No Air Filter

[Guest]

Hey all, really appreciate all the help I've received so far as a noob on this forum. Hopefully ill be able to reciprocate soon! I decided to check the air filter on my 82 GS1100G and found it to be totally disintegrated. Replaced it this weekend, but I'm wondering what the next step might be in terms of seeing what kind of damage no filter might have caused?

No idea how long the PO ran the bike with the filter in that shape, but it is a worrying sign for sure...

I'm thinking I will pull off the fuel tank and inspect the carberator, maybe run some of that fuel additive through the system (but does that stuff even work?), any advice on next steps?

Thanks!

[alke46]

How's it running? If it is running good, just ride the snot out of it. If you go looking for trouble, you just might find it and not in a good way.

[hillsy]

If it was mine I'd take the carbs and airbox off and clean both. Even with proper air filtration, carbs should just be cleaned as a matter of course.

[Steve]

When you say "no air filter", do you mean that the airbox was still there, but not the filter?

If that is the case, just get a new filter, install it and keep riding.

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[Jhoot]

Ya I mean it seems to be running alright, but I have nothing to compare it to. My guess is that if the air filter was neglected then most likely everything else was as well. The air box is there, filter metal frame is there, but the foam filter itself had fallen apart and was mostly missing. I replaced the filter the other day, sounds like outside of maybe cleaning the carbs that im good to just keep riding.

[Steve]

You might want to check your valve clearances before going too far.

Valve clearance adjustment was often overlooked because it was not exactly cheap to have it done at a shop.
Since the bike is new to you, it would be good to ensure that it is set properly as a baseline.

How are the tires? Not just the tread depth, how OLD are they?

How are the brake lines? What??? Suzuki even recommended replacing them every two years. Very few were ever changed.

When you get around to changing your rear tire, be sure to check the splines in the hub. Starting some time in the '82 model year, they switched to a softer metal compound that would wear away rather quickly. A quick look at them will appear to be just fine, you have to look just past the edge to where the wear occurs. It's not fun to be stranded (hundreds of) miles from home with a bike that will not move on its own.

.

[Jhoot]

Thanks for advice! Yes tires and brake lines are on the list, tire tread is okay but rubber is hard and the rear skates in the rain. Ill be sure to look close at the rims/hubs too, thanks for that!