Hi, new GS850 owner from Oz, clipons, ignition coils, parts suppliers info?

[thebrandonbeezy]

Welcome! Always good to see another local pop up on here!

If you're tempted by the cheap Chinese clip-ons on eBay, I've been warned off them twice now. I had a set for my Kat but am not going to use them. Apparently two people locally here have had issues with them, primarily due to the aluminium they're made of being such low quality that the mounts tend to stretch during use and therefore start moving on the fork legs.

Whereabouts in Brissie are you? The Katana Australia folk around here are quite the active bunch, and more specifically the north side guys get together pretty much every Saturday morning for a ride starting in Cashmere and usually heading up Mt Mee.

When I say Katana Australia, they're not (too) exclusive, and we regularly have riders on other brands including a fella on an old SR500, so you'd be more than welcome to join us on your XS. You may get a jibe or two but all in good fun

We have a couple of regulars on GS1100G's, and one of those fellas used to work for a Suzuki dealer back in the day and knows a thing or two about the GS/GSX range. They're a pretty switched on bunch!

Your 450... if it's a '79 surely that would make it a 400? Unless the date is the last half of '79 which would make it an '80 model and the first of the 450 series?

could you please post a picture of the clip ons you decided not to use?

here are the ones i installed on my 1000g yesterday, theyre off of amazon and were cheap. but seem to be built rather well. no sleeve was needed for the fort tube to clip on flange like ive seen some of the ebay units require.
my bike only needed to be lowered 31mm but since mine still has the 19 up front and a 16 in the rear im not concerned with the steering geometry being to aggressive.

20171226_122144 by Brandon Hobock, on Flickr

20171226_122211 by Brandon Hobock, on Flickr

20171224_153248 by Brandon Hobock, on Flickr

20171224_153352 by Brandon Hobock, on Flickr

they have a slight rise built into them and are perfectly comfortable for me. i am long armed though.
hope this helps, and welcome to the forum!

[butterbeatsrecordstore]

Your bike looks tough.... practical and fast... eye catching without being an attention whore....

what pods are you using? how hard to do? rejetted the carbs? Was it worth it??

The clips on were similar to yours but the ends just had simple plastic plugs and no size marking.... the metal felt like I could bend it in my hands.... I just figured $35 for a learning experience..

[butterbeatsrecordstore]

trying to upload some flix of the bike... I guess non standard headlight, horn, handlebars?, clocks definitely off something else.....

[butterbeatsrecordstore]

IMG_1085.jpg

I see holes drilled for two horns, 2 horns on the wiring diagram ... and this is my current horn. Which when connected to good battery honks quite like a loud goose.... but while on the current wiring system just a slight sound of engagement.... if a normal horn was 10 sound level it would be a 1.... this horn has dreadful connection points, round stubs as you might be able to see.

[thebrandonbeezy]

Has k&n pods. It came with them when i got it. I cant really comment on if it really made a difference because there are a number of things i need to address before i can get it tuned back up. (Its running rich) the big one is the head gasket is leaking., and second the gaskets for the header are blown out. My last 1000g had a cut air box and k&n drop in and a custom 4 into 1 and was faster, but that bike was tuned up really well. I used an exhaust sniffer to adjust jetting instead of plug chops. Now this bike doesn't run bad, its just really rich and i havent bothered to leant it out yet because soon as i fix the head gasket and exhaust and adjust the valves it will be a total different bike.

[thebrandonbeezy]

Thanks for the compliment!

[Guest]

Brandon, those bars do look a lot like yours but I don't recall any measurements on them either:

Untitled by starpoint73, on Flickr

And apologies for the thread jack!

Back on topic, I believe there is both a low and high tone horn on the bigger GS', my little 450 just has the good ol' meep meep single tone which is useless.

I got one of these Stebels for the Kat which seems to have a good tone and volume to it, and these guys are just at Virginia also:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Stebel-410Hz-Single-Electric-Horn-12-volt-Car-MotorBike-Bike-Red-Black-New/132049851994?epid=23005072487&hash=item1ebec8d65a:g:NTkAAOSwU8hY7ZXe

[thebrandonbeezy]

I'd bet a dollar theyre the same... if they end up being annoying and moving ill weld a tab on to bolt it to the triple like a factory would.

[butterbeatsrecordstore]

Thanks for the invite.... appreciate it... once I have it running I will definitely like to tag along.... with the XS400 you guys would have to promise not to get out of 3rd... maybe even 2nd gear so I could keep up.....

Merry Festivus

Butter Beats

[butterbeatsrecordstore]

Thanks for the invite.... appreciate it... once I have it running I will definitely like to tag along.... with the XS400 you guys would have to promise not to get out of 3rd... maybe even 2nd gear so I could keep up.....

Merry Festivus

Butter Beats

Good stuff, Musgrave/Waterworks Rd is my usual route home of an afternoon (I work in the Valley), so if you see my little old GS450 rolling through give us a wave.

Definitely let me know if you're keen to join us on a Saturday morning and I'll let you know the details. I typically get out about once a fortnight, but probably the 6th January is the next time I'll get up there.

Keen to see some pic's of the bikes for sure.

Oh, and for genuine parts, I can highly recommend Mick Hone down in Victoria. If you're not just buying an oil filter usually his price plus postage ends up the same or cheaper than the local dealers here and those guys give excellent service. They're Katana specialists so that makes it even more appealing for myself of course

[Guest]

Haha no worries, although we're not all that fast... most of us are my age or older (mid 40's and up) and are over our boy racer days, although there are a few spots where we let loose a little. There's usually an SR500 with us and a fella we call slow Dave... and I'm only on the 450 until I finish my Kat...