a fair bit of resistance to the twist, as well the grip did not snap back to the idle position like i seemed to remember it should.

So I pulled then tank off again and adjusted the cables so they have a bit of slack as was suggested.  Noticed the throttle grip now twisted easy and snapped back like usual.  Hooked up the tank and low and behold the engine seems to be revving normally.

Will take it for a spin tomorrow, since its late and freezing cold here now.  Thanks for taking the time to help out, I really appreciate it.  

P.S.  Kerry: thanks for the tip on the carb boots, checked them out, looks like I got that part right.  

Also, have the carbs vacuum synchronized/balanced. I don't know if the shop gave them a static synchronization (synch the butterfly valves by eye), but you should always vacuum sychronize your carbs after any work has been done to them.