83 GS1100GK restore / refresh

[Redman]

Let's give this a shot.....

This is the "BBCode full linked". Looks fine on my phone, any issues on a proper PC?

[URL=https://i. . . . . . . . . URL]

.

Good on Notebook 'puter.

Keep the updates comming.
Good to see a complete GK.

Good that you got carbs and airbox back on. Mine was off for about a year (in hot summer garage and cold winter garage) and the boots shrunk enough to cause trouble.

Minor, but , I notice you dont have the stock fairing mount mirrors, nor bar mount mirrors.

Looks like good condition seat. THose are quite hard to find.

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[GRich]

Thanks Redman! I've checked out your GK many times since stumbling upon this one.....

You're correct about the mirrors - and they are not in a box somewhere stashed in my garage. I have some standard handlebar mirrors I can use to get me on the road, but I'd like to run fairing mounted mirrors in the future.

The seat was reupholstered back around.....2006 I think? The foam wasn't evened out left to right on the passenger area, and then the fabric is off center as it goes back to the rear. I'd like to get around to is eventually, but there's plenty of stuff before that.....

[GRich]

Ok..... been a little hectic here recently. I was working a bunch of overtime before Christmas, then was dealing with some health issues. I was trying to work on the GK when I could, but I couldn't find time to update this thread. So here's what I've been up to!

New petcock because, surprise surprise! Mine was dumping gas into the engine.

[GRich]

If you look, you can see 4 holes in the side of the saddlebags from a previous owner. There were LARGE reflectors mounted up at some time, and then they were taken off and misplaced. So to fill the holes, I'm using much smaller reflectors:

[GRich]

On the left / lower panel of the fairing, there was a small bracket for what I assume was a garage door opener or something? Since there was already a couple mounting holes (and I'm not using the old bracket), I installed a small voltage meter.

[GRich]

Small, but also important....... the old foam grips were deteriorating in my hands so I bought some newer ones (my wife likes that they are color matched to the bike)

[GRich]

The old cam end rubbers were swollen and weeping, so new ones were ordered and installed. I also had to get a new top end cover gasket, but I didn't get a picture of that.....

[GRich]

Naturally, I want to replace the stock R/R with an SH775. Found what looks like a decent one on Ebay, and ordered the wiring connectors from Eastern Beaver.



After a little bit of work (I'll explain soon) I got everything fitted up under the side cover.

[GRich]

Something I found curious - the ignition box was mounted in let's say "a non OEM" fashion. One of the tabs for the ignitor was mounted to the bracket for the fuse panel, so the ignitor was just dangling down near the swing arm. After a little research, I think this ignitor comes from other GS models of the same era.



But since it is what I have, I bolted it up between the battery tray and the mounting bracket with some spacers on the bolts so the ignitor isn't crushed at all. Then to get the new R/R and the starter relay to clear everything, I had to cut those mounting brackets down and weld them in closer to the bracket. The picture in the post above is after all the welding and fitting was done.

[GRich]

There's some more work being done, but I haven't taken many pictures yet. New tires, some more painted parts, fresh wiring connects, etc. But that's all I have for now.

[GRich]

With a little bit of warmer weather blowing thru, i was able to get in a couple test rides..... i can already tell im going to love this bike!

I installed new tires front and rear (Shinko 777) with new tubes. The mixture screws were out a little too far (popping at idle) so they are back to 2 turns out. When I got the bike there was no breather hose from the engine to the airbox but luckily I had one from another bike in the garage so that got installed too. The shocks are undersprung for my wife and I so I ordered some heavier ones from Revzilla.

Some bad news though - my fuel gauge stopped working accurately. With a half tank of gas, the needle creeps up to just over empty when I start the bike up. But after running for a minute the needle creeps back down to totally empty. I told my wife it's annoying but there are other things to be concerned with for now.

[Buffalo Bill]

I found this paper in the ziploc bag of receipts - it is a list of recommended jetting changes for the Vance & Hines 4 into 1. Hopefully it helps someone else out too.

What is listed for the 1100 is extreme. Those are settings would only work for WOT.

[rphillips]

Worked well for me from top to bottom... The one sizer larger pilot was just normal around here, even with stock ex. it just made start-ups slightly easier

[GRich]

I didn't follow that to the letter either..... but at least it gives a starting point.

After my first longer test ride, my wife and I took it for a local spin. She pointed out that the rear shocks are under sprung..... Since the rear shocks are Progressive 412's with 105 / 150 weight springs, I ordered some of these:



With a little bit of fidgeting, got the old springs out and new ones in:



That's it for tonight!