1982 GS650E project

[Guest]

Been lurking around the forums for a week or so now and figured it's time to post. Bought a 1982 GS650E from a guy off CL for $1300 a little over a week ago. Previous owner had removed the air filter and put on individual pods so the guy I bought it from rejetted (dude does this with older bikes a bunch), checked the brakes, put new spark plugs in, and pretty much left it alone after that. 15,000 miles but it runs nicely, maybe a bit of a flat spot but it really pulls at 6,500 RPM. I was surprised at how much it'll pull considering that it's older than I am. Still tearing it down and figuring out the details as I go, but the general plan is to clean everything up, lower and make it look a bit meaner (including painting lots and lots of things black) and tearing ass through the city every now and then while still having a simple bike to maintain/improve. Since I learned so much from reading others' posts I'm hoping this could help someone down the line.

Things I'm planning on doing, but feel free to let me know if I'm missing something obvious

1) Replace handlebars with clip ons (already done but waiting for new grips to come in so no pictures yet)
2) Raised the forks into the triple tree by an inch or so to lower the stance
3) Clean up the exhaust and paint black - done, angle grinder with 80 grit to clean the rust off and hit it with flat high heat paint
4) New signals and brake light
5) Redo the gauge cluster
6) New rear shocks
7) Thoroughly clean the carbs (wow that carb cleaning series on the front page is amazing)
8) Replace gaskets (oil was leaking through the head gasket so i'm sure they all need to be replaced)
9) Headlight bucket sucked and needed to be replaced, waiting for it to come in
10) Clean the engine, transmission, make it not look 30+ years old
11) New, more sleek seat that hides battery and would like to tuck the electronics away as well
12) Relocate rear brake fluid reservoir
13) Eventually SS brake lines but no rush there

This is "phase 1" and once I'm done and figure out how much money I burned through I'll see what phase 2 includes. Trying to take as many pictures as I can, but it's tough because I just want to keep making progress :-)

Project album - http://imgur.com/a/nCf4d

Couple of questions so far though if anyone can chime in

1) Completely lost while looking for a seat. I'm comfortable moving tabs on the frame, making new ones, whatever, but have no idea as to guidelines for buying a seat. Any help would be appreciated including where to buy, what measurements to consider (the tapering makes things odd), etc. I would like to tuck the battery in the cowl and hide the electronics though
2) Recommended methods to cleaning grime and dirt from the engine? I don't need it to be showroom presentable, just clean, so do I need to take it out of the frame? I've talked to a few friends and done some light reading and come up with toothpaste, WD-40, and foaming tire cleaner. Not feeling to confident about any of those...

PS I'm pretty sure I edited my profile so info should pop up in the signature but if not let me know and I'll fix it

[78550GS]

Valve adjustment should be first on that list.

[BigD_83]

Welcome to being a visible member on the GSR...

1. Check out the Newbie thread
2. Safe first, fast second, pretty third
3. The 650E, as I am sure you've read, is a desirable, and somewhat rare (r) model. I'd recommend keeping anything stock you decide not to use.
4. Dime City Cycles might have something in terms of a seat. Considering your goal of hiding the battery, you might do better to buy a used pan, and build one for yourself. There's plenty of good information out there on the process, and a number of nice examples from members. I think Paul Miller Motorcycles had something specific for the 650E awhile ago, too.
5. Simple Green and a washing wand (NOT a full-on pressure washer) is a great start to getting the grime off the engine, but it will come down to lots of toothbrushes and elbow grease

[speedyb166]

Thanks guys. I'll get some feeler gauges but in the meantime I went to take off the valve cover and most of the bolts were really loose, which is why I've been leaking oil. Figured it was the gasket, but good to know one problem is fixed. I'll definitely check out the newbie threads and keep my unused parts and thanks a ton for the lead on a seat and cleaning recommendation

[huntb]

Definitely a valve adjustment and you'll want to check if there is a Dynojet kit on those carbs if you're going to continue using those pods

[speedyb166]

Dude I bought the bike from rejetted with a stage 3 kit and it looks like he cleaned the carbs as well. I removed them from the bike, took one off, blew it apart, cleaned all the components including a chem dip but really no change whatsoever. I'm not even going to bother cleaning the others. Planning on checking the valves and creating a front turn signal bracket today. I got some RFY shocks for the rear (saw mixed reviews about performance but I'm a pretty light dude and don't plan on racing this thing so they should be ok) and painted them to match the tank. Right now it looks like lipstick on a pig but I think it'll look good when it's all buttoned up. Pics are in the imgur album

I made an album of the carb tear down that follows the same steps as the carb cleaning series in case anyone finds this useful: http://imgur.com/a/mfmBr

[JTGS850GL]

First off, welcome to the forum as an active member. Also welcome as another metro Atlanta GSR member.

You might want to reconsider not cleaning the other three carbs. The pictures of the one shows some cleaning my still be in order. I hope you have the rubber plugs over the pilot jets. None of the pictures showed one. You might also want to inventory all your jets and needles to verify what's in there. They may be stock, close to stock or even different from carb to carb for all you know. Previous owners will tell you all kinds of tails when selling a bike. You're the owner now and the truth is what you're seeking.

Do as others have said and get those valves adjusted right away. Tight valves will do more damage then you would think and at what looks like a hard 15K miles it's way past time to have them adjusted. It's not hard to do and the feeler gauges are easy to get at most auto part stores. Inventory all the shims to see what you have in there. That way you'll be able to move some shims around and only get the ones you need. It also helps when you need to do it again since you'll know what's already in there. You may also want to pick up a carb sync tool as well.

Basic maintenance is what you need to do right now. Valves adjusted, carbs cleaned, fluids changed and everything synced.

Good luck on your project.

[speedyb166]

Yea I dropped the the rubber plug and it disappeared completely. Last time I work on carbs on a deck again... I've got a new set in the mail though, and now I'll definitely at the least inventory them all to compare the jets. I'll look into synching the carbs as well. Still working on a seat but it looks like Roc City Cafe is going to be my best bet, just trying to figure out the mounting detail