1992 GSX1100G project

[GS1000G Shopper]

I tackled some sandblasting and painting today. Here is the exhaust as it came off the bike:


Here is one of the pipes sandblasted:


And painted with Rustoleum high heat ultra:




The mufflers are rattling a bit, so I hope they are not too rusted out inside. I'm halfway there on the exhaust.

I finished up the wheel & brake install today as well. I'm using a 90 degree banjo to AN at the master cylinder and then a straight AN hose with a 90 degree bend at the other end with a straight banjo to AN fitting at the caliper. I had this hose leftover from the Concours, so I decided to put it to use vs buying another hose. All the hydraulics are buttoned up now so I can start adding fluid and bleeding them, though I may wait to see if I'm going to change the handlebars to a 7/8" setup so I have a better selection of grips.

More bits and pieces are trickling in, such as the dual rear add-on lights and a brake light pulser. I've pre-wired for both of these, so they will be an easy install.

[GS1000G Shopper]

Rear lights & pulser are done, and I found the 7/8 bars I had on the ST1100 are about the same rise & pullback as the GSX-G bars. I found a nice looking and reasonably priced set of 7/8 controls with throttle tube from a late model SV650 and have bought them.

I hope to finish sandblasting & painting today, good thing I quit when I did yesterday as we got some rain.

After I complete the exhaust the only large thing to be done is sealing the tank and then painting it. I'll likely paint the fairing as well due to it having some chips & scratches.

[GS1000G Shopper]

I got the exhaust re-hung- only had to adjust one mounting bracket. That was the highlight of the day.

[rant]
I'm convinced that when Honda fired the person responsible for the V65 carb system, Suzuki hired them and they designed- but will never work on- the GSX airbox system. I failed to mention the plastic housing is non-removable without removing the engine. Who thinks up garbage like this? I'm really considering taking a sawzall to it and running pod air filters. I see why they are so popular.
[/rant]

I was able to use a V65 trick to mount the carbs- wrapped a load strap with ratchet around the front of the engine to the back of the carbs and got everything lined up & tightened the strap. Relatively easy job. I've been fighting the airbox for an hour and no trick seems to work with it- there is not enough room to get a screwdriver in and pry the stuck boot lips from around the carbs, and with very little wiggle room (did I mention it is non-removable?) I can't get the boots to snap into place.

I think I'll call it a day and try again tomorrow.

[GS1000G Shopper]

I won the battle with the air filter housing. Just took a lot of time and a long thin screwdriver to pull the boots out.

Since I have the rear brakes connected, I put the battery box back in as well as the rear tank mount. I've installed the side cover by the gearshift, and had to tap the holes so the bolts would thread in properly.

I've put a coat of citrus paint stripper on the tank. I had sanded a small portion of it and sprayed some Rustoleum gloss red on it. The new paint came off easily, but the older stuff is not budging much. The directions say to let it sit 30 minutes to 24 hours, so I'll let it go for a while.

My dual function gauges arrived yesterday (with black bezels this time ) and I now have then wired in. I found the bulb on the gear position indicator is out, and it looks like I can use a small bulb from Radio Shack for this. The bulb is like 4mm and has 2 wires. It looks like the gear position bulbs that I replaced in my red GS1000. I'm making a harness to calibrate the gauge functions, such as the fuel level. Having the sender out of the tank will be helpful to do this.

I found I had put the rear muffler hangers outside the mounts instead of inside- the centerstand would not go all the way up. This was an easy fix and I now have the outside header pipes installed. I'm waiting for some 16mm crush washers to install the front oil cooler hoses. I got the rear ones and the gauge senders installed yesterday.

I found the 7/8" handlebars from the ST1100 and am making some adapters for them for the 1" mounts and master cylinders. My "new" 2009 SV650 switches should be here today. I've ordered a replacement clutch switch since the old one didn't work.

The exhaust and plumbing should be done within a week, so I can then concentrate on painting.

[GS1000G Shopper]

Thanks for the tip. I have several variations of those here. The citrus paint stripper doesn't seem to work on 20 year old paint.

Made some more progress today:

The aluminum tube arrived. I cut it in half partway down and then measured off segments for the spacers. I've done a set for the bars and one for the brake MC. Apparently the rise is about 1/2" higher as my front hose no longer reached. I put a 30 degree angle fitting on the MC and it was a perfect fit.

I got the 16mm crush washers today also, so now the front oil lines are hooked up. I have wrapped the braided hose in some thermal tubing to keep the heal off the hose, but it has at least an inch of clearance from the pipes. The header pipes went back together easier than expected. I only had a problem with the #2 pipe, getting the hold-downs to stay in place, and then the outside bolt, as it is very close to the down tube.

It is now complete for the intake, exhaust, and oil systems. Both tires are new, as are the wheel bearings and brakes. Both masters have been rebuilt, as have the forks, and the rear shock is from a low-mile Bandit. All add-on wiring is completed and in place except for the new controls.

The controls for the SV650 arrived today as well. The horn button was stuck, otherwise they are great. I managed to realign the button so it works properly now. There is a little extra wiring involved since these do a few things the GSX-G controls do not, such as hazard flasher and high beam flash. I got both switches and the throttle tube with grip for about $50 shipped. The wiring diagram in the shop manual sucks! The print is so small that even magnifying it just looks like a blob of ink. I'm working on a better diagram since I could not find one online.

I got a small bulb at Radio Shack that is smaller than the one that came out of the GPI, but it fits OK and seems bright enough.

If all goes as planned I may be able to fire this up in a week or two.

[GS1000G Shopper]

Yesterday was a kind of two steps forward, one step back day. I spent a lot of time going over wiring diagrams for the SV650 (could not find an exact one for the SFV650) and comparing functions. After a lot of work, it boils down to this:

The later model bikes are wired with 2 extra wires on the right switch starter button to shut off the headlight when cranking (headlight power feed), and the clutch switch wiring is in the left switch harness vs. the separate wiring on the GSX-G.

I'm pleased to report by the end of the day, I had all functions working, to include hazard flashers and the high beam flash switch. Now for the one step back:

The SFV650 has a weird throttle cable setup. They exit out the front of the housing, not the bottom. I did not notice this until I was mounting the switch. In all the excitement about the wiring, I didn't think to look at the throttle cable exit.

The good news here is these parts seem to be greatly interchangeable after looking at some pictures of them. I've ordered a later model GSX switch (with bottom cable exit) that had a damaged kill switch, so I can transfer my pre-wired guts into it and be good to go.

The wiring was not too bad. The later switches use what appear to be Metripack connectors, whereas the GSX-G used Hitachi ones. I have a source called Vintage Connections that sells these and I have a selection on hand. I was able to de-pin both the old & new connectors and cut off the new terminals and add in Hitachi terminals, so the new switches have Hitachi connectors and plug right in.

Another issue was the stock 2-wire flasher. It worked slowly for turn signals (my new units have 1157 regular bulbs), and not at all for the hazards. After some research, I found a Tridon electronic flasher #EP35 at Advance Auto for $13 (less a 20% sale) that used 3 wires. It will likely work if I ever use LED bulbs. I had to re-pin the wires since they would have been backwards, and add a ground wire. I used an H4 headlight socket I had with some female terminals and it worked like new, a good flash rate for both signals and hazards.

I tested the remaining switch functions and everything works. The headlight goes out when the starter button is pressed with the kill switch off, and the engine turns over with the kill switch on.

I had to make a short interface harness to take the headlight power from the left switch main harness connector to the right switch and then back to the left one. I'm waiting on a clutch switch since my old one was broken. Speaking of which, when I pulled the right switch, I found a really poor quality wiring extension midway down the harness. I'm a fan of crimping and soldering when possible. I don't know why the extension was there, as it was long enough if the connector was where the harness was extended. Of course, 20 years from now someone may be looking at this and scratching their head as to how the 2009 model switches ended up on a 1992 GSX.

I finished up with turning down the rubber inserts from the bar weights so they can be used on the 7/8" bars. I now have everything shimmed on the bars and put the seat on for a test position, seems like it will be pretty good. I had to do a minor re-route on the clutch hose.

That was the extent of most of the recent work. In the meantime, I replaced the tach drive seals on my red GS1000G and cleaned the oil from it so I can ride it to church later this morning.

I'll try and add some more pics soon.

[GS1000G Shopper]

Thanks, that is the one I used (I spliced it together), but from what I've read about those bikes, my parts came from a "K9" model. Must have been a dog to part it out so young.

Several wire colors were different, but that got me into the ballpark. I'll post my diagram when I get some time to do a batch upload.

[GS1000G Shopper]

I found out the clutch switch was bad, so I bought a new one. That completed the switch wiring, and today I got the gauge panel with add-on gauges installed. I've hooked up the 7/8 throttle tube and turned down the rubber inserts for the bar weights so they will fit the smaller bars.

Sitting in the seat the gauges give a good view and the bars give a comfortable upright position.

Later today I hope to try out some "aircraft stripper" I found at Walmart. Apparently it has the methyl-whatchamacallit and this strips paint a lot easier than other means.

I used some polishing compound on the front fender an the paint looks like new. I wish the tank had been salvageable.

[GS1000G Shopper]

Time to catch up on some pics. On this post, the body panels and gas tank work.

Tank stripped and filler applied to dents:


Bottom of tank with new red paint:


Misc fairing and body panels:


Rear tail section after painting:

[GS1000G Shopper]

Gauges and 7/8" handlebar with SFV650 switches:

[GS1000G Shopper]

I found the aircraft stripper worked fairly well, but needed several applications. I went through almost the entire can just on the tank, and had already sanded off some of the paint near the dents.

I'm using some Krylon "Banner Red" gloss and it is very close to the red already on the bike. This is paint & primer in one, or so it says. I'm not going to repaint the fairing or lowers- even though they have some defects, the other parts are polishing up beautifully, so I can live with a few imperfections vs all the work to strip them. I stripped the rear cover to the plastic and tried some Krylon plastic paint. It did not come out well, so I top coated it with the Banner Red, which is shown above. I think it will polish up OK and then I'll topcoat it with some clear.

The painting is the main thing now. I still have a lot of little stiff to do, such as tightening the hydraulics now that everything is in place, filling with fluid & bleeding. I need to change the engine oil & filter and refill the rear diff. I have a trickle charge harness and the battery has been in place since I completed the rear brake hose setup, so that part is covered.

One other thing is to finish the inner fairing- still need to drill the other side for a hinge, install both locks, and then sand & paint the inner fairing and pocket covers.

Best case with good weather I could have most of this done in a week and be ready for a test fire. The Sabre took me a year and a half, but much of that was spent removing and replacing the carbs.

[GS1000G Shopper]

Today I was working on hydraulics. I got the clutch line hooked up only to find the slave cylinder was frozen. The next roadblock here is the oil seal on the side of the engine. The parts listing shows it is 6 x 34 x 5, and I had ordered this and the piston seal with my main order, but the seal I removed is 6 x 18 x 5. The larger seal won't fit. I looked at 1991 and 1993 models as well as chain drive GSX models and they all call for a 34mm seal. Looks like I'll either buy one from a seal outfit here for around $18 shipped or on eBay from the Czech Republic for about $11. Oil seals for some reason are not easy to buy in small quantities.

UPDATE
The pushrod is listed in the clutch section, and the seal in the rear drive section. The seal is PN 09283-06005, and two are required. You have to pull the shaft drive casing to get to the inside one. After pulling the casing, I see the 34mm seal goes into the crankcase at the pushrod opening.

I did get the front & rear brakes bled and roll tested them. So far so good.

The wiring behind the gauges needed securing, so I used some zip ties there. I may trim the metal turn signal brackets on the fork tubes as they seem to be in the way when the forks are turned.

The old oil is draining, I replaced the filter, and I refilled the diff with synthetic oil. I tended to a few other odds and ends, such as the air deflector on top of the engine, and the front fender. It looks like a new bike up front.

I have a fresh coat of paint on the tail section. It is not as nice as I'd like, but it will be good enough for a "10 footer". Such is life with low budget bikes. The tank will come out better as I was able to strip it to bare metal. I'm letting the filler dry where I worked on the three dents. Once done, I can sand it and it will be ready for paint. I need to treat it with the Caswell tank sealer as well, and will do this prior to painting it.

[GS1000G Shopper]

More work reveals more problems . I cleaned & treated the gas tank, and then applied the Caswell coating. Looks pretty good.

I've now refilled the diff and today I added engine oil, only to be rewarded with a small puddle on the left side. Looks like it is leaking at the shaft drive o-ring. I have one bolt out of it due to the clutch slave cylinder being off. I put it back in to see if the leak would slow, and apparently it did, but it looks like I'll need to replace that o-ring. I pulled the casing and it is a fairly simple job. I updated the prior post with this new info.

There is still a lot of work to do on the tank- mainly cosmetic- and then I can put the guts back in. I cleaned up and applied some anti-seize to the cap, so the locking mechanism is like new. The rubber seal was mostly gone, so I need to see if it is still sold or if I can make one from an o-ring.

Since I had oil in it, I cranked it over for a few times and the oil light went out- always a good sign.

[GS1000G Shopper]

More headway today, as I finished the fairing pocket covers (hinges & locks), plus painted the inner fairing and applied some thermal film to the underside to keep it from warping due to the heat from the headlight. I now have all the original red parts cleaned and polished, plus I rattle canned the tank (the dent is a lot better but still there- I think the fairing will cover most of it so I didn't spend a lot of time on it). Here are a few pics:

Inner fairing with pocket covers installed:


Plastic parts, fairing with new windshield:


Tank:


Underside of inner fairing (thermal covering is hard to see in this pic):

[GS1000G Shopper]

This morning I did some test fitting of the headlight, inner and out fairings. I managed to mess up the paint on the tank so I think as a Christmas present to me I'll get a quote on a professional spray job for it.

Here are some pics:
Gauge view with fairing and windshield:


Bracket for photocell and phone:


The aftermarket turn signals are a perfect fit:


Almost everything sitting in place:


Still waiting for seals: