My '79 GS850

[RadRacer]

Wish I someone knew this. You drove right by me. You could have stopped by my house and picked up a used coil. If you still need one let me know.

No big deal; I managed to get it home at about 10:30 that night. I've already got a used coil for replacement, if needed. Thanks for the offer though.

There's plenty of used GS coils on ebay, almost all will work.
PS: Taking that shower curtain rod off the front end will help the looks, even in FL.

Shower curtain rod? Am I missing something...??

That bike has points, if it is stock. They could be worn, or it could have a bad condenser. Take a look before you decide on the coil. The wires are long enough for you to switch the 1&4 plug wires with the 2&3, and you can switch the wires from the points on the low tension side of the coil. If the same two cylinders are dead, it isn't the coil, it is upstream of the coils. If the other two cylinders are dead, it is the coils or plug wires.

It's a stock ignition system, so yes, points. We pulled over at a gas station on the way back, and found something strange: we could short one of the points and cause the bike to run rough (expected). But the other point, we could short with no change in how it ran. That makes me think that coil is the issue, or possibly plugs (brand new, but not NGK) or wires. Went to try and troubleshoot it more Tuesday, and all 4 cylinders are firing now! Hard to troubleshoot something that's working fine; I'm thinking it's a heat related issue now.

Where are you at bro, i was there on the sporty!

Didn't know you were in Vero man, or else I would have invited ya to ride with us! Could always use a new riding buddy, hit me up sometime. I'll PM you my #.


Once I get her running right again, the forks are going to get a good rebuild. It's a never-ending project :P

[thebrandonbeezy]

Hey would you be interested in buying a 1000gl for parts? Buddy of mine has one runs good. To swap your 850 to a 1k ?

[RadRacer]

Finally got around to working on the bike again. Turns out a condenser went out on me. Replaced both of them and the points, and did the best I can to set the timing (had to mess with the gap a little), and now she's running good again.

She lost her parking spot though, and now sits in the driveway, uncovered. I need to get a cover for it; I rode it the other day and the rear brake lever has rusted to the point it doesn't move.