Motorcycle Repair: suzuki gs 450 87 hesitation, suzuki gs 450, pilot jet

Question
My Suzuki GS 450 sat for 2 winters un-used. I tried to start it up and couldn't get it to run. But when I closed the choke to it's 'hot' position, it started right up, but I couldn't rev the motor, it would just stall if I gave it any throttle. I let it warm up and it ran fine, but it hesitates a little at low rpms, just enough that I'm not comfortable riding it in traffic. I thought that if I drained the gas and put fresh gas in, then used a carb cleaner that it might just do the trick. If that doesn't work, what's your thoughts?

Answer
Hello John,

Unfortunately the fuel these days tends
to clog up carburetors within a month or two.

The jets in motorcycle carbs are very small
and so they gum up rather easily.

I imagine your carbs have partially plugged
idle jets or idle passageways.

There is also a main jet and needle jet
under the main which can give problems
at higher speeds.

Yamaha makes a very good carb cleaner that
is not harmful to carb parts.

If you are not ready to remove and
soak the carbs in it then try draining the carbs
and filling the float bowls through the fuel lines
and let it soak the carb bowls for a
few hours. Drain the carbs and try running
it again.

If this doesn't help clear it out the carbs
may need disassembling and soaking.
Use compressed air or carb cleaner spray
to blow out all the jets and passageways.
The idle pilot jet is covered by a rubber plug
which you will have to remove for cleaning.

See if you can get some fuel stabilizer to
add when the bike is parked, it will help
to keep the fuel from going bad in the future.

Good luck!
Wayne S.
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