[xaezaolt]

Hi, I just bought a 1980 Suzuki GS550. The guy I bought it from sold it to me with a intake boot leak and pod filters on it. He had used electrical tape to fix the leak and it works temporarily while I get the new parts. He also wrapped the pods in electrical tape to cover about 90% of the pod. I rode it a couple times and it rode fine. I thought that him wrapping the pods was stupid and took off the tape. Now the bike falls flat at 1/4 throttle. What can I do to fix the problem not using tape?

 

[joewasaki73]

not being familiar with the bike or able to see it personally, i have to wonder why he was taping up the air filters, and i suspect it wasn't for looks. in essence he is choking it, so i wonder if maybe the carbs need to be removed and cleaned. previous owners are legendary for their mickey-mouse fixes, so you can probably expect to see more weirdness as you go over the bike; par for the course.
welcome to the forum, and good luck with your new old bike !

 

[cmonSTART]

It could absolutely be that the carbs need to be cleaned (common on older bikes), but also pods generally are very free flowing air filters. Often folks run into lean issues after installing them if they haven't rejetted the carbs for them. I have had to go up a few jet sizes on bikes where I have installed them. Rather than doing this, the PO taped up the pods a bit to reduce how free flowing they are, hoping to mimic the stock intake. Some folks use clear coat from a rattle can to do the same. It works, but it's not the proper way to do things.

So, to answer your question remove the carbs, clean them up, and put in larger jets. You may need to change jets several times to get a combination that works for you.

Welcome!

 

[xaezaolt]

It could absolutely be that the carbs need to be cleaned (common on older bikes)

The carbs are already pretty clean. I suspect you are right about the jets. I'm fairly new to carbureted vehicles and have only worked with fuel injection before. Thanks for the tips!

 

[Miss Mercedes]

Welcome! Yeah, the carbs most likely need to be jetted or the filters returned to a more stock configuration. If the carbs are tuned for a more "factory" airflow, then a pod filter is likely to mess up that balance. The easy "emergency" fix is to just restrict the pod filter until you get airflow that fits the carb better.

 

[slumlord]

Get the original filter box and put in the OEM filter and see how it runs. Engineers spent gobs of time and money to match the carbs to the intake and the bike will run the best in stock configuration.

Probably not what you wanted to hear, but it is the truth....

 

[cmonSTART]

It certainly is..