'83 GS1100ES Project

[Guest]

Hi All. Just joined recently as I seem to have a few GS's lying around the garage now. So I picked up these two '83 GS1100s recently. Mainly just wanted the ES. Got the E thrown in for a few hundred more $$$. Both were sitting for at least 9 years and are in sad shape...

BUT (nothing like a big but - eh)

The ES has larger carbs that previous guy said were set up by a local shop that I actually deal with. I've pulled the valve cover and the cams look good. Valve clearances are where they should be. I put a bit of oil down the cylinders and let sit for a while. Then slowly hand cranked the engine. Everything seems to be just fine. I pulled the float bowls on the carbs and it looks like previous guy drained the carbs before putting the bike in storage. Clean as a whistle. So I'm thinking the engine side of things might be just fine.

Brakes need a full rebuild. Ends on the existing SS lines are corroded. Plus one of the lines has a kink. No fluid in the front master cylinder. sort of looks like it all went down the outside. Instrument cluster is busted pretty good. But I have all the bodywork (including seat) and it all looks quite salvageable.

Now for some pics cuz I know everyone likes those...

General view of the right side.


General view of the left side


Previous guys custom fabrication handy work (Yikes). And yes, those are Rassk rearsets. Both sides no less. Shame about the crappy fix.


These are the carbs fitted to the bike. No idea what they are from. Semi-round slide. Maybe GSXR? Maybe GS1150? Any idea's. Engine side is 35mm.


So the E I picked up has a good V&H exhaust. Also has original foot controls if I can't get the Rassks fixed properly. Might pilfer some other parts from the E as needed. Oh... and as you can see in the pic, the E has an 1150E fairing fitted. Actually doesn't look too bad.

The other bike


Well, we'll see how it goes. I've started ordering a few parts. And there is lots of cleanup to do. I'm guessing a couple months before I get it on the road. Unless I get side tracked with a different project... which I have a few of.

Later

[bluewool]

Weird never seen an 83 with the 84+ ES/EF fairing on it.

[GS1150Pilot]

Yeah, that is interesting.

[63ronin]

...Uh, senior moment there. Obviously the red "E" model is sporting a Kerker exhaust and not a V&H. But who's checking...

[63ronin]

So this weekend I managed to pull the ugly "fabricated" exhaust off. Thing weighed a ton. Not sure what PO was thinking when he welded up that concoction. Then, I drained the oil. Manual says the GS1100 should take 3.6 litres with oil filter. I drained well over a gallon of oil out of that thing. And it was thick and black. I'll bet the oil hasn't been changed in that engine in decades.

Waiting on parts from Z1. Then I'll pull the clutch cover and see what the story is with the ridiculously hard to pull clutch lever.

I also found original foot brackets, tail light, fender brace and assorted other stuff in the box of parts I got from PO.

Not sure what to do about the horribly damaged instrument cluster. People on e-bay seem to want goofy money for those things. Since I'm looking to make the bike stock, any suggestions on alternatives that will fit with the ES fairing would be appreciated.

[dorkburger]

Definitely not 1150 carbs...

[dorkburger]

Weird never seen an 83 with the 84+ ES/EF fairing on it.

Years ago I saw an 83 1100e with a fairing from an 84 ish ninja 900 fairing....

[63ronin]

Well, as I posted in another thread the clutch hub on the ES was rather worn. I pulled the clutch from the "parts" bike (the red one). It was somewhat worn as well. But not nearly as bad as the original. After weighing my options and taking everyone opinions under advisement, I decided to install the better of the two clutches. I figure this will do till I can actually get the bike running and see where things are at.

To that end, I have the mechanical side all back together. Exhaust from parts bike is on the ES. Carbs are back on. Fresh oil, filter, spark plugs. And that brings me to the next big hurdle. Seems the wiring on the ES has taken a pretty good beating. Couple connectors were melted together. Some broken wires on other connectors. Some pretty bad splices. All in all the wiring is pretty suspect. So I pulled the wiring harness off to give me a chance to really evaluate it and fix what ever needs fixing...
...as soon as learn how to properly assemble connectors.

I really hate wiring issues...

Other than that, the ES is cleaning up nicely. I found a new 530 chain in my piles of stuff. Just need new sprockets. And new tires, and rebuild the brakes, and get new brake lines, and...

Oh... the fairing mounting bracket was a bit bent. I found a way to straighten that without breaking anything. I was proud of my self for that one

[GSX1000E]

Those carbs are '90-up BSS carbs I believe. They look just like the 38 BSS carbs found on '91-'93 GSX1100G's and the early Bandits. Are you sure that they don't measure 36mm or 38mm? The 750's used 36mm versions.

[63ronin]

Those carbs are '90-up BSS carbs I believe. They look just like the 38 BSS carbs found on '91-'93 GSX1100G's and the early Bandits. Are you sure that they don't measure 36mm or 38mm? The 750's used 36mm versions.

Ah... the carbs. I had another member send me some pics of carbs. He said "do your carbs look like this inside". Which they did. Matched exactly the pictures the other user sent me. So it turns out my carbs are off a Bandit 1200.

Based on the soot in the exhaust ports and on the old spark plugs, I'm thinking the bike was running rich. Probably better than running too lean. With my current wiring issues it'll be a little while before I get to try firing the thing up.

[Cassius086]

63,

www.mrcycles.com has about the best prices I can find on factory parts. They even had the wiring harness for my '82 EZ. Under 200.00 shipped. Good luck on the build!!

[63ronin]

Well, it's certainly been a while since I commented on my GS project. So...

I I toyed with the idea of repairing the melted wiring harness. Did I mention the PO completely melted the insulation off the main ground that runs the length of the wiring harness. Anyhow, was contemplating repairing. But then I came to my senses and just bought a new wiring harness as suggested by another member. Good suggestion. Saved me lots of time.

BUT... that led to other issues. Seems neither regulator/rectifier was correct. Not the one that came on the actual GS project. Nor the one off my parts bike. Easy fix. Got a new proper fitting unit off - once again - ebay.

Today I managed to finish connecting up what I could. Don't have a workable instrument cluster. So that's a miss. Also, wiring harness I got does not have wiring for the gear position indicator stuff. Not a big deal as far as I'm concerned. If I can't count from 1 to 5 I'm thinking I probably ought not be riding. Missing turn signals. And I had to do some repairs to the right handlebar switch gear. But it's pretty much all connected up.

So I put a battery in and gently turned the key. To my amazement, the headlight came on. I was stunned. I gave the start button a quick push and damned if it didn't turn over. Slightly longer push to let it crank a couple times and I figured it was time for a gin&tonic.

Tomorrow I may actually add gas and see if it will fire up. That would be a feat to behold.

So far, so good. At the rate I'm going I might get to ride it next year.

[63ronin]

OK... actual progress on the '83 GS 1100 ES.

Wiring harness is all installed. Had to get a couple little parts to make everything fit. But at least there are connectors for everything. My parts GS had an instrument cluster from (I think) a GS 1150. Since the original instruments on ES were NFG I thought I would look at the parts bike unit. Well, damned if all the connectors didn't line up. Haven't actually mounted the unit. Just have it in position so I can see a few idiot lights.

Now the good part - sort of. THE BIKE CRANKS!!!. That was a big hurdle. I've checked compression and all 4 cylinders are 160 psi (+/- 3). Another good sign.

Now the bad part - The bike has 36 mm carbs off an older model Bandit 1200. The float bowl fuel inlet valves will not seal. So I am getting overflowing with gas coming out the air jet port on the fronts. I replaced the fuel valve parts with new using K&L rebuild kits. And I've reset the float levels to 13mm above the gasket surface. But they still overflow. I tried higher float level settings in an attempt to apply more pressure when fuel is in the float. But no good. Not sure what to do about that.

I have the original 34mm carbs. But they need a major clean and some damage repair. Luckily I have lots of spare parts for Mikuni BS34 carbs. I also checked and the BS34's on my GPz 1100 will fit just fine. And I can take the intake manifolds off the parts GS. So I may try that next weekend and see if I can fire the thing up.

All that said, the bike does fire to life if I use starter fluid. Seems I just need a set of carbs that work right and the bike will fire to life. So we will see what happens. Once I am sure the engine runs then I'll start looking to make it actually road worthy - full brake rebuild, chain/sprockets, tires, control levers that actually work... minor stuff.

[hoganjr]

thanks for the pics. Any recent progress?

HoganJr

[63ronin]

Ya know, I'm totally struggling with the carbs. I have tried a number of things with the 36mm carbs. But they continue to overflow. I've checked that the floats actually float. Replaced the fuel inlet vales with new parts. Tried different o-rings on the inlet seat parts. Adjusted the float height several times. Nothing seems to work. They still overflow. And on the original carbs I have one bad pilot air screw. And with all the spare carb parts I have I don't have a single correct pilot needle. How bothersome.

I think I am going to run the 36mm carbs down to a local shop I del with and have them look at them. Maybe they can figure out why the carbs keep overflowing. Once that's sorted maybe the bike will come to life.