[DandE]

Is there someone in the Milwaukee area that is really good at troubleshooting carb(?) problems?

My brother is having problems with his 1980(ish) Suzuki GS1100 and needs help finding his bike's problem. One of the exhaust pipes is not changing colors (too rich/lean) like the rest of them.

Is one of our brethern good with carbs and can give him a hand one evening???

Dale

 

[Guest]

Sup Dale,
I think there is a place called "The Shop." Not sure if they work on carbs but you can try. If not the people at the Fuel Cafe know all the places/people that work on bikes. I also bounced the question off my brother who lives in Milwaukee and has had many an old bike. I do know of some places in Madison if he visits here.

The Shop
2631 S Greeley St
Milwaukee, WI 53207
(414) 276-6686

 

[Guest]

Yep, just confirmed with my brother "The Shop" is probably the best place to start with if you have a metric bike. It is on the South side inside an old tannery. Hope this helps.

 

[DandE]

wubaru,

Thanks, I'll pass that along.

Dale

 

[spyderman]

Dande.....did it just start acting up or were the carbs apart or something changed??


I would dump some seafoam in the tank and run it first if nothing was apart.

 

[Firemanirfd]

If it was sitting for a while i would just take the carbs off and clean them all, gte any onld vagas and varnish out of the system

 

[spyderman]

If it was sitting for a while i would just take the carbs off and clean them all, gte any onld vagas and varnish out of the system

You got a mouthfull of food or something????? LOL :shock:

 

[Riley]

Dande.....did it just start acting up or were the carbs apart or something changed??


I would dump some seafoam in the tank and run it first if nothing was apart.

Ditto the seafoam- it can do more than you think.

As far as the carbs- seeing it's an older bike- are you ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE that the intake boots aren't sucking air through cracks (they HIDE very well- you literally have to bend them around and abuse them to see if that may be it- it's common and a crack hiding is common.

I had an '80 Yamaha XS1100 at one time that sat for awhile, and had to do the complete clean out, degunk, etc on the whole fuel system. Then took it down to sportland and had them throw a mercury guage on them to sync them- wasn't too bad of a price ( I don't remember how much).

Was reasonable in price and fixed 'er right up. Carbs aren't that mysterious yet- lots of bikes still use them- there are guys with the know how.

Good carb shop in West Allis (I think its called "The Carb Shop". I think it's off of national- if it needs rebuild/etc.

There are some real small passeges that mere mortals can't get cleaned out- they disassemble and let them soak in vats of "mystery stuff". They got a good rep. from anyone I know who have dealt with them.

So.....

Good luck!!

 

[Really Soon]

Are you sure he is getting spark on that cylinder? If hes getting spark then you can pull the sparkplug at the offending cylinder. If it is more white, he is running lean. If it is dry, sooty black he is too rich. Ideally you want a tannish brown color. Too lean is what turns pipes colors

IIRC those carbs are probably Mikunis. They were also used on Kawasakis, so if you check out this forum http://kzrider.com/component/option,com ... t/catid,3/ you should be able to get tons of info

 

[DandE]

I don't think that he tried SeaFoam, but he did use some other type of cleaner that he soaked the carbs in when he had them off. The bike did sit for a while, so anythings possible with regard to the varnish and I'm not sure that he looked at the boots.

I think he checked spark and a series of other things, he's a former mechanic, but it's been a while and this has him stumped. When he got the bike he put on new Vance & Hines(?) pipes and had some poping from a joint where they slip together so he thought a leak. But he bought some special band clamp to tighten that, but it didn't fix the problem either, it still pops and just doesn't run right on all cylinders.

Like was mentioned, I'll have him try the Carb Shop in West Allis.

Dale

 

[Smoken'JOE]

Ace Lucas on this board knows alot about carbs. Maybe he will pop in here with a few words of wisdom.

Like the idea of sea foam in the tank also............