1980 GS1000S Reluctant Rebuild

[Kiwi Canuck]

Wtf

Well last night I made some good progress and took some more pictures as well,
Here's a picture of the swing armed installed.



I finished cleaning and installing the front disc brakes and luckly I didn't crimp the tab washers as as I forgotten the trim that goes on the speedo side, once that was installed and I sorted out the rear bolts from the front set as they are different, it was time to install the front wheel.

That's when I realized something didn't look right, there was a 15-20mm gap between the wheel spaceer and the fork leg.
I went to look at the exploded diagram to see what I had missed, but all the spacers were there (I'd just changed the wheel bearings) so I decided to sleep on it and look again in the morning.



When I got up this morning I wondered if the forks were in fact straight, I loosened the pinch bolts and rotated the fork leg 90 degrees and sure enough the gap closed up.



WTF!! the lying POS PO who said the bike has never been in an accident and never dropped. What a lying sack o ****e, turns out what-ever split the front fender may have something to do with the bent front forks.

[Kiwi Canuck]

Those engine cover emblems can be restored fairly easily, at least the paint can. Do your body work and fix any small dings with bondo and/or spot putty, then spray the entire emblem with satin black. Then get your sanding block with some 400 grit paper and carefully sand the top of the letters to remove the black. I did a couple of emblems and they turned out really nice afterwards. Better than those later model versions anyway.

Good luck with your restoration.

Thanks for the tip, I had thought about that and wondered if would work, I will try it.
When I removed the old ones I was not very careful as I thought I had new ones coming, if I had known I would have been much more careful, hopefully they will clean up OK.

[Nessism]

Those engine cover emblems can be restored fairly easily, at least the paint can. Do your body work and fix any small dings with bondo and/or spot putty, then spray the entire emblem with satin black. Then get your sanding block with some 400 grit paper and carefully sand the top of the letters to remove the black. I did a couple of emblems and they turned out really nice afterwards. Better than those later model versions anyway.

Good luck with your restoration.

[Kiwi Canuck]

Geez............how did I miss this thread! I didn't realize the bike needed that much work.

The bike is looking great, Kiwi! I will keep you in mind if I dig anything up.

Thanks Rich, I think the tipping point came when I discovered that 3 of the 4 spark plugs were cross threaded or stripped and that required the engine apart so that lead to the removal of the engine and then why stop there.

I probably could have done a quick fix and had it back on the road by now, but I would have never been able to trust any of the work the previous owner did after what I found, and that would take a lot of the pleasure out of riding, so the goal is to have it back on the road before the end of this summer.

Cheers,

[Vmass]

Geez............how did I miss this thread! I didn't realize the bike needed that much work.

The bike is looking great, Kiwi! I will keep you in mind if I dig anything up.

A picture of the parts that I had Vapour Blasted after I had sprayed the valve cover and the rear hub with VHT SP115 Satin Clear. (the top cap was painted with SP127 silver) See how it's quite a bit darker than the side covers, I sprayed them later and they went even darker, so I stripped them with paint stripper and then gave them a good polishing.




Here's the side cover decals, any ideas as to where to find a set of original Black & Sliver?

Dave -- Great progress on the rebuild. I have some NOS decals but with gold letters -- these are period correct for the GS1000ST (not SN) but only the "SUZUKI" decal is for the GS750/1000. The "DOHC" decals are too small and were incorrectly sent to me as a matching pair. They may fit GS550/450 etc.




I will be posting some pics soon on my project -- you definitely have a head start! How is the seat rebuild going?

oh this thing is just too beautiful!!!!

I think we should import a few to Australia! hey Pete? bulk discount?

[Stahlgrau333]

Thanks for the info, Kiwi. That's EXACTLY what I'm looking for. It's just too bad I can't find anywhere closer to the Central US...

Isn't vapour blasting the newest thing for cleaning carbs?

[Kiwi Canuck]

.[/QUOTE]Also, where did you get your Vapor Blasting done? I haven't been able to find many places that do it, and I'm interested in your experience with them and what they charged.[/QUOTE]

http://www.vaporblastcanada.com/

There are a couple of places in the US apparently, but I went here which is a 30 min drive from my place.
Forks $40.00
Each side case $15.00
If you open the brochure on the site it has all the prices listed, and plenty of pictures.

I was very happy with the results, and they had them done in a few days.

They also mentioned if I wasn't happy with any finishes I applied, I could bring them back and they would blast them again for no charge.

[Stahlgrau333]

Well this is one job I may consider farming out, does Chuck still rebuild carbs for members? and I know he is looking for a left hand mirror...

I'm sure Chuck would be more than happy to help you out. You should shoot him a PM with what you need.

Also, where did you get your Vapor Blasting done? I haven't been able to find many places that do it, and I'm interested in your experience with them and what they charged.

[Kiwi Canuck]

Installed Swing Arm

Sent out the swing arm to get one of the bearings out, I had worked on it for 30 mins and made no progress, so it was a no brainer to get help.
Because they needed to used heat which damaged the paint they sand blasted it as well, so I dropped off a few other parts including the battery box to get blasted as well and paid $45.00 to have everything done, awesome deal I thought.
I painted it with the same paint as I used on the frame. VHT Gloss (SP670) then installed it before the paint had fully hardened and managed to get a small scratch in the paint. (Thinking to myself "maybe I should have had it powder coated")
Sometimes I get a bit impatient and rush things a bit, but it's probably not a big deal in the whole scheme of things.
Now I have to start the rebuild on the calipers and figure out what I'll do with the carbs, as those are 2 jobs I have procrastinated on for quite a while.

Opps no time to download pictures, I'll update next time in a few days.

I don't know what the front guard is off .
It came with it .
I've been looking for one that still has the original paint . The rest of the paint is original and I don't want to have to paint the whole bike just to match the guard .
Old mate Matchless recommends doing your gauges with black boot polish . So do I . Put heaps on , rub it in and polish .
Beautiful .
That's going to be a mighty fine ride when you're done .

Cheers , Simon .

[Kiwi Canuck]

My carbs are a mess

Well this is one job I may consider farming out, does Chuck still rebuild carbs for members? and I know he is looking for a left hand mirror......
I know they are 34MM and I will need to re-jet as the bike came with a POS 4 into 1 and I wil lbe running stock pipes.

There is a sticky note in the manual that indicates stock is 107 whatever that means. (Main Jet ?) The GS1000S supplement is from the 1979 model so it has no useful info regarding the carbs.

Well I can't find a picture of my carbs so I'll post one later. (but I'm sure most of you have seen a set of old carbs before)

Ok I show you the console instead, it's been waiting patiently stored on top of my tool chest just waiting for the day it gets to go back on, that reminds me I'll need to clean that up as well before I re-install it as it's just filty underneath.

[Kiwi Canuck]

Nice project old mate .
Mine was much more piggly than yours . It cost me heaps more than I expected before it was finished (I stopped keeping track about half way through 'cause it was freaking me out) .
Worth it though .
You'll end up with a very classy classic that's a whole $hitload of fun to ride and , reliable those old girls .
I do an annual 10 to 12,000 kilometre ride (to Phillip Island) . Broke a clutch cable , ... once , and got a flat tyre , ........ once .

I know it's a bit of a wank putting a pic of my bike in your thread , but , inspiration ? You'll see that she's not perzactly correct but the bits I need will turn up one day . I'd put the incorrect Cover Decals on while you keep an eye out for the correct ones .




Have fun .

Cheers , Simon .

Hello Simon, Very Nice, she's looking mighty fine, I see you have a different front fender, what is that off?