Motorcycle Repair: 83 gs850gl carbs, suzuki gs850, flat portion

Question
im working on an 83 suzuki gs850 and the bike will idle but fuel runs out of the throats i put new needle and seats in them and adjusted the floats,if i get the flow stopped it wont run, its like it runs out of gas help please

Answer
Hi William,

Sounds like 1 of 2 things is going on.
Is it possible you had been given the wrong info on float height? I know its usualy where the flat portion of the float comes level with the flat carb body surface, however not always the case. Im sorry I dont have the correct height at my disposal, however, most dealerships are willing to look it up for you.

The other this could be if your air cleaner is clogged and not able to draw air properly and freely, it will create huge vaccum in the veturi (carb throat) and attempt to pull the air from somewhere. Failing to do so will cause a very RICH condition, thus seeming like the float height is set wrong... Try removing the air filter, see if that improves the condition before going through the carbs again..

Hope this helps!

~Mark D. Panka