Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Hi all...

I'm new here, and relatively new to the world of motorcycles. Just got my license in October, and have been taking advantage of every reasonably warm (35 degrees and above) day to get the bike out and ride her around.

It was running rough, then got to the point where it lost power in the higher gears. One day it just started doing that, and when I turned for home, it kept losing more power, gaining and losing, then stopped. I pushed the bike for awhile, then started it again, ran it for about one minute, then it stopped again. I did this three or four times until I got home.

Had it into the shop and they did a complete maintenance check, and it ran smooth for the past two weeks. Now it's doing that again, along with plenty of backfiring, and I have to keep the idle rpms above 2000 so that it won't stall out. Also, when it runs, it surges quite a bit, and I have to hang on well to the bike so that it doesn't shoot out from under me when it surges up.

The mechanic has diaphragms on order, still waiting for them to come in, but does anyone know why it does this?

This is a 1997 model. It's a great bike, but this particular episode is causing me some grief, because I really want to use it daily.

Thanks for any help you can give me!

Sounds like definite fuel delivery problems. Let the mechanic overhaul the carbs and see where that leaves you.

Yeah, definitely get the carbs thouroughly (sp?) cleaned out and get any gaskets and whatnot replaced.

Also, there's a really good site with tons of GS info (good forums too).

http://gstwin.com/

Search around the forums a bit and see if you can't find a good solution.

Thanks for the help, all. During the routine spring check-up, the mechanic did almost a complete overhaul of the carbs, but didn't have the diaphragms to put in there. Those are on order and I should get that done this week. He did mention the petcock being a problem, but I'm not sure what to do about that at this point. I've kept it on prime, per his suggestion, instead of in the normal "on" position, but these past couple of days it's been undriveable...it turns over, but doesn't catch. It does sound like it's out of gas, although it's not.

If you have a fuel filter or some kind of screen filter be sure to clean or replace it before paying for carb repairs. Also if there is a vaccuum hose to the petcock ( fuel cut off) check it for leak and replace if needed. I hope this helps.

Hi all... After taking into account all the help I received here, and looking closely at the Clymer manual, I realized that the vacuum hose wasn't even connected! One end of it was tight into the carb as it was supposed to be, but the other end that should've plugged into the petcock unit was nowhere to be found! It took me a few minutes to realize that the problem was going to be so easily solved. I found the missing end kind of wedged under another section of the engine...took it out, brought it around to the left side of the cycle and fastened it to where it needed to go. Now, the cycle really works WELL!!!! RPMs are down to normal, and it's actually weird to ride it like this after having had to fight the RPMs all the time for the past several months. I have to get used to it actually "purrring".....It's so great!! Thanks for all your help!

http://www.thegsresources.com can help in the future as well...glad to hear you got er running good!

Don't forget to give your mechanic a good smack on the side of the head. If he knew the petcock wasn't delivering fuel, the very least he should have done is to verify that the vacuum hose was connected. That's motorcycle mechanics 101. I'd definitely find a different mech.