Newbie From South Africa - 79 GS1000

[Reap3r_za]

Hey guys and gals!

Riekert here from South Africa.

Just wanted to say hi! I\ve owned a 1979 GS1000 for around 10 years... and my dad owned it from new.

Never had time to get her running properly etc. But now I'm here with a vengeance.

Need to get some info on doing some things and settings some other things so should be a good place to start looking!

[Guest]

Welcome. Great looking bike, love the paint job. You've sure come to the right place to get that thing running like new again. Interesting guard at the back of the bike, must be from an old Vetter luggage set up or something like that.

[tkent02]

Welcome. Great looking bike, love the paint job.

Very interesting, is that factory paint that the rest of us never got or is that a custom job?

Either way I like it.

[Reap3r_za]

Very interesting, is that factory paint that the rest of us never got or is that a custom job?

Either way I like it.

Paint is still factory original, as well as the pin striping. and thanks! Will get some better pictures soon.

Welcome. Great looking bike, love the paint job. You've sure come to the right place to get that thing running like new again. Interesting guard at the back of the bike, must be from an old Vetter luggage set up or something like that.

Thanks! Just struggling with the float levels at the moment then she will be running sweet So digging for info on that currently. And thanks! The paint job is 100% original still but is staring to show its age. So will repaint but with the same color scheme. And I'm not 100% sure where my dad got them but they have been on the bike since I can remember. He always called them "crash bars"



I also have the front GS1000S Fairing that I want to redo an fit again. Just for the fun of it. haha. Doesn't look all that nice but sure helps for the wind.

[2BRacing]

Welcome to the forum! If you have not yet found BassCliff's treasure trove of information, look here http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

That "guard" at the back was indeed called a "crash bar" here locally in South Africa back in the day. In other countries the front ones are called "case protectors". At that time it was a legal requirement to have them fitted (also at the front) to all motorcycles over a certain engine capacity. They were fitted from new by the dealer who sold the bike. I still have both front and back bars fitted to my 850.

[Reap3r_za]

Welcome to the forum! If you have not yet found BassCliff's treasure trove of information, look here http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

That "guard" at the back was indeed called a "crash bar" here locally in South Africa back in the day. In other countries the front ones are called "case protectors". At that time it was a legal requirement to have them fitted (also at the front) to all motorcycles over a certain engine capacity. They were fitted from new by the dealer who sold the bike. I still have both front and back bars fitted to my 850.

Awesome! thank you for the link.

Yes, the front guards are still somewhere in the garage roof still. Took them off when the branches and exhaust was fitted.

The GS has 29xxx km on the clock. so its pretty much not driven yet.

[Reap3r_za]

So I haven't had time to do much to the old girl due to some garage issues :/

But that all sorted now, I got a new battery, drained the new oil and replaced it again. and tonight I'm stripping off the carbs again after we installed the new needle and seats etc as it is still leaking juice out of the overflow on the bottom of the carbs

[2BRacing]

If the float height has been correctly set to spec, look carefully to see if the floats maybe catch on the bowl gaskets, preventing proper movement of the float to cut off the fuel flow.