OK so here is the deal. I went to the local Suzuki dealer before to buy new spark plugs. I told him my problem, that I rarely rode the bike last season, it sat for long periods without running, and it sounds like it is running on 3 cylinders. He immediately said "carburetor has a gummed up needle." Now this is where I would be curious to see what y'all think.
According to this guy, and it sounds legit, this has a lot to do with the type of gasoline sold in my area. Not that it directly causes it, but his opinion is that the additives put in fuel in metropolitan areas has an adverse effect compared to fuel in more rural areas where additives might not be as plentiful. Also the fact that in rural areas the riding is less stop and go and you burn fuel better and more economically because the engine is running which is what it is supposed to do. The engine isn't engineered to idle and run, idle and run. Supposedly the chemicals in the fuel can eat away at the float bowl needles and/or form a ring around the needle that causes it to stick when the fuel gets gummy. He went as far as to say this happened in his own Suzuki even though he had added some stabil but still let it sit way too long. He said his bike started pouring fuel out of the overflow tubes. I told him as much as it ran like crap last year, it never did that.
His suggestion was to let them take the carbs off the bike, clean them and clean out the fuel tank. He said it was a mostly labor intensive procedure and that the needles in the carbs would still be good to go. They soak them in an acidic solution, clean them off, and set them up. He said it would run about $250. I'll also have them change the oil and check the plugs just to be sure if I have the work done.
When I mentioned that I was aware my bike had the "questionable pistons" he claimed that the real problem with those pistons lay in how the bike was ridden. Those who saw a real oil consumption problem were riders who weren't necessarily suited for that type of bike. They really should be on a cruiser and didn't treat the Bandit like a sport bike. Now he said I could have the pistons replaced but that Suzuki is using the same exact piston as a replacement. They stopped using a piston with a smaller oil port and went back to the same piston that is in there now. I didn't quite understand how he put this to me and didn't bother to get into it. At this point if I ever have a piston swap done, I'll be using Hole Shot high compression. Might as well supe the biotch up right?
This sounds like it could be a legit solution. I've had pretty much a 50-50 response from others I've asked who ride. Some say carbs are gunked, some say the plugs are fouled from sitting or oil burning or whatever. The story about the fuel chemical stuff was weird. I've never heard that opinion before.
