Hello from Atlanta, Georgia, USA

1888 Views 21 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Randall-in-Mpls, Nov 21, 2021

Mike from Atlanta

Discussion Starter · Oct 29, 2021

Hello all. Been lurking for quite a while now but figure it's time to sign up.

About me: I'm an ICU Registered Nurse at a big Atlanta hospital. I bought a 1983 Suzuki GS550 when I was 17 years old and have had about 15 bikes since then. Most of them Japanese and most of the standard street bikes. Last running bike was a KLR650 that I rode for 7 years and about 70k miles including a few big trips. The motor died right before my son was born 3 years ago, and I haven't ridden since (except my Yamaha Zuma 125 commuter scooter).

About the bike: Met a guy about a year and a half ago that was looking to clear out his garage in preparation to move. He heard I like to work on motorized things and made me a deal I couldn't refuse. He'd let me have it for $200 if I could get his 1982 CX500 out of his garage that day. Hadn't been run in 5 years or so. I brought it home, put in a new battery, spark plugs and cleaned out the fuel tank. That's about as far as I got before Covid got crazy in Atlanta and I started working a lot of extra shifts. Just now getting back to resurrecting this old girl.

It will start and run, but intermittently drops the left cylinder. I'm gonna get in the shop tonight and start troubleshooting with the help of all the online resources for the CX500. I'll start another post as I start to dig in to the old girl.

Tire Wheel Fuel tank Plant Automotive parking light

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Mike from Atlanta

Discussion Starter · #21 · Nov 21, 2021

For those that were following this post I wanted to post the resolution. Because of the intermittent nature of the bike only during on one cylinder, I thought the problem was electrical. But after doing a lot of part swapping and diagnostics I wasn't getting any change in the symptoms.

I pulled the carbs to see if that could be the issue. I removed the float bowls and found that they were relatively clean. However, the left carb (the side with the malfunction) had a small piece of trash near the main jet. I'm thinking it would fall away from the jet orifice when the bike wasn't running, then get sucked up and plug there opening while running. Thus the intermittent symptoms. Quickly cleaned the carbs and it starts, idles and runs great now.

I've already started working on the rest of the stuff this bike needs to get back on the road. Will post again soon regarding the maintenance and mods I'm working on. Thanks to everyone for your help and suggestions.

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