[Foolmoon]

Hi,
I'm not sure if this is the right place to go to ask but I have a 1982 Suzuki GS 450 L.
I only got it maybe a couple weeks ago. I was riding it today and the oil light came on
while I was coming to a stop and then died once I was in first gear. I checked the oil and the oil levels seemed fine.

I had changed the oil and filter a week ago because the fuel petcock had been
left to PRI for a long time.
Well, then I had taken it for a cruise shortly after changing the oil and then left the fuel
Petcock on PRI. So I changed out the oil for a second time just to be safe and then also
changed out the spark plugs. I looked up the gap and it said in a chart online somewhere
that the gap should be .030 inches so that's what I gapped them at. I found a service manual for it online and the manual says it should be between .024-.028 inches.

I did notice while riding the other day that some smoke was coming from the crankcase
near the shifter.

I also noticed it idles high and seems to run high rpms in most of the gears (4k-5k going 30 mph in 3rd, 4k-5k going 40 mph in 4th, 4k-5k going 45-50 mph in 5th) but also it seems like
it'll die without the choke on so I ride with the choke on when doing the few short cruises (6 miles tops) that
I've taken it on so far. Maybe leaving the choke on has something to do with the high rpms?

Anyway, I'm not sure if there's any shops near me that can look at it and wanted to hear
what someone else with more experience might have to say about it.

The bike started fine after the oil light came on and the engine died and I was able to get it home but the second it gets shifted down to 1st it dies.

 

[Beairsto Racing]

It sounds like you need to clean / rebuild the carbs.

 

[Foolmoon]

It sounds like you need to clean / rebuild the carbs.

Okay, I'm thinking that may be the case. The guy I bought it from said he had rebuilt them and cleaned them but I know carbs can be an easy thing to get wrong. I'm going to try and adjust the idle fuel mixture screw and see if that makes a difference. Do you have any experience bringing a bike into a shop? We don't have any Suzuki dealers here as far as I'm aware. We do have some shops that are open to ATV's and dirt bikes. I'm wondering if I should bother trusting it to someone who doesn't specialize in my make?

 

[Beairsto Racing]

It sounds like you're mechanically inclined, so you're probably better off getting a service manual for your bike and trying to sort it out yourself.
There's a generation now who have never worked on carbs, so it can be hard to find a shop that's interested in working on older equipment or has experience in diagnosing carb related running issues.
It's a simple machine with CV carbs...the diaphragms and o-rings need to be in good shape.