New Member Shoutout

[fbesq]

New Member in upstate New York looking for tips and tricks to maintain/upgrade my 1983 GL1100 Standard. Picked up the bike late summer '09. Found some pretty clean mounts and Interestate bags on eBay (<$200), repainted the whole bike black with gold flake (pretty cool upcolor from the original brown), bagged all the emblems and went with tank and side cover decals only. Replaced timing belts, fluids, and fork seals, had the carbs synched, hand polished timing and valve covers, intake tubes and carb tops, and put 5000, mostly commuter miles, on it last summer.

Replaced the original brake lines with stainless lines from HEL this spring - tremendous improvement in brake feel and stopping power. Now interested in performance improvement/upgrade. Some backfiring on deceleration, poor gas mileage. Got a quote from the local Honda shop @ $350 for air cutoff valve replacement. Is this a DIY project?[background=][/background]

 

[joedrum]

welcome to CGW forums ....try mixing 8oz ATF fuid in yor next fill up it might clean the passages some in the carbs it might smoke alittle on start up but it is good at cleaning carbs up .... :mrgreen:

 

[AApple]

Welcome to the CGW Forums, fbesq!!! :clapping: :clapping: :clapping:
Lottsa good info here! :good:

 

[fbesq]

Thanks for the welcome. I'll make sure I start the bike outside the garage when I try the ATF trick.

 

[slabghost]

Welcome aboard. Read the vacuum advance thread by Littlebeaver. It might be part of your problem.

 

[mcgovern61]

Welcome from New Jersey! :clapping:

The ATF works real well plus after two tankfuls using ATF your mileage will improve. The air cutoff valves are not hard, but the carbs have to come off. Sounds like the work you have done already you are up to doing the air cutoff valves. Was that $350 just to replace the valves????

 

[fbesq]

Thanks Gerry. I geuss the quote included re-synching the carbs after Installing the cutoffs. I' definitely gonna try the $4.00 fix first.

 

[dan filipi]

Welcome to the forums!

How about some pics of the old girl.

 

[jdegase]

Welcome
CGW is a great place for help, and friendship.
Black with gold flake. I already like your bike!

on 83 there are 4 cutoff valves, one in each carb. and you'll need to split the carbs apart after you remove them from the bike.
this isnt a small task, but can be achieved if your DIY minded and enjoy wrenching.
there are several places to get the valves, but randakk sells kits and has some parts that even honda dont have anymore.
do the research and plan on spending some time. you can get it done without the big bill.

fallow my link to pictures of my bike and you'll see I'm a fan of black

 

[paddy.shadow]

Greetings and salutations! :clapping:

 

[kah92340]

:wave: Welcome glade you joined :wave:

 

[danf]

Hello and welcome, I would really like to see your bike, can you post a photo? thanks and welcome... I have removed the cut off valves on my 81 without splitting the carbs apart, I used one of those weird angled combo screwdriver tools, you know, on one end it's phillips and the other standard flathead and it's all one piece, it's made to reach tight spots.. If the 83 carbs are like the 81's you should be able to remove them like I did don't lose that tiny o-ring..

 

[fbesq]

I'm a little reluctant to get into the carbs right now, especially since it's finally stopped raining. I think I'll try the ATF trick first. Put 6 oz. into a nearly full tank last night, and expect to put about 100 mi. on today. I'll keep you all posted. I'm a little handier with a wrench than with the digital stuff, but I'll try to get some help from the young folks and get a picture up this week.

 

[joedrum]

:smilie_happy: :smilie_happy: :smilie_happy: to say the least for me ...id like to take a hammer to this :sensored: :sensored: :sensored: :sensored: :sensored: :sensored: computer iknow how to use a hammer and :sensored: :sensored: :sensored: :sensored: :sensored: :sensored: :sensored: its not going to fix it but i will sure feel better :builder: :builder: :mrgreen:

 

[danf]

:smilie_happy: :smilie_happy: Joe.... :smilie_happy: :smilie_happy: Me too....my daughter is starting to dislike me because I bug her so much for help on this flippen computer..Wife too....

 

[paddy.shadow]

:smilie_happy: :smilie_happy: :smilie_happy: to say the least for me ...id like to take a hammer to this :sensored: :sensored: :sensored: :sensored: :sensored: :sensored: computer iknow how to use a hammer and :sensored: :sensored: :sensored: :sensored: :sensored: :sensored: :sensored: its not going to fix it but i will sure feel better :builder: :builder: :mrgreen:

If you can't fix it with a hammer, it must be an electrical problem!