Over the weekend I decided to fit my newly reconditioned carbs to the GS and try and start her up, to hear the motor run for the first time. I stuck them on with no airbox or exhaust and after charging the battery, I gave it a try - it took about 4 or 5 goes, but finally she fired up!! It was great to finally know that the motor in the bike was ok - it sounded good and ran quite well. Was a little bit of fuel leaking back out of the number 3 carb, but nothing major.
Later on in the day, Dodge dropped in and so I thought I would let him hear her run. I tried to crank her over, but all of a sudden the fuel caught alight from a spark that came back through carb number 3 - shit! As I had no tank on her, I was using a makeshift plastic bottle to feed the fuel in. It didn't take long for the flames to really get going and melt the bottle making the fire even worse. Dodge moved the fuel container and my GSX out of the way while I stood there motionless for a few seconds thinking how I was going to put it out and then remembered that we had a fire extinguisher given to us at Christmas. I ran inside, grabbed it and was able to put the fire out.
Bugger - all that work on the carbs and now they were black and most probably damaged. Not only that - the fire had cooked all the wiring running along the frame from the battery. What a disappointment - but looking back on it, also very lucky that we had the correct extinguisher, cos there was no way anything else would have worked. Was a big mistake to run it with no exhaust and therefore no back pressure. Anyway, I spent Sunday and Monday night cleaning up and checking the damage. I pulled the carbs apart and was surprised to find that other than the two plastic vent tees running between the carbs, nothing else was damaged on them. The wiring was a different story - totally shagged.
Anyway, whilst searching for a replacement wiring harness, I was lucky enough to spot an almost complete GS850 going for $300 on eBay. The wiring harness alone would have cost me a quarter of that - so I bought the bike. It is a later model than mine, but has some good parts on it, including carbs, wiring, exhaust and a complete set of body panels. The guy also told me that he has plenty of spare electrical parts and other bits for it, so it made me feel a bit better after my experience on Saturday. I will be picking it up from Coffs Harbour next weekend and will continue the build there after.
Later on in the day, Dodge dropped in and so I thought I would let him hear her run. I tried to crank her over, but all of a sudden the fuel caught alight from a spark that came back through carb number 3 - shit! As I had no tank on her, I was using a makeshift plastic bottle to feed the fuel in. It didn't take long for the flames to really get going and melt the bottle making the fire even worse. Dodge moved the fuel container and my GSX out of the way while I stood there motionless for a few seconds thinking how I was going to put it out and then remembered that we had a fire extinguisher given to us at Christmas. I ran inside, grabbed it and was able to put the fire out.
Bugger - all that work on the carbs and now they were black and most probably damaged. Not only that - the fire had cooked all the wiring running along the frame from the battery. What a disappointment - but looking back on it, also very lucky that we had the correct extinguisher, cos there was no way anything else would have worked. Was a big mistake to run it with no exhaust and therefore no back pressure. Anyway, I spent Sunday and Monday night cleaning up and checking the damage. I pulled the carbs apart and was surprised to find that other than the two plastic vent tees running between the carbs, nothing else was damaged on them. The wiring was a different story - totally shagged.
Anyway, whilst searching for a replacement wiring harness, I was lucky enough to spot an almost complete GS850 going for $300 on eBay. The wiring harness alone would have cost me a quarter of that - so I bought the bike. It is a later model than mine, but has some good parts on it, including carbs, wiring, exhaust and a complete set of body panels. The guy also told me that he has plenty of spare electrical parts and other bits for it, so it made me feel a bit better after my experience on Saturday. I will be picking it up from Coffs Harbour next weekend and will continue the build there after.
Labels: GS850
posted by Beaker at 5:29 AM
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