Two questions

Don did your motor feel slightly sluggish on the 20W 50?

I have an '82 750 GPz that I have owned for 19 years. The plugs always showed tan when I replaced them. Now they show white. No changes to the bike. All stock and using 87 octane. Great cold starts, runs great. I now wonder if the quality of gas is lower because of all the cars with computer controlled engines. My GS 1100 is showing white plugs as well.

donthekawguy wrote:

Sounds like your running lean. Check the jets and see if they are the stock size. If so with the pods you might need to go up a size or two. I tried 20 50 in my bike and it didn't like it at all. It ran hotter than hell. I'm thinking that the oil was to thick to run freely. It was all good when I went back to 10-40. Also check your valves and timing. Were you down in the tri-cities? It gets hot down there. I went through there last weekend and it was 110.

Yeah, I'll check the jets. I did a 700 mile haul across the mountains, through Yakima and Spokane and across Idaho to Montana in a day, a good part of which was in the 90+ degree range. Like I said, the bike ran beautifully, even if on the hot side, on the way there, but started becoming problematic on the ride back home. I'll be giving it a thorough once-over in the next day or two, just as soon as I find my shop manual.

Thanks all,
Casey

Pods.

Charwood, when you pull the float bowls look for fine sediment in the there. You may just have rust in your fuel tank. The pilot jets will plug up first because the orifice is smaller than the mains.

hoghaterkaw wrote:

Charwood, when you pull the float bowls look for fine sediment in the there. You may just have rust in your fuel tank. The pilot jets will plug up first because the orifice is smaller than the mains.

I'll be sure to do that. I've run through these carbs more times than I care to count, and I've never seen much rust before. I run an inline filter before the carbs, but it has been a while since I changed that out. Between carb tweaking, valve adjustments, and the other maintenance I'm set to do, I sure hope I can sell this thing later in the summer! :S

Hi charwood
Let us know how it turns out. White plugs sure sound like lean and jets to small or fuel level in float bowl to low. Before youtake carbs off its easy to check fuel levels in the bowls using the clear tube method.
Also valve clearances definitely woth checking
good luck

My jets are stock. 125 secondary and 62 primary mains. The pods are those cheap Emgo pods, so I'm pretty sure I'm sure I am running a little bit lean.

I figure going up one set one size in jets is wise, as well as opening up my pilot screws a touch. Now I get to sound like the major novice, though. Do I want to size up my primary or secondary mains? She gets plenty of power in the high end, but bogs down a bit below 2500 and idles roughly. There is a bit of gunk in the carbs as well, which I suspect is probably leaning down my mixture a little, so I'll give them a thorough cleaning.

I've got B8ES plugs for general long-distance highway use. I'll let you know what I'm seeing for valve clearances asap. Between jets, valve clearances, and plugs, I hope I'll alleviate my overheating and make my bike touring ready. If I do go to synthetic, would the Rotella T synth 5W-40 be heavy enough?

Thanks so much guys,
Casey

check out emgo pods fit at the carb mouth.

Valve measurements have arrived. I've got the following, in mm.

cyl. #1: Inlet ~ 0.153 Exhaust ~ 0.064

cyl. #2: Inlet ~ 0.128 Exhaust ~ 0.128

cyl. #3: Inlet ~ 0.128 Exhaust ~ 0.155

cyl. #4: Inlet ~ 0.09 Exhaust ~ 0.09


My book says 0.08-0.18 mm is acceptable, so all but the #1 exhaust are within spec. However, I need the input of somebody who has more knowledge. Is the 0.64 tight enough to merit worry? Furthermore, if I'm replacing the shim on #1, should I do so on #4 to increase the clearance on both inlet and exhaust?

Thanks,
Casey

charwood89 wrote:

Valve measurements have arrived. I've got the following, in mm.

cyl. #1: Inlet ~ 0.153 Exhaust ~ 0.064

cyl. #2: Inlet ~ 0.128 Exhaust ~ 0.128

cyl. #3: Inlet ~ 0.128 Exhaust ~ 0.155

cyl. #4: Inlet ~ 0.09 Exhaust ~ 0.09


My book says 0.08-0.18 mm is acceptable, so all but the #1 exhaust are within spec. However, I need the input of somebody who has more knowledge. Is the 0.64 tight enough to merit worry? Furthermore, if I'm replacing the shim on #1, should I do so on #4 to increase the clearance on both inlet and exhaust?

Thanks,
Casey

#1 exhaust is tight enough that I would change it. It's about .0025" English, I never let mine go below .003" even though the book spec is .002 - .004" on my engine. Your spec range is about .0032 - .0072" so you might also change the #4 shims to the next thinner sizes as long as you are doing valves. A bit to the loose side is never a problem, too tight causes all kinds of problems.

Thanks very much bountyhunter, that's great help. I'll change out the #1 and #4 shims and maybe the thing will be happier. I don't suppose you have any input on whether I should bump up both the primary and secondary main jet sizes, do you?