what did you wrench on today??

[dorkburger]

MATCHED FENDER AND MID PANELS!!.....16 years later......
The mid panels don't sit exactly right due to tweaked bracketry, yet I'm thrilled....http://

[Buffalo Bill]

Lovely dorkburger!

Oil and filter change on my 1100G, long overdue.

[cowboyup3371]

The lower platform is ready for the deck boards and the ramp joists are resting on the sidewalk. I need to set posts for the railing on the sides and figure out why I cant make the correct angle between the upper and lower platforms.

[Lonemoccasin]

New to the forum and to Suzuki bikes, just bought a 1981 GS450L clutch cable snapped at the handle going through an intersection this prompted an inspection of all the cables. So now have ordered clutch, tach, throttle (it was too big, and caused a stiff roll), and speedo cables. There is a clatter of some manner in the top end, I made a video of noise and could sure use some help in identifying the possible source so I know where to look. I think it is the valve clearance but this is my first bike. Other than that today I just kinda cleaned some grime off of her and decided I will be replacing the stock phillips crankcase screws with allens. Is there a thread somebody would be so kind as to point me to that covers this all and is active? Thanks- Lone Moccasin

Post Script: video link https://youtu.be/9Duuq8Trjlc

[Guest]

Welcome to the GSR. You should have fun getting your new bike into prime condition.

For a general overview of the most common maintenance tasks, check out

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

After that, go to the Technical Forums. Use the Search function. Please, use the Search function. Almost all questions on GS maintenance have been answered many times.

Several people offer sets of replacement Allen bolts in SS for different models of GSes. Check out Ebay for current offerings. You can also buy them from McMaster-Carr, but you'll need to specify thread and length for each one.

[Lonemoccasin]

Welcome to the GSR. You should have fun getting your new bike into prime condition.

For a general overview of the most common maintenance tasks, check out

After that, go to the Technical Forums. Use the Search function. Please, use the Search function. Almost all questions on GS maintenance have been answered many times.

Several people offer sets of replacement Allen bolts in SS for different models of GSes. Check out Ebay for current offerings. You can also buy them from McMaster-Carr, but you'll need to specify thread and length for each one.

Thank You!

[dorkburger]

Crown molding debacle upcoming....

[Buffalo Bill]

Back to working on bikes?

Replaced this melted 9 pin connector, with single connectors. Yeah the Suzuki factory left some appendix wiring in there, after eliminating that there was only 3 wires to actually connect.
Kill switch, start switch, and headlight dimmer switch.

[dorkburger]

Epoxied the broken turn signal. Quick / easy repair attempt first. I didn't feel like searching the garage for a spare and then take the time to shorten the stalk as I did on the ones in use.
20160816_224817.jpg

[uk gs nut]

Been dismantling a corvette c3 to get ready for a re-paint. Had to dust off my imperial sockets and spanners/wrenches, never used them in 20 years. Everything I work on now is metric !

[Buffalo Bill]

Lovely! I used to own one myself.
Inspired by the drop in the price of petrol?

[Guest]

Today I finished replacing the sealed beam on my GS425L, which has an oddball 6-3/8" (162mm) headlight size, with an H4 headlamp. I noticed last week that my low beam light was out. I rode around with the high beam (probably the equivalent of a low beam anyway) for the rest of the week until that went and died too (funny timing but no reason I can figure).

I didn't want to stay with the sealed beam, because I'd like some brighter lights and if the bulb blows I like the idea of being able to just pick up an H4 bulb if I'm on the road and not have to try to find the right size sealed beam. After some forum searching, I saw various recommendations, including sourcing one on candlepower.com for about 70 bucks shipped.

Because I needed something with a bit faster shipping and partly because I'm unnecessarily frugal sometimes I went the amazon route and picked up a Hella headlight (https://www.amazon.com/HELLA-0023950.../dp/B001G76Q2W) and a bulb for $35. They list it as a 165mm headlight which is close to the 162mm I needed, though they also list it as a replacement for 7" headlights so who knows, so I went ahead and gambled and ordered it. Luckily it fit inside my headlight rim, after bending back the two tabs that hold the headlamp in place. The new headlight didn't have the same style mounting tabs (two tabs for holding beam, and one tab for adjuster screw), so I dremeled these tabs off the old sealed beam.



Then I epoxied the tabs to the new headlight unit (after making sure they would line up with the rim tabs and adjuster screw hole).



After that I fit the lamp into the rim, bent the rim tabs back in, screwed the headlamp in place, and put the adjuster screw back in.



Then I jammed that baby back into the headlamp housing.




We'll see how everything holds up in the long run, but for now it looks good, and the headlight seems to be a good improvement. In hindsight, I'm a bit on the fence about whether I should have just ponied up the extra cash and gotten the correct size, already-made lamp from candlepower, but that's water under the bridge at this point.

[wyly]

my clutch lever wouldn't return to it's original position unless I pushed it back, needless to say I had some eventful shifting issues on the road....after working for over an hour on the cable adjustment I found the problem, I had over tightened the nut on the clutch lever...

[mnferwerda]

Missing exhaust header bolt

I was changing my oil today and I discovered one of my exhaust header bolts was missing. 2 of the remaining 3 were somewhat loose also. At least they are not rusted...
IMG_1553.jpg

[Buffalo Bill]

Installed new friction plates and diaphragm springs in my 92-GSXR1100 engine.
Clutch was slipping in third under hard acceleration.