Baby's First Suzuki

[Guest]

Hey, friends.

After 20 years of Yamahas, Hondas, and Bridgestones I finally picked up my first Suzuki tonight. It's an '82 GS1100GL that I picked up off Detroit Metro Craigslist for a princely $300 for a fix/flip project. It runs (just) but needs some major carb work along the basic tune-up work (filters, fluids, plugs, etc.). I haven't given it a real thorough inspection yet, but on the surface it looks like it's in fantastic condition. Like I said earlier, this is my first Suzuki so any and all recommendations/advice is more than welcome.

[Steve]

Looks like a great start for a project, and you basically stole it for that price.

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[steve murdoch]

Welcome to the site, BSAKat.
A basically stock project that runs for $300 is a bargoon.
It looks to have had serious heat issues to have blued the pipes all the way back in the muffler area. [carb mixture, tight valves]

[Guest]

Looks like a great start for a project, and you basically stole it for that price.

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Yeah, the guy selling it had a new baby, was living with in-laws while building a house, was given this bike by his brother-in-law, and didn't know anything about bikes. He just wanted it gone and I was happy to oblige him. It's a little big for my usual tastes (I specialize in stuff 650 and smaller) but I really couldn't turn this thing down. I'm going to get it running, clean it up, and sell it off to feed my other projects.

[LAB3]

Yeah, the guy selling it had a new baby, was living with in-laws while building a house, was given this bike by his brother-in-law, and didn't know anything about bikes. He just wanted it gone and I was happy to oblige him. It's a little big for my usual tastes (I specialize in stuff 650 and smaller) but I really couldn't turn this thing down. I'm going to get it running, clean it up, and sell it off to feed my other projects.

Welcome to the forum. Great price for sure but keep in mind that old UJM's are a dime a dozen in the Detroit area, flipping for a profit is a tough game.

[Guest]

Welcome to the forum. Great price for sure but keep in mind that old UJM's are a dime a dozen in the Detroit area, flipping for a profit is a tough game.

Oh, I'm well aware. I've been doing this a while.

[Redman]

maybe you took off the sidepanels for transport....?

what you have there is all stock condition (which is its value).

You will want to learn about the hub in the rear wheel (I repeat: IN the rear wheel, not the final drive unit)

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[dorkburger]

Welcome. Looks like a nice bike for the money.
Keep in mind that L bikes are not as valuable as the E bikes. Hopefully with your cheap buy in there's still room for profit..... or maybe you'll ride it and get hooked on GS bikes....

[Guest]

The sidecovers are in a box with some other stuff. In other news, you guys wanna see something real gross?







Found the problem with the carbs! Carbs and airbox went right into the trash. I'm going to pull the head and inspect everything inside. If it's good, I'll replace everything with eBay and swap meet parts. If not, well, I'll part it out and at least make my money back. Hopefully it's salvageable, since it's really nice otherwise.

[dorkburger]

Wow that is some epic crud!
Personally I would still hold on to them though in case there?s a need for brackets, the carb caps, etc

[Guest]

Hah, right? It's the worst I've ever seen. It's amazing. Good call on the brackets. I already have a lead on a set of carbs with intakes and new pod filters, so if the inside of the head looks okay I'll be grabbing them.

[Peppermint Patti]

I think you're going to LOVE it!!! Please be careful, as I remember, they are a bit easier to wheelie when you take off too fast...
Yeah... That's pretty cruddy!!!

[sam000lee]

Did you say it ran with those carbs???