Tip #1 fallen throttle slides

When the throttle slide for one cylinder drops totally, it causes a massive flat spot between around 4 to eight grand. In my case, the bike became so under powered that it was dangerous to ride in city traffic. This item is also of concern for a less severe reason. With time, the holders wear down and mess up the bikes fuel mixture. This leads to a noticeable decline in performance. (However, it is a good way to get you scratching your head & going in to a service department for assistance/loss of money!)

1. Offensive Item.

This is the culprit. Here you can see a fully stuffed slide holder; the very same one that dropped my slide & caused me grief. I hate this thing. (so what else do I do but immortalize it on a web site?) notice the right hand side of the holder tapers out only slightly compared to the holder below, a half worn holder. Note that this holder is from a 1995 across that has done 31900 kms.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

2. Half Worn holder.

You can see that the right hand side here tapers out enough to grab the throttle slide body from the inside. However, the play that is present as it is half worn means that the accuracy of your carby needle & slide is way out. If one is worn out then they are probably all on the way so replace all four at the same time; it will only cost you about $22 for the parts. Save old ones like this in your glove box as a quick 'n nasty repair if you ever suddenly see #1 offensive item above. Or better still, ride with a new spare (or four) in waiting.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

3. New Part. (Suzuki part no. 13511-38400)

The new item has a perfect taper that is seen as a ridge on the two old holders. It holds the slide tight with no play.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

4. The repair.

Gain access to the carbs by swinging back the glove box/fake tank. (If you don't know how to do this, see Krazy Ivan's site for instructions.) Take off the top of the carby (4 philips head screws) and remove the rubber diaphragm. If both holders are still doing their job by grabbing at the slides, they will come out at the same time. If one has fallen, you will take out the diaphragm followed by the slide that has fallen, and the dud holder is likely to be sitting in the small well at the front top of the carb. Take the broken holder out and throw it to kingdom come, ritualistically burn it in an occult ceremony or make a web site about it. Note the direction of the assembly as you pull it out. The plastic part under the diaphragm that holds the slide holders has its openings set forward towards the front of the bike. A small tab on the circumference of the diaphragm itself is mounted towards the rear of the carb and should help you get it back in place (if you become disorientated after the occult ceremony.)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

These images below are what you should have in your hands now. The new holder just pushes in to the large plastic piece under the diaphragm. You can take off both slides and check for play between holder and slide. Any play? Replace the holder. Otherwise accuracy of the needle valve is thrown out. This is evident as the adjustments on the needle for mixture are a hell of a lot smaller than the possible play on a worn slide holder such as seen in #2 above. Holders can be (gently) hauled out with a set of pliers.
 

Make sure everything is scrupulously clean first before reinserting the assembly with new holders into the carb. Especially if you choose to lay down the assembly in a filthy area like I have in the pictures above. I was moments away from putting them into cat litter for the photo, but prioritised cleaning/labour time over political- symbolic statements.

That's it. Lay it all back in the way that you found it and do a big wheelie for me (yeah, right.)

PS you may need to make adjustments to the needle setting if the bike isn't running right.