GS Road Trip Reliability? 2000 Miles or more?

[Carter Turk]

Changed oil/filter, checked valve clearances, had an exhaust header crack repaired, thought I checked chain n sprockets well enough before I left.
I brought tools, spare fuses, cables, oil, tent, tarp, sleeping bag etc and went my way from Washington to Michigan on the 83 Kat 1229 w/95k.
Chain n sprockets were toast midway thru Montana, fouled plugs w/pods in a torrential downpour entering Michigan from Ontario.
Had friend send tools and a shop send new chain n sprockets to Michigan.
Almost hit a deer @ 65mph in Wisconsin at dusk, decided to stealth camp right after that.
2 cable wires holding the clutch cable together coming home thru South Dakota.
Had a spare in the tail pack and the sprocket change was all wrong, too short.
Rear tire was all squared off entering Minnesota on the way there, was way less than ideal on the way home.
Ran out of gas nearly twice, but not quite.
2nd to last day home spent 18 hours in the saddle, thinking I could make it...couldn't.
Made it home though the next morning.

[Buffalo Bill]

Good story!!! Sounds like you under estimated a few things.
Fails are informative, perfection is not.

[storm 64]

You made it home, sounds like a successful trip with some adventure along the way. 👍 Don't you love that feeling in your gut when you're about to run out of fuel? Now that's living! 🌞

[Chuck78]

My sole long road trip this year, from Ohio to Barber Vintage Festival (Birmingham, AL) & back, 600 miles each way "direct route," I stretched out to 9 days & 2500 miles of mostly mountain twisties riding on nearly all 2-lane through West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina & zig zagging back back & forth between those 2 states for a few days...

The only mechanical issues I had this time were a 2nd faulty GS oil pressure sending unit (was flickering on and off randomly after a fill up - had spare as I suspected it was acting up), & also a lot more oil consumption than I've ever seen on a GS. Of course I was running the pi$$ outta the thing on the upper half of the tach, shifting up and down nonstop & heavy engine braking, riding twisty roads nonstop, seeking out the tightest twisty pavement that exists in the east...
My primary blame for the oil consumption was 1.5yrs ago & Vintage Motorcycle Days...Corner Party Burnout Contest....I ran back to my campsite after a few beverages, to retrieve my GS750 with a wasted rear tire needing changed...proceeded to do one of the smokiest burnouts I've ever witnessed, until I saw a kid with his smartphone selfie cam taking a vid of him lighting a cigarette off if my 4 into 1 header, at which point I looked at his phone screen to see my $350 Delkevic stainless header was glowing cherry red hot!!!!!
Terrible judgement on my part, but the rings/cylinders got a bit toasted. And I still rode it the rest of the season and the latter part of this season, on several late season weekend trips 350 miles from home... Tough engines!!! Teardown this winter is mandatory however...

My only other mechanical issue was despite taller shocks, the shorter GS650GZ dual disc forks, combined with the weight of all of my tools, food, water, &camping gear/luggage really made my bike squat A LOT under the G-forces of hard cornering, & the case saver crash bars that I JUST BOUGHT new & installed, I nearly ground through the wider stator side, & bashed it so many times when throwing it into the real tight low-speed curves on this last trip, that I cracked a weld on one of the crash bar mounting plates!!! Geez. Very scary the 1st few times banging it on the pavement, then I got used to "easing it" into corners. Also lost 1/2" ride height up front swapping to 18" rim/tire from stock 19". Taller forks going back on for next season...


My bike has been pretty well prepped for years. My wife makes fun of me - "Why do you always take half of your good running bike completely apart right before vacation!?"
Regulator Rectifier upgrades, newer wheel bearings. Always checking tire tread depths before road trips, oil change, valve adjustments, brake pad checks, fastener checks.
Ignition coils, plug wires, and resistor cap resistance checks have just now been added to my checklist. Fork oil every few seasons. Charging system output check. Stator ohm check and unhooked bike running on battery AC stator output tests may also be in order for the future, I'm running an original stator still...

[Chuck78]

In the past, I've broken a clutch cable (always have spare clutch and throttle cable in my tail section trunk), had wife's ignition switch fail (bypassed temporarily), had plastic ignition switch connector crumble apart and short out inside headlight bucket (from a used ign switch we put in wife's bike), rear brake sticking on my 1st ever long road trip (I had not rebuilt the rear caliper or master cylinder ever, no one else I had either!), Had a banjo bolt on the junction block on the triple clamps come a loose once, due to the motion of suspension travel arcing the brake lines into a c shape (since then I don't recommend running a non-crimped splitter, ONLY dual banjo + dual from master cylinder to each front caliper 4 dual disc fronts).
The only real deal breaker I have had was my oversight 8 years ago putting on a Dyna-S ignition and not doing an ignition relay mod. I got 50 miles from home on a week-long road trip on a 3yr old Dyna-S, & 2 cylinders cut out! turned around, went straight to the vintage Japanese salvage yard, bought a Kawasaki Dyna-S brand new, swapped it out onto the GS Dyna-S plate, continued on...
2 years after that I had a Dyna coil fail (not on road trip), so I put on a 13 year older (1999 mfg date) junkyard Dyna coil that has worked faithfully ever since.

I've fully gone through electronics on my bikes ever since, checking & cleaning connections, revised power distribution and fuses, SH775 Regulator Rectifier, good original stators, ignition relays added, DeOxit D9 contact cleaner on all connections, etc. All wiring alterations get soldered, de-fluxed, heat shrink sealed connections. Looking into watertight relays now, as well as aftermarket watertight connectors.

Oh and there have been a few torrential downpours where my K&N open element RC-2222 dual oval filters were so soaked that the bike was barely running... Much better than when running 4 individual pods however, but an airbox is PRICELESS for riding in heavy rain...

[Carter Turk]

Don't you love that feeling in your gut when you're about to run out of fuel? Now that's living! ��

Yeah the second time was worse. Was trying to navigate some third tier roads heading roughly east/west thru S. Dakota, when way out in the sticks I found out the road ahead was closed due to flooding. All these towns had the same size black dot on the "period correct" paper map and all had gas stations previous. That black dot was past the flooded road.

Then 3 people (2 guys & gal) pull up in a red mid 90's convertible Mustang w/white interior, all drinking Budweisers, looking pretty rural.
Said they had a gas back at the barn, which immediately sounded sketchy to me for whatever reason.
I thanked them for the offer and roughly doubled back with 128 on the odometer.
About 8 miles outta town the bike began sputtering, so I switched the Pingel to reserve, trying to keep steady low throttle.
Figured I be pushing the bike soon on a straight boring road, I see the yellow clam shell in the distance.
When I filled up I put 4.99 gallons in, w/159 on odometer. Always wondered if my bike actually held 5 gallons.

[Chuck78]

Yes I can relate to all of the above! With my bike in a poor state of tune, pilot fuel screws off quite a bit when experimenting, I hit reserve at 100 miles, flipped petcock to reserve, bike still would not run, the plastic filter screen insert in the petcock had shrunken & all of my gas at leaked past it!!!
I don't trust old petcocks with ethanol now! Pingel might soon be the only way...
I replaced the five-year-old petcock with a new one, and got the bike tuned better, & now have realized that my reserve as about 1.6 gallons worth of fuel waiting for me, can push to 165-175 miles on flat ground or uphill now...and that is on a worn-out engine at the lower end of acceptable compression.

[gustovh]

At the end of a 8 day 2080 mile ride, I rode in to the gas station in Biggs Junction, just short of I84. I should say coasted in, about a mile and a half downhill grade. I filled the tank on my 1980 GS 1100L with 3.4 gallons of gas, at 157 miles. The worst thing was a nagging vacuum lock caused by a clogged gas cap vent.

Have attended around 8 rallies and ended with more than 2000 miles added to the odometer on all but one. My 850 gave the most trouble with a hidden connection problem. Once that was found, game over.

V

[Buffalo Bill]

And now, motorcycle camping??

I have done motorcycle and bicycle camping, same gear.
There is an overabundance of camping gear pimps on utube, with their tedious shilling.
I see a breakdown between tents vs hammocks.
Hammocks look real good, except you need 2 trees. Ok if your bike is off road capable, my GS1100G is not.
Not gonna find a designated campsite with 2 perfect trees, will have to use a tent.
Will have to include motel camping: cooking in your room. I always do that.
Don't wanna encounter motel insect life!!! Have one friend who loves to tell his story about motel bed bugs.

[kochic]

Each year I make a motorcycle camping trip with a childhood friend.Me on my 1000 and him on a 1982 naked goldwing.Never had any problem beside a burned headlight bulb.All trip are over 2000-2300 kilometres.I used to carry half a quart of engine oil but not anymore.I carry a small tool kit, small jumping wire, inner throttle/clutch cable, bulbs, master link for the chain,2 spark plugs, chain wax and a small block of wood to support the swingarm or forks if a remove a wheel.Loaded with the camping stuff.I can remove the GK saddlebags with the rack in less than 5 minutes.In this picture the gs is loaded with clothes for 6 days, 2 camping chairs, one small table, a cooler, 4 person tent, air matress, a sleeping bag, 12'x20' tarp, 1 burner propane stove, stuff for cooking,rain suit, a beach towel, spare pair of shoe and lot of small stuff.
Marcmoi mosport 2018.jpg

[kochic]

The GS ready for the trip.We usually ride between 7.00 to 8.00 hours long days.
Marc
gk saddlebags.jpg

[steve murdoch]

The GS ready for the trip.We usually ride between 7.00 to 8.00 hours long days.
Marc
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I'm guessing you might occasionally exceed the speed limit in those 7-8 hour days? haha.
Great pics, Marc.

hey wait a minute....nice jacket. lol.

[kochic]

I'm guessing you might occasionally exceed the speed limit in those 7-8 hour days? haha.
Great pics, Marc.

hey wait a minute....nice jacket. lol.

yes, nice jacket...
The sound of the 2'' baffle aimed to the bottom of the saddlebag is quite motivating.
Seriously these old GS are quite happy all day at 75mph.
Marc

[Buffalo Bill]

That is well equipped for car camping!!!

[gustovh]

This was my second over 2000 mile ride on this bike, 2240 to be exact on this trip, we have 340 left to go when this picture was taken. Western states rally 2007 if I'm not mistaken. Absolutely no issues and the old girl served up over 50 mpg average.



V