Rich w/ stock jets and pods and exhaust? 81 GPZ550

leopardpepper wrote: BTW it revs fine in neutral and it acts perfect. But when you put it in gear and try to take off it bogs down and wont go above 15 mph. I have tried up to 1/2 or maybe 3/4 throttle no more that that though.

Besides all the other things being checked, would also assure that the timing advancer is functioning properly and not stuck in the closed idle position. May require lube or both cleaning and lube.

Best to observe the advancer as it operates with the engine running under a strobe-type timing light and confirm it quickly moves back and forth as rpm is varied by blipping the throttle.

Good Fortune!

Loudhvx- the jets were hex so i figure they are stock.

Ill be easy on the cables and be sure not to stretch them. I havent tested for arch yet as it was raining last night. But i shall tonight.

The fuel filter is a plastic filter with bbs in it. im pretty sure the carbs are getting gas. I can test it filterless if all else fails.

Patton- Ill have to read into checking the timing advancer. I have never done that before. Ill look into buying a timing light. Ill do this <-- sometime soon.

But today, im going to adjust my float levels and check for Arching and see if that helps.

If anything requires expensive tools, parts, or shop work, it might be a couple weeks before i can afford it

Howdy fellas. Im fixing to readjust my float height. One quick q-

Is it safe to run water through my carbs to test the float height with them off the bike? I was planning on doing it in my bicycle shop today before work and i would rather not have a bunch of gasoline stinking up the place.

I dont want to try to fix em only to reinstall em and realize that i need to redo em. Catch my drift?

Water will not give you an accurate measurement. The specific gravity of water is 1.000; the specific gravity of gas is .737. Consequently, stuff (like carb floats) bobs up higher in water than in gasoline just like folks who can't swim in fresh water have no problem in the Great Salt Lake. Here's a table that might help you find a closer substitute if you are dead set against using gasoline to set your float heights:

www.csgnetwork.com/specificgravliqtable.html

leopardpepper wrote: ...have to read into checking the timing advancer. I have never done that before. I'll look into buying a timing light....

Would at least put a drop of oil on each pivot point, accessible through the timing inspection window.

This alone might possibly resolve the reported problem.

Good Fortune!

Dudes and dudettes, Major freaking update-
I went out to check the float levels again because i was bored. I decided to do it with the engine running this time. They actually looked a little better than they did yesterday but that is beside the point.

She was warmed up so i say screw it, im gonna try to ride it around. It did the typical bogging and it diddnt want to move. I rode it around my neighborhood for like 10 mins. I decided to open the throttle just for kicks and it picked up a little. I rolled off and it went back to bogging around. As i rolled on and off the throttle over and over again it ran better and better until i was pretty much running like it used to. I got my helmet and rode it around town for about 20 mins doing the same thing and by the end it was running better than it ever had!

I have no clue what happened. If i had to guess i would say something was stuck in the carbs and it worked it way out. Thats interesting because i cleaned em pretty good a couple days ago.

I want to thank yall again for helping me through this problem. It means so much to me that yall would put up with this bike just as it was your own.

I owe all of yall a beer!

Peace and grease!
LeopardPepper



Here are come pics from my ride this morning.

leopardpepper wrote: ...fixing to readjust my float height...rather not have a bunch of gasoline stinking up the place....

May use common household rubbing alcohol (at the kitchen table) to set float heights resulting in correct float bowl fuel levels.

First, determine clear tube alcohol height in a carb already known to have the correct fuel level. Then using the alcohol height as the parameter, match the other carbs using alcohol to the correct alcohol height.

Could probably also do this with water or some other liquid.

Good Fortune!

Patton wrote:

leopardpepper wrote: ...fixing to readjust my float height...rather not have a bunch of gasoline stinking up the place....

May use common household rubbing alcohol (at the kitchen table) to set float heights resulting in correct float bowl fuel levels.

First, determine clear tube alcohol height in a carb already known to have the correct fuel level. Then using the alcohol height as the parameter, match the other carbs using alcohol to the correct alcohol height.

Could probably also do this with water or some other liquid.

Good Fortune!

Could prbably get away with using alcohol as it's specific gravity is relatively close to that of gasoline, but not water. Water's specific gravity is way different. The chart I linked to in my previous post shows the specific gravity of various common liquids.

Ed

I have a float height measurement method on the tk22 website. It's not a substitute for using a sight-tube method, but it's a starting point and won't require using any fluids. It's in the maintenance section.

I would agree with Patton that the advancer movement needs to be inspected, if not cleaned and lubed. It could be that it was binding after a little moisture, but is not freed up from heat and vibration. That is where I would start my troubleshooting.

There is also a slight chance that the coils were damp, and are now dried out a little, but that is less likely.

I suspect ignition, more than carbs, because the plugs did not come out black and fluffy, and the float levels were not real high.

At least you know the motor is not hosed.