The Chronicles of Suzy- 82 GS850GL

[ratdude]

The Electrical update I never Posted

It dawned on me I never updated on the electrical issues , they were all pretty minor , but I might as well throw em up here

Snitched from an earlier post

Amazingly the Suzuki self canceling turn signals are still working .

Still do, work perfectly , I just wish they was a way to adjust the DURATION they stay on when your rolling , I frequently have to re-activate the things . ( have the SAME issue with the signals on my Harley )

Neutral light MIA

Bullet connector was unplugged under the tank , works fine now .

Low beam lighting MIA

Somehow managed to get it working again after I removed and re-installed the engine . never did find the culprit though .

Instrument lighting on tach only

Bulbs , works fine now .

Fuel gauge works !

Still does , E on the gauge leaves a bit more reserve gas than I would like to see though

Front brake light switch dead

Followed a guide on BikeCliff's site , works fine now .

That idiotic gear indicator still works ( do they ever die ? )

Still works , I got a minor rant though .

Back in the day , I had a GT380 , (probably the most hard to kill bike ever built) . 73 or 74 , I can't remember exactly . But anyway it had the indicator except it was an actual LED display and WAY cooler than the one on Suzy , what a step backwards .

Also had a GT550 , It was real early , double drum brakes , no gear indicator , but it had a little chrome Suzuki medallion between the speedo and tach , that medallion was the high beam indicator and glowed red when it was on . Cool stuff , that was the early 70's . what happened ?

Ok end rant , lol

I have also found some mods done to Suzy , probably done by someone who had a clue , which ruled out the last couple owners .

The clutch switch has been removed and bypassed . ( which I probably would have done myself )

The side stand switch has been removed . ( again I probably would have done that too )

The now useless side stand warning lamp was paralleled to the low oil pressure lamp so you have two red warning lamps in the event of a oil issue . (Clever)

Sorry no pics on this one , but I figured somebody might find it interesting

Rat

[ratdude]

Looking great! It's motivating to see you tackle it piece by piece, thanks for sharing your adventure.

Wow, I haven't seen the bike in a bit, but it looks like you are definitely treating her right!

Thanks guys

Rat

[ratdude]

Nawww , no need to change the brake fluid

Well I have been riding Suzy , no real issues to speak of .
But the little voice in my head kept saying " Brake fluid Rat , Brake fluid "
I found this odd since that voice usually tells me to buy more beer.

I actually planned to do this off riding season since all was working fine .

Good thing

Why maybe, you should not put this off



Yummy stuff



Normally I wouldn't drain the master , but geez



When it turns to snot , its fried !



Why running without the dust caps on your bleeders is a bad idea



The brake bleeder cleaning kit



After a traumatic procedure such as this , its ok to give you bike a treat
( Hey, it is a L model after all )



Now all i got to do is the rear brake

Rat

[ratdude]

Ebay Score

Well first off , got the rear brake fluid changed out. Was a tiny bit better than the front.

Now on to today

One of things about Suzy thats been buggin me , was the lack of highway pegs , I am 6 ft 2 , and I do feel the need to stretch out a bit . Tiny bit cramped , but more comfortable than I figured I would be .

Of course highway pegs require some crash guards to mount them to , of which I had none . I figured another trek into the enchanted forest . But Low and behold I found a reasonably priced set of Robart crash bars up in Canada on Ebay .

The downside , a busted tab ( which was clearly described in the ad ). but otherwise they looked pretty good , so I pulled the trigger .

What you don't get to see ( couldn't get pics clear enough ) , the actual gas welding repair . I actually ended up repairing 2 tabs , one had broke in half ( but seller included the busted piece ), and had another one with a healthy crack in it .

Then of course my two repaired tabs had a huge welded spot to rust, so I just sprayed all the tabs black to make them uniform

Fresh out of the box



repaired , painted , ready to go on



Actually they are on the bike , I will put up some more pics when I take em .

Rat

[jimnicol]

Loved the saga...got a lot from it, too. Thanks!

[ratdude]

Betcha thought the ole Rat was gone for good

Nope , didn't happen . I did have some problems out in the world that made me back burner the whole motorcycle thing for a while . And of course winter came much too hard , and way to early to Ohio ,anyway .

All in all , I think Suzy's first year of repair and rebirth was a fantastic success !

I manage to keep my face into the wind .
I actually fixed some stuff.
I had fun.
Did I mention that whole into the wind thing ?

OK , now hopefully between snowstorms and floods I can knock out a couple of projects .

the next couple of posts are actually from last summer , before things got too out of whack . But more Parts have been ordered , wrenches will fly , the BUFFMASTER will..........BUFF !

Rat

[ratdude]

the long lost crash bar post

I did take some pics of the crash bars installed on Suzy . I also had a cheapo set of highway pegs that ultimately I decided to leave off .

Suzy, crash bars installed, with the highway pegs installed in the ultra cool low position


better view of the low position , BTW this is a shin buster , don't do it !


Not to mention the seriously handicapped lean angle.


Which led me to the more functional , but not very rewarding , higher position. ( not to mention screwing up the looks IMO )


So I ended up with this , no highway pegs for now at least , I just like the looks better this way.


I see there is a different style of footrest for these , I will find a deal on some eventually

Later
Rat

[ratdude]

Last of the projects from summer 2010

Well this one is a bit patchy on the pics , but basically it has to do with the rear shocks and the patina winning the war . OK , it's an L model , the shocks probably weren't the best when they were new . They are a bit chrome heavy , but they appear to work enough to satisfy me , and I figured they were pretty flashy when new .

But look lousy now ( this is the good side )


Other side


Now what I did was pull the springs off the shocks , it can be done . I won't be showing you how I did it since i did not have approved tools . But I will say this .

RESPECT the springs , they have more than enough stored energy to mess up you , your bike , possibly your life . I have worked with springs and spring steel for more than 20 years , I have seen more than enough damage the stuff can cause if you don't respect it.

OK , enough of that , this shot shows one shock dis-assembled and one re-assembled after spending some time with the buffmaster .


Afraid thats all the pics I have for now . but the other one turned out about as nice .

Later
Rat

[Redneck]

Okay this has been a burning question. How did you take apart the shocks. Mine are that bad too and I want to clean them up also. What kind of spring compressor do you use. If you have a picture that would be great ( we know you like using the camera ). I am wanting to actually buff the shock and powdercoat the springs black.

[ratdude]

Okay this has been a burning question. How did you take apart the shocks. Mine are that bad too and I want to clean them up also. What kind of spring compressor do you use. If you have a picture that would be great ( we know you like using the camera ). I am wanting to actually buff the shock and powdercoat the springs black.

OK , the top of the "spring assembly" is a c clip of sorts and once the spring is collapsed / lowered it slides out and the rest will be apparent .

As for pics of my compressor setup , that isn't happening . I mean zero disrespect , really, it's just that springs are dangerous if they get away from you . I couldn't live with myself if someone got hurt using " the setup Rat showed me ".

I would post your question to the suspension section , it has probably been shown before . Or take em to a bike shop and let them do it , probably wouldn't cost too much , the labor is minimal , takes about 5 minutes with proper tools.

just read the thread on your 550 , its looking good !

Rat

[Redneck]

Thanks for the response. Shop sounds like a good idea.