I think I am going to ride her to work for the first time tomorrow, it is only supposed to be in the low 90s. Friday I took it to the DMV about 20 miles away and it was 105 out, there was no cooling off. Really kicked my butt..

not bad at all

Quote from: 007brendan on September 09, 2012, 05:43:07 PM
Go with the stiffer springs.  In addition to your weight, you have to factor in stuff like riding gear, and any luggage you might have, which could easily add another 20-30 lbs.  I weigh about 240 and I went with the .95 springs and 15w oil.

as well as riding terrain. ( roads, speed bumps, speed humps etc )

So rode her to work for two days straight, 40 miles each way, it went pretty well except for two things. One is I had NO idea that there was a safety switch on the side stand, I don't think I have ever had a bike that had one. I kept thinking my clutch had gone out and it would die when I dropped it into gear and not start again, my '86 Interceptor 750 did not have one of these if I remember correctly nor did my Ninja 600, I think it was a late '80s model too. Great idea though, at least now I know I do not have a clutch issue.
I have a wierd issue with the fuel tank/petcock. It seems to run out of fuel well before it should, I mean I can see plenty in the tank but I then have to switch to Reserve. Actually the last time it happened I was on the freeway and reached down to switch it while still going and I "think" it was actually on "prime" when it ran out and then I switched to "On" and it came back alive so I stopped to get gas. I would assume that if it was on prime it should have used the reserve too right? Or does the "prime" position only draw from the "On" fuel outlet, just not requiring vacuum to release fuel. Also my tach was dancing around a bit in the dash when I was up to freeway speeds, I think the rubber grommet/mount on one of the bolts that hold it in place is worn.

I also noticed that no matter how warmed up it is I still idle at about 600-800 rpm and it dies when I let it idle. I am sure the carbs could use a tune, I assumed the plugs were new as they looked really clean on the outside, I will yank em and see how they look too.

Having a blast though!!

A couple things for you:

Prime does run from lower part of the tank. So if you run out of gas on prime, you run out of gas... I suppose it is possible that you may have had enough gas in the 'ON' line, to get a few miles to a gas station.

I would check your float height via the U-tube drain method, and clean your carbs if you can.

Then adjust your idle once you know proper fuel amount and delivery is there.

Good call on checking your plugs, it will tell you more - and post up the pics for each one!

- Bboy

Here are the plugs, left cyl is left and right cyl is on the right. I am going to replace them with the same brand and part number because I have an extra set. NGK DPR8EA 9, any suggestions on the gap?

They look a little dark, but that may just be the exposure. If they are that dark, you're running rich.

No need to set the gap unless one got dropped or bent or something.

So last week she died on me AGAIN when I was on the freeway, fuel starved. So I decided I need to go ahead and pull the tank and take a looksie. Well it looks like the tank might have been coated before but all of the coating on the top of the tank is coming off and the tank is full of all kind of crap. Not sure if I am going to try and save this tank or swap it out for another.

The other issue I discovered is this..


The air cleaner came apart and the bottom of it was laying in the bottom of the air box. It looks like the glue failed and there is some sticky muck in the bottom of the airbox so I am going to have to remove it and clean it out.


Anyone know what brand of filter this is?
I see no markings on it

Quote from: Calpantera on October 07, 2012, 06:28:55 PM
Anyone know what brand of filter this is?
I see no markings on it

Look carefully.. I think I can make out... "C.... R ..... A..."


just get a new one

Is that a UNI filter?

Quote from: Phil B on October 08, 2012, 07:50:13 AM
Look carefully.. I think I can make out... "C.... R ..... A..."

just get a new one

Ohh ya I saw that as soon as I noticed that it was in two pieces 

I just want to warn others about it and post the brand and part number..
I noticed the WIKI "filters" page eluded to the fact that the "el cheapo" foam ones might come apart and here is the proof..

Quote from: modular on October 08, 2012, 07:58:42 AM
Is that a UNI filter?

Not sure, do they have any markings?

yikes purple? lol Will you be painting this thing?

Quote from: Higgins13 on October 09, 2012, 10:24:32 AM
yikes purple? lol Will you be painting this thing?

Ya, I was thinking of doing a street fighter look but the more I commute on the freeway the more I want a fairing.
I like flat black but a nice high visibility color like yellow would be a good idea too. I could still get away with the white rims if I do yellow.

I tore apart both petcocks and they looked really clean. Only issue I saw was it looked like the diaphragm was sticking to the port where it lets fuel in when its actuated. I cleaned up the rubber residue on that port and hopefully it will no longer stick. If it still starves I will try to run in "prime" position all the time and shut off to "On" position when parked. I think this was the issue with my starving under load. Still going to pull the carbs and clean the bowls/jets. If I do a K&N lunch box but no exhaust upgrade will I still have to re-jet? If so what jets do I use?

you will definitely need a rejet with a lunchbox. just adding a new pipe or slip on doesn't even come close to the increased airflow of replacing the old airbox.

read over the wiki and find yourself in the chart. No set is a perfect fit for all bikes, welcome to carb tuning.

http://wiki.gstwins.com/index.php?n=Upgrades.Rejetting

Gad I hate foam filters. Just get a new stock paper element and call it good. Last thing you need is to have to sort out yet another running issue from using a non-stock intake setup.

As for your petcock issues... check to see if the lines from the tank are run correctly. If you swap the two lines on the tank shutoff, you can end up using "Reserve" when the petcock is set to "On" and vice versa.

Quote from: noiseguy on October 30, 2012, 05:05:27 AM
Gad I hate foam filters. Just get a new stock paper element and call it good. Last thing you need is to have to sort out yet another running issue from using a non-stock intake setup.

That is what I "should" do. But when I price out a stock one its only like 10-20 bucks more to get a K&N lunchbox and its so hard not to fiddle with stuff. Lets see if the white angel left shoulder or the red devil on the right shoulder wins..   

Suggestion:

Stay 100% stock until you get things running good. THEN change t hings one at a time.

If not running good, and you're changing things, you don't really know where the problem is.
Also, you do not know if changes make the bike run better or worse because you do not know how it should run.

Lots of things are changed out of "fad" or "fashion" or the "status" of saying you did it. Often for no known reason.

Front fork springs: probably the only necessity due to how poor they are and nose diving when braking in a turn.

Pretty much everything else should be on an as-needed basis, not out of "status". Kat shock? Took it off and gave it away. I'm not heavy enough for it and don't like the butt of the bike 2" higher up in the air. Rejet? Only did 40 pilots in older carbs as performance was just fine for my riding but needed better low end for city riding. I will try rejetting a newer set - but only because I have some on the shelf and can swap one for the other with no down time and if I screwed it up, swap back.

Anyway - get things working first in stock configuration. Then change airbox and rejet if you feel it needs it.

Quote from: 007brendan on September 08, 2012, 01:42:25 AM
Are you kidding me?  The GS springs are designed for ~175lbs, and they still bottom out.  Stock front suspension sucks.  Larger spacers isn't going to change that, you'll have more preload, but you'll still bottom out just as easy. 

Get some sonic springs, best upgrade you can make to the bike.

I did the math a while ago... The stock fork springs are about right for a 50lb rider. Definitely not sprung for a 175lb person.