Help for a young guy?
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- blaknift
- On the street
- Posts: 27
- Joined: Sat Jan 20, 2018 8:29 pm
- Country: United States
- Suzuki 2-Strokes: 77 GT250
- Location: Ohio
Re: Help for a young guy?
I work at a NAPA and took a look through our filter book. Was able to find a good UNI Brand style filter like that is originally for a 4-Wheeler that is perfect size to make 3 filters out of. Fits almost perfectly over the metal. Was even preoiled. It's just like the standard dirt bike type filter material. More coarse on the outside and more fine on the inside of the filter. Thanks for the help!
If interested, It's a NAPA 4320/ WIX 24320
If interested, It's a NAPA 4320/ WIX 24320
- dorT500
- To the on ramp
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- Country: USA
- Suzuki 2-Strokes: '75 T500M since '93 Ridden it over 100,000 mi
- Location: Galveston County, Tx.
Re: Help for a young guy?
No...No...No! You have to cut a peice of the exact type foam originally used, butt ends together and sew them like the originals were or it won't work.blaknift wrote:I work at a NAPA and took a look through our filter book. Was able to find a good UNI Brand style filter like that is originally for a 4-Wheeler that is perfect size to make 3 filters out of. Fits almost perfectly over the metal. Was even preoiled. It's just like the standard dirt bike type filter material. More coarse on the outside and more fine on the inside of the filter. Thanks for the help! If interested, It's a NAPA 4320/ WIX 24320


That filter you found should be fine....not exactly the same PPI (pores per inch)....ha!...talk about 'rivet counters'......as the originals but like I said, should be fine. I'll probably check one out myself. As I mentioned earlier, just be sure and cut them just a bit too wide so they seal up nicely. Good find. Thanks for the part number.

You're welcome and there is no hurry in sending me that jobber discount bar code.blaknift wrote:I work at a NAPA.......Thanks for the help!



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GONE.......WITH A PUFF OF SMOKE AND A BLUR OF SPOKE
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Re: Help for a young guy?
Hello blaknift,
I have made replacement filters using off-the-shelf purpose made filter foam bought in flat sheets. Cut one rectangle of foam to wrap around the filter, but make it slightly longer so you can sand the ends to make a scarf joint. Glue together using clear silicon gasket goop and you now have a tube of foam. Place this on the filter body to maintain the shape and again using a simple butt joint glue and end cap of foam on. A little bit of trimming and you should have a slip on filter, repeat for the other side etc.
Cheers Geoff
I have made replacement filters using off-the-shelf purpose made filter foam bought in flat sheets. Cut one rectangle of foam to wrap around the filter, but make it slightly longer so you can sand the ends to make a scarf joint. Glue together using clear silicon gasket goop and you now have a tube of foam. Place this on the filter body to maintain the shape and again using a simple butt joint glue and end cap of foam on. A little bit of trimming and you should have a slip on filter, repeat for the other side etc.
Cheers Geoff
- dorT500
- To the on ramp
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- Country: USA
- Suzuki 2-Strokes: '75 T500M since '93 Ridden it over 100,000 mi
- Location: Galveston County, Tx.
Re: Help for a young guy?
Scarf joints and end caps.....nice touch on some applications.Zunspec4 wrote:Hello blaknift,
I have made replacement filters using off-the-shelf purpose made filter foam bought in flat sheets. Cut one rectangle of foam to wrap around the filter, but make it slightly longer so you can sand the ends to make a scarf joint. Glue together using clear silicon gasket goop and you now have a tube of foam. Place this on the filter body to maintain the shape and again using a simple butt joint glue and end cap of foam on. A little bit of trimming and you should have a slip on filter, repeat for the other side etc.
Cheers Geoff


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_______________________________
GONE.......WITH A PUFF OF SMOKE AND A BLUR OF SPOKE
______________________
_______________________________
GONE.......WITH A PUFF OF SMOKE AND A BLUR OF SPOKE
- blaknift
- On the street
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- Joined: Sat Jan 20, 2018 8:29 pm
- Country: United States
- Suzuki 2-Strokes: 77 GT250
- Location: Ohio
Re: Help for a young guy?
Hahah yeah we are about the only parts house around with a massive wall of books behind us still. Sometimes it's a much better process than the computers. If everything works properly I might do that with the filters as it looks quite good and professional. Safe to say i'm not the best with a knife on a sticky air filter, But I made sure to leave extra room so it seals on the end. Everything looks good, so wish me luck! Hopefully I can spend the weekend enjoying the bike again instead of worrying about it! 

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Re: Help for a young guy?
Hello blaknift,
I could not find the photo of my home made foam filters but the photo above is the spitting image of my efforts
When still dry without filter oil it is quite easy to cut the foam using a sharp X-acto model blade or a box cutter with a nice new blade fitted.
Cheers Geoff
I could not find the photo of my home made foam filters but the photo above is the spitting image of my efforts

Cheers Geoff
- dorT500
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- Suzuki 2-Strokes: '75 T500M since '93 Ridden it over 100,000 mi
- Location: Galveston County, Tx.
Re: Help for a young guy?
Just for illustration for others that might be interested, here is the OEM setup still available from Suzuki or at least was the last time I looked. Filters were never available separately.blaknift wrote:Hahah yeah we are about the only parts house around with a massive wall of books behind us still. Sometimes it's a much better process than the computers. If everything works properly I might do that with the filters as it looks quite good and professional. Safe to say i'm not the best with a knife on a sticky air filter, But I made sure to leave extra room so it seals on the end. Everything looks good, so wish me luck! Hopefully I can spend the weekend enjoying the bike again instead of worrying about it!

I guess more recently made filters may look like this. Pic from ebay listing and CMSNL shows the same style.

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GONE.......WITH A PUFF OF SMOKE AND A BLUR OF SPOKE
______________________
_______________________________
GONE.......WITH A PUFF OF SMOKE AND A BLUR OF SPOKE
- blaknift
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- Country: United States
- Suzuki 2-Strokes: 77 GT250
- Location: Ohio
Re: Help for a young guy?
Well It's about time for the update.....
Worked from 5 til about 9:30 Friday night getting everything put back together. Bike wouldn't run for crap, I had to keep it about half throttle to keep it running. It would surge and pulse, and the moment you let off the throttle it would die. Headlight was going crazy and the battery was only reading about 11v. Saturday morning I swapped the battery out and tried to diagnose it for a couple more hours. I got frustrated and left it alone over the holiday (Memorial Day here in the states) and started back working on it yesterday.
I took the plugs out and made sure there was good spark. That was ok. I went ahead and took the airbox off, then the carbs. I tore the carbs down and they were spotless inside. I took the cylinder head off in fear that I had put the rings back in incorrectly and they were tearing up the cylinder. Nope, Everything there was fine. I started putting everything back together. I put the carbs back on and opened the view port on the right hand carb to make sure the dimple was lined up for the oil injection system. DOH! No dimple..... I pulled the other slide out and sure enough, There was the dimple on the slide that was in the left hand carb. I swapped the slides over and now she idles perfectly like a kitten. I pulled my hair out for 3 days over my own stupidity.
Bike idles sweetly now, I still need to adjust the clutch cable and there Is a knocking coming from the chain, I don't think I lined it up properly. Tires are pretty much original and need replaced as well, But now my workbench is cleaned off and the bike is running great.
I want to thank you all again for all of your help and suggestions. It is yet to be seen if my original knocking problem is actually fixed, But I'm happy to have it back where it is. Thank you all so much.
TLDR: Don't work on Motorcycles when you are dead tired. You might make stupid mistakes that you won't even realize until much later......
Worked from 5 til about 9:30 Friday night getting everything put back together. Bike wouldn't run for crap, I had to keep it about half throttle to keep it running. It would surge and pulse, and the moment you let off the throttle it would die. Headlight was going crazy and the battery was only reading about 11v. Saturday morning I swapped the battery out and tried to diagnose it for a couple more hours. I got frustrated and left it alone over the holiday (Memorial Day here in the states) and started back working on it yesterday.
I took the plugs out and made sure there was good spark. That was ok. I went ahead and took the airbox off, then the carbs. I tore the carbs down and they were spotless inside. I took the cylinder head off in fear that I had put the rings back in incorrectly and they were tearing up the cylinder. Nope, Everything there was fine. I started putting everything back together. I put the carbs back on and opened the view port on the right hand carb to make sure the dimple was lined up for the oil injection system. DOH! No dimple..... I pulled the other slide out and sure enough, There was the dimple on the slide that was in the left hand carb. I swapped the slides over and now she idles perfectly like a kitten. I pulled my hair out for 3 days over my own stupidity.
Bike idles sweetly now, I still need to adjust the clutch cable and there Is a knocking coming from the chain, I don't think I lined it up properly. Tires are pretty much original and need replaced as well, But now my workbench is cleaned off and the bike is running great.
I want to thank you all again for all of your help and suggestions. It is yet to be seen if my original knocking problem is actually fixed, But I'm happy to have it back where it is. Thank you all so much.
TLDR: Don't work on Motorcycles when you are dead tired. You might make stupid mistakes that you won't even realize until much later......
- ConnerVT
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Re: Help for a young guy?
Swapping the slides are a rite of passage for Suzuki twin owners. Welcome!



- jabcb
- Moto GP
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Re: Help for a young guy?
On the T250/GT250 twins you can also run into problems swapping the float bowls.
Those bikes have one choke that feeds both carbs. The float bowls are different & only one has the flow passage for the choke. So if you swap the float bowls then you have no working choke.
No need to ask why I know this.
Those bikes have one choke that feeds both carbs. The float bowls are different & only one has the flow passage for the choke. So if you swap the float bowls then you have no working choke.
No need to ask why I know this.
BAS (Bike Acquisition Syndrome) - too many bikes but have room for more
Suzuki:
GT750 2x75
GT550 72 & 75
GT380 72
T500 69 project & 73 project
T350 69 & 71
Honda 85 CB650SC & 86 CB700SC
09 Triumph Bonneville SE
Suzuki:
GT750 2x75
GT550 72 & 75
GT380 72
T500 69 project & 73 project
T350 69 & 71
Honda 85 CB650SC & 86 CB700SC
09 Triumph Bonneville SE
- blaknift
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- Location: Ohio
Re: Help for a young guy?
I made 700000000% sure I didn't do that when I took the carbs apart haha, Didn't want to screw myself up anymore.jabcb wrote:On the T250/GT250 twins you can also run into problems swapping the float bowls.
Those bikes have one choke that feeds both carbs. The float bowls are different & only one has the flow passage for the choke. So if you swap the float bowls then you have no working choke.
No need to ask why I know this.
I sure felt stupid when I figured it out. Fired up first kick after that.
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- Yeah Man, the Interstate
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Re: Help for a young guy?
Bin there done that.blaknift wrote:I sure felt stupid when I figured it out. Fired up first kick after that.

76 GT185
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77 GT380
76 GT500
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73 GT750
74 GT750
71 T250 scrambler
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77 GT250
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- Alan H
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Re: Help for a young guy?
Help for others is always appreciated. Remember that the only stooopid question is the one you 'forgot' to ask.
The Suzy twin 'carb slides swapped over' syndrome is more common than you might think.
It takes cojones (non US folks look it up) to admit a mistake.
The Suzy twin 'carb slides swapped over' syndrome is more common than you might think.

It takes cojones (non US folks look it up) to admit a mistake.
Think of how stupid the average person is, then realise that half of them are more stupid than that.
- blaknift
- On the street
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- Country: United States
- Suzuki 2-Strokes: 77 GT250
- Location: Ohio
Re: Help for a young guy?
Got to ride it a bit last night and the engine seems in order. When the bike is on the center stand and I roll the rear tire as if the bike was moving forward I can hear a knocking. There seems to be a set spot where it does it, and it does it when I rotate the wheel in both directions. It sounds like it's coming from the gear box but I can't be too sure. Chain seems to be fine and both the sprockets are in good condition. Doesn't appear to be knocking on the chain guard at all, and distance to the center of the hub from the swing arm bolt is 15 1/4 inches on both sides, So I believe it to be in good alignment. Gearbox runs through all the gears with no issues what so ever, and only has 4600 miles, So I would doubt there is anything worn excessively.
Here is a video of the sound, Not sure if it helps or not. I'm at work with no speakers haha. Sounded ok on my phone.
https://youtu.be/6y1qZKdRL0w" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;\
Video is with the bike in neutral
Here is a video of the sound, Not sure if it helps or not. I'm at work with no speakers haha. Sounded ok on my phone.
https://youtu.be/6y1qZKdRL0w" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;\
Video is with the bike in neutral
- Alan H
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Re: Help for a young guy?
Strange. I would be tempted to take the chain off and try it, or put the back wheel on the ground so it doesn't rotate. Also spin the back wheel and see if the noise is there. If you take the plugs out, you'll be able to do that in all the gears. You might need to turn the rear wheel to 'get' in and out of gear with the gear lever and to regain neutral. Don't force it, just lift/press the lever as you turn the wheel and it will click in. Remember that the engine would normally be running when you do this, so would turn the gearbox and help selector alignment as normal.
Think of how stupid the average person is, then realise that half of them are more stupid than that.