A 20-year orphan

[ozman]

Dragged, blinking, into the harsh light of not-day, the other GS prepares to meet its fate. With a cigarette dangling from the corner of its mouth and a sneer on its lips, it dares the filthy swine to do their worst.

some orphans are just tooooo ugly to adopt out

best kick him back in the dark corner and sneak away hoping no one has seen you near the ungodly creation

obviously theres no hope of redeeming that soul

ozman

[Grimly]

I'm not a tank polisher - it was bought as a tool, it earned me a living and when it was retired it got a coat of paint, but it got abandoned for a while. Now it's getting refurbed (a bit) and will be a properly working bike again.
Earning its keep - not a show /display bike by any means, just something that's honest and reliable - as it used to be.

[Morrison]

Might find a Michigan fan to buy it. Go Blue?

[Grimly]

Might find a Michigan fan to buy it. Go Blue?

The odd thing, I painted it before I moved to Ireland, and it turned out I'd done it in Tipperary colours.

[ozman]

The odd thing, I painted it before I moved to Ireland, and it turned out I'd done it in Tipperary colours.

to be sure, to be sure but then again maybe

[GS1150Pilot]

Now, that bike has definitely got an attitude. If Disney did a cartoon called "Bikes," that one would be one of the thugs, for sure.

[Grimly]

Front brakes (later calipers) fitted on the '79 GS, bled up lovely with a Deauville master cylinder. I like the span-adjuster on those. Should be much, much better than those horrible hockey-puck pads that were on the OEM '79 calipers.

[GelandeStrasse]

Earning its keep - not a show /display bike by any means, just something that's honest and reliable - as it used to be.

Hmmmm, big horns and retina burners. Were you on the courier circuit?

[Grimly]

Hmmmm, big horns and retina burners. Were you on the courier circuit?

Yep; some things become second nature. Like an uncontrollable urge to filter
Talking of horns, the ones on there run a very poor second to the one I had on the original front guard of this bike. That was a proper horn.

[GS1150Pilot]

Holy Foghorn, Batman!

[tkent02]

(1)
Economy and reliability - these bikes paid for my house.

Just curious, how's the economy?

[Grimly]

Just curious, how's the economy?

Saved a thousand up front, then returned 40mpg thereafter.

[tkent02]

40 isn't all that great for an 850.

[Grimly]

40 isn't all that great for an 850.

It's ok for in and out of London and sitting at a steady 85mph on the motorway.

[Grimly]

Dismantled and replaced the 4-hole gasket on the petcock today - luckily I'd drained the tank shortly after last using the bike, so there was negligible gunge in the pickup screen and the tap was pretty clean. There was a touch of face corrosion on the inside of the moving element, so swirled that over some 400-grit emery paper for a few seconds and it went together perfectly air-tight once it was all buttoned up. Annoyingly, I found I'd bought a 50mm rectangular O-ring (is that for the GS1000?) instead of a 44mm, so had to re-use the old one, but it's in good condition and Hylomar on that and bolt holes, left overnight will work wonders. Last time I had that apart was 24 years ago and the Hylomar I'd used on the bolts was still pliable.