Suzuki GS550ES all kinds of issues

[BRUMBEAR]

I got everything but the front end and frame and wheels, motor is locked up , full exhaust tank fly screen guages carbs seat

thats what it looked like before I sold the frame you want it you can have it but you gotta get it shipped.
Dave

[mzeffex]

So... Took it out for a spin last night and it died on me again. First a loss of power, then it just cut off. Wouldn't restart, then it would. Died while decelerating a block from the house. Tried to start it up right before I went to bed a couple hours after the ride, wouldnt start. Started up fine this morning. Intake still? Every seal looks to be fine

[GS_in_CO]

Gummy old gas can give lots of troubles.
How long since this bike had fresh gas before you got it?
Was it running before you got it? If not, what was the story?
How long did it sit? WHERE did it sit?

Did you completely drain the old gas and refill with new?
Did you look to see what was in the tank?
Have you looked at what comes out of the carb bowls?

Do you understand the difference between 'choke' and 'enrichener?'
Does it run on 'choke' but not when warmed up and choke is off?

Are all the hoses that are supposed to be on the carbs there? Are they intact (or are they cracked?)
Can you feel around for vacuum leak near the carbs? (probably not - access is usually difficult)

(If you'd posted your location first I might have been able to help yesterday. I'm not available until the weekend now.)

[mzeffex]

Gummy old gas can give lots of troubles.
How long since this bike had fresh gas before you got it?
Was it running before you got it? If not, what was the story?
How long did it sit? WHERE did it sit?

Did you completely drain the old gas and refill with new?
Did you look to see what was in the tank?
Have you looked at what comes out of the carb bowls?


Do you understand the difference between 'choke' and 'enrichener?'
Does it run on 'choke' but not when warmed up and choke is off?

Are all the hoses that are supposed to be on the carbs there? Are they intact (or are they cracked?)
Can you feel around for vacuum leak near the carbs? (probably not - access is usually difficult)

(If you'd posted your location first I might have been able to help yesterday. I'm not available until the weekend now.)

The bike was sitting outside for six months. I drained the gas. The carb has been overhauled a number of times now, everything is clear. Floats are good now. Tubes are missing but those are, afaik, all drain tubes. I don't know what an enricher is. It will run well until it heats up I've been noticing, regardless of choke position. Then it dies, also regardless of choke. I know my petcoxk is broken, but it does flow well from the tank to the carb.

[mzeffex]

Last night being the exception to working until hot . So many inconsistencies makes it hard to diagnose

[GS_in_CO]

Working thru the internet is difficult. Recently another t-shooting string reminded us that 'hot' to one person equals 'run long enough so the battery discharged' to the next.

Idle speed changes with condition cannot be electrical thus the suggestion about looking for an intake leak.
Enrichener devices add both air and excess fuel to the mixture thru passages in the carb. Broken gaskets or incorrect alignment of passages in the enrichener circuit can give extra air to run at high idle (as intended).
Many (most?) Japanese carbs use enrichener technique rather than choke.


Stopping stone-dead can be electrical.
Might be worth going thru and pulling connectors apart and reseating them. Especially the ones for the ignition system to the coils. Corrosion can cause high resistance troubles when hot. A cracked coil with moisture in it could also be trouble.

Got a service manual for it? Coil resistance and so forth would be useful to know.

[Johnj]

Check your fuel tanks vent.

[mzeffex]

Working thru the internet is difficult. Recently another t-shooting string reminded us that 'hot' to one person equals 'run long enough so the battery discharged' to the next.

Idle speed changes with condition cannot be electrical thus the suggestion about looking for an intake leak.
Enrichener devices add both air and excess fuel to the mixture thru passages in the carb. Broken gaskets or incorrect alignment of passages in the enrichener circuit can give extra air to run at high idle (as intended).
Many (most?) Japanese carbs use enrichener technique rather than choke.


Stopping stone-dead can be electrical.
Might be worth going thru and pulling connectors apart and reseating them. Especially the ones for the ignition system to the coils. Corrosion can cause high resistance troubles when hot. A cracked coil with moisture in it could also be trouble.

Got a service manual for it? Coil resistance and so forth would be useful to know.

Ok. So it may be an air leak and electrical...

No service manual. I'll run through it later. Maybe if you are around this weekend I will take you up on coming to take a look at it.

[mzeffex]

Just tried riding it without the gas cap. That did not fix the issue. After about 5-7 miles, I pulled in the clutch to stop and it just turned off. Battery is dead, I know that, from trying to start it when it was having issues. Would it turn off due to a dead battery?

I just plugged the battery in to charge.

[GS_in_CO]

Would it turn off due to a dead battery?

I just plugged the battery in to charge.

Absolutely yes.
One of the things to check is whether the battery is being charged when running at mid-upper RPM.
Voltage on the battery should read about 12.5V at idle but come up to higher at higher RPM.
Charge the battery on external charger before doing the voltage regulator test.

A lousy battery can give some bad running symptoms (though never high idle).

Why was the bike parked? Was it running well at the time? (or do you know?)