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New to Motorcycles - 2000 w bad mileage
07/09/17 at 21:05:04

Hi everyone:

Last summer I got my license and my first bike. I know nothing about bikes but have a background with tinkering a bit with my cars.

I bought a 2000 Suzuki LS650 with about 15,000 kms on it. I didn't ride much last summer and haven't rode at all this summer. Last summer I was learning on the bike just riding around the city. Each tank of gas got me about 60 - 80kms per tank (stock tank size). This was disheartening. I also just assumed my bike only has 4 gears... though the lack of a 5th gear isn't what I figured my pool mileage was from given I was usually just doing about 50 - 60 km/h. The bike has some rattles. The bike has no shortage of pop backs / back fires when decelerating. All this combined just sort of killed my enthusiasm so I rode less and less before parking it for the winter.

Soooo - I'm back at it. I discovered that my bike should have a 5th gear, good to know.
I want to tackle my mileage. So far I've checked the battery, all looks good there. I've pulled the spark plug, it is blacker than night. I just did a compression test. 135 psi. I then threw a bit of oil into the cylinder and it jumped up to 148-150psi. To anyone's opinion, is my compression a concern or should I be looking at my carburetor or any where else? Or any other general suggestions out there to get this bike to an enjoyable riding state?

Thanks!

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norm92de Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 1180 El Paso TX Gender:	Re: New to Motorcycles - 2000 w bad mileage Reply #1 - 07/09/17 at 21:56:17 Where do you live? What is your elevation above sea level?
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IslandRoad

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Re: New to Motorcycles - 2000 w bad mileage
Reply #2 - 07/10/17 at 05:52:38

You're running at about half the mileage of a stock bike - or to put it another way, you're using double the fuel.

I would pull the carb and see what the setup is like. What jet sizes for main and pilot jet, and what position the needle is set too. If the engine is in reasonable condition (others here, I'm sure, will be able to help you with that) then I'd say with that mileage and the black plug, someone has probably changed the carb setup to increase the fuel intake ALOT.

Has the bike got a stock muffler, and stock airbox/intake; if not, then what's on it? If it's got an open pipe, and a very non-restrictive filter, it's possible the previous owner upped the jets to try to compensate for the lean condition created by the open pipe.

Someone on this forum recently found that when the previous owner had pulled apart the carb and re-assembled it, they put the air-jet from the top of the carb into the main jet spot in the bottom of the carb - I think that's almost double the size, and therefore double the fuel.

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S40, 2014, Dyna, Raptor, 52.5/152.5, spacer mod, sea level, cat-eye LED tail light, bullet style halogen turn signals, 'Superbars' with custom 40mm risers, modified stock seat, Metzeler tyres.

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Serowbot YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline OK.... so what's the speed of dark? Posts: 28675 Tucson Az Gender:	Re: New to Motorcycles - 2000 w bad mileage Reply #3 - 07/10/17 at 06:57:53 Check your petcock... http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1251932429/1
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Re: New to Motorcycles - 2000 w bad mileage
Reply #4 - 07/10/17 at 07:28:24

I'm not the expert that these guys are, but sounds a lot like either the petcock or the carburetor, or both. Black spark plug means a lot of uncombusted fuel, which can be caused by both of those problems.

Thankfully, the petcock is super-easy and inexpensive to replace with a Raptor model. Even if it's not actually the problem here, it will be one day so you might as well just go ahead and replace it anyway.
The carburetor (praise the Lord, we've only got one of them per bike!) is pretty easy to strip down if you've got a decent toolbox and some patience.

One word of warning with the carburetor: be prepared for some of the bolts to be stuck. If they weren't treated with anti-seize thread lube last time it was put back together they might be stuck pretty good by now. It's a good idea to get hold of replacement, good-quality allen-head bolts for the carburetor before you take it apart, they're much easier to take out again later and make carb fiddling much less hassle than it could otherwise be.

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2012 (orange) • Dyna muffler/Oldfeller air filter • 152.5/52.5, ~2/3 spacer removed • Raptor petcock; Progressive 12" shocks.

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Gary_in_NJ

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Re: New to Motorcycles - 2000 w bad mileage
Reply #5 - 07/10/17 at 09:50:10

It's a used bike from 2000 - it could be anything. He's my $0.02: Clean the carburetor and while it's apart make note of the installed jets and the position of the needle. If the jets and needle seem out of wack, then adjust. Worst case scenario is you have a clean carb with known jets - best case is you fix your problem. Then, I'd replace the spark plug and clean the airfilter. For the sake of good order I'd replace the petcock with a Raptor unit because it's not a matter of if it will fail, but when (given that the bike is 17 years old, it may already have a Raptor unit).

Those steps above resolve about 99% of all LS650 woes. If that doesn't give you a well running bike, then we can begin to look for problems.

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cygnet YaBB Newbies Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 46	Re: New to Motorcycles - 2000 w bad mileage Reply #6 - 07/10/17 at 09:52:44 There is sure something wrong I also live in Calgary and I get 200km and then I put on reserve. I bet some one has had that carb apart and not put it back together right. Also I get no backfire or anything, I did when the bike was new but after break in it's been good.
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batman Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 3806 osceola new york Gender:	Re: New to Motorcycles - 2000 w bad mileage Reply #7 - 07/10/17 at 11:09:14 It may be that the PO took out the white spacer completely ,lifting the needle jet way to far. Your mileage isn't that high ,your compression is normal (high ,if you didn't unplug the decompression solenoid )when doing the test.
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ohiomoto

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Re: New to Motorcycles - 2000 w bad mileage
Reply #8 - 07/10/17 at 13:03:09

Interesting you say that batman. We had a discussion about my slightly low MPG. I mentioned my bike seemed a little rich even after swapping smaller main and pilot jets.

I decided to check into the white spacer mod the PO did and found one washer on top and three underneath the needle clip. Oops. I fixed that (1 under and 3 above) and bumped the pilot jet back up to the stock 52.5. The bike runs much better and I gained 2-3 MPG on the first 1/2 tank of gas I ran through. Might even add another washer and bump the main up one size at some point.

I'm not sure the white spacer alone can cause the dramatic drop in MPGs the OP is experiencing.

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FoXTaroT

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Re: New to Motorcycles - 2000 w bad mileage
Reply #9 - 07/10/17 at 14:56:08

Hi Everyone,

1. Thank you all for all the replies! I appreciate how active this forum is.

So my 135 psi (this was with the solenoid plugged in) and the jump to 148 psi (used wd40 as my oil on hand) - Would we consider that an okay compression / not to worry much about things on the engine side of it?

@norm92de - I live in Toronto Ontario - according to Wiki, distance above sea level seems to range from 75m to 209m.

@IslandRoad - The Carb has been pulled... My issue is I don't know anything about carb / how to test / diagnose etc ... I'm not entirely opposed to taking the carb to a shop if they are able to get it set up back to original spec / or whatever is optimal. Bike muffler and airbox is all stock I believe. Airbox definitely is... looking at stock photos from Google and the muffler looks the same as those images.

@Serowbot and @Alex Wheatley - Thanks, I'll look into that... Not a bad idea to replace given the simplicity... The bike I don't think got much love from its previous owners so it could be original.

@Gary in NJ - I agree, I'll be at the carb once I can figure out how to service it... If anyone has any recommendations or tech diagrams / how-to's on servicing the carb to bring it back to stock settings - that would be super! Spark Plug just got changed, air filter is new, and oil was done maybe 100kms ago.

@cygnet - I wouldn't be surprised... I don't think this bike had the best previous owners -_-'.....

@batman and @ohiomoto - I'll have to look into this white spacer / washer stuff... Batman, what's compression suppose to be on this engine?

Thanks everyone.

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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: New to Motorcycles - 2000 w bad mileage Reply #10 - 07/10/17 at 15:13:20 If you can follow instructions these guys can walk you through.
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batman Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 3806 osceola new york Gender:	Re: New to Motorcycles - 2000 w bad mileage Reply #11 - 07/10/17 at 23:40:27 Clymers said,compression 200 to 142psi (1400 to 1000 kPa).And you should unplug the solenoid ,and have a fully charged battery when doing the test. With the numbers you obtained without unplugging I wouldn't think compression is your problem.
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Gary_in_NJ

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Re: New to Motorcycles - 2000 w bad mileage
Reply #12 - 07/11/17 at 05:12:29

I wouldn't go back to the stock setting, that is a setting known not to work well.

The carb is a fairly simple device. Take it apart in stages. When I was young and worried about losing parts I did the disassembly in a large aluminum broiling pan. It goes back together the way it came apart.

The 4 screws that hold the bowl can be tricky. Use a JIS screwdriver, if you don't have one then use a NEW screwdriver that is at least 12" long (the longer the screwdriver, the better the torque transfer) and use a lot of down pressure. Don't reuse those screws - throw them away and replace with M4 Cap screws.

Get yourself some eye protection and a can or two of carb cleaner. Remove the jets and clean every port and passage. Take note of the numbers stamped on the side of the jets and report back. Also, there is a white spacer on top of the needle. Let us know the height of that too.

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A life-time student of motorcycling.
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My LS650=> http://suzukisavage.com/yabb2.2/Attachments/Left.JPG

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batman Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 3806 osceola new york Gender:	Re: New to Motorcycles - 2000 w bad mileage Reply #13 - 07/11/17 at 12:09:29 J.I.S. screwdrivers look like philliphead but have a shallower (blunt ) taper and fit down into the x shaped groves deeper, you cantake pilliphead and grind the tips down .
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FoXTaroT

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Re: New to Motorcycles - 2000 w bad mileage
Reply #14 - 07/17/17 at 05:54:44

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the delay - I got to the carb last night. Pulled it apart and cleaned it up. I didn't get into the white spacers. I pulled the 4 jets:

Top side big Jet - R23L
Top side small jet: R45
Bottom side main jet: 155
Bottom side pilot jet: 52.5

@Gary_in_NJ yeah, some of those screws were a huge pain... Thanks for the heads up on those!

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