'84 1150 rebuild

[wyly]

So I'm well into my restoration (carbs cleaned and rebuilt, head rebuilt) and I'm just waiting for a number of gaskets and parts to arrive before I can reassemble the engine. I was cleaning the gasket surfaces and noticed there was a silver colored residue where the base gasket sat on the crankcase and the cylinder base. It looks like a sealant but searching through the forum I can't find any mention of a sealant being required. I know the engine was never been opened before by the PO so is this residue transferred from the oem base gasket surface or a factory sealant?

[londonboards]

Difficult to say. Any pics.

Have a look through the ES blog in my sig.

I don't think it's anything to worry about. Just make sure the surfaces are clean. Some people lightly spray a little copper grease on the gaskets but I don't believe there is any need.

Greetings

[rapidray]

It is from the stock, steel shim Suzuki gasket. Nothing to worry about. Clean the surfaces WELL, & install new SUZUKI gaskets to not have leaks.
Ray.

[wyly]

Cleaned the crankcase and cylinder squeaky clean as advised.

Head/base gaskets, cylinder O rings, and piston rings arrived today!

New rings in the carbs, had to put a tiny bit of Permatex in the bottom of the diaphragm ring seat to get them to seal properly, good stiction on all carbs now slides working as they should.

Adjusted float heights, they were set at the recommended factory height 21.4mm but whoever serviced the carbs previously measured at the wrong point on the float and was actually out -2mm so 19.4mm. I used carb rebuilding measuring points as in the GS Forums CV Carburetor Rebuild Tutorial.

Tomorrow I do the external float measurement with gas and plastic line. If all goes good I'll be linking the carbs together.

Is there any need to coat the carb gaskets with anything?

New rings installed on pistons, except for one. One ring is stuck fast and closed up tight I'm not sure how to proceed with that.

How do I remove it without damaging the piston, right now it's soaking in Pinesol. If that doesn't work maybe ATF.

[wyly]

the Mrs wasn't home to see what I was up to so I put the piston in the oven at 400F for 40 minutes. I don't know if that was a factor, if it was the Pine-Sol or a combination of the two but I was able to open a hole with dental pick between the ring ends enough to get my tiniest screw driver on the edge and tap it loose with a hammer. The ring edge protruded just enough so that I could grab it with vice grips and pull it out, it broke into seven pieces but I got them all out .

one step at a time overcoming every problem as they arise, progress is good!

[rapidray]

After you clean the ring grooves in that piston, see if a ring will fit back in the groove loosely. If not, you have a collapsed ring land & the piston is junk. I have some stock Pistons if you need to replace that one.
Ray.

[wyly]

After you clean the ring grooves in that piston, see if a ring will fit back in the groove loosely. If not, you have a collapsed ring land & the piston is junk. I have some stock Pistons if you need to replace that one.
Ray.

thanks for the offer Ray. I ran a broken ring through the groove to clean it, let it soak in Pine-Sol, then scrubbed the grooves clean with a toothbrush. Washed the Pine-Sol off and then sprayed wd40 in all the ring grooves, the rings now rotate smoothly in all the lands. I'll admit it was looking bleak I didn't think I was going to save that piston.

As expected another issue arose when I hooked up the first carb to the fuel tank to test the float height ...the petcock was locked up. I took it apart and found it needs a new rebuild kit but the internals are buggered, the copper band inside is mangled. So I'll take the CBX out for some exercise tomorrow and visit a couple of cycle restoration shops to find a new petcock if not it looks like ebay for another $40 and a 2 week wait.

[rapidray]

Or, you could get a Pingel petcock & adapter & have a better setup that will flow more fuel.
Ray.

[bobgroger]

The rebuild kits don't work much of the time. OEM or like Ray said, Pingel if racing is in your future.

[wyly]

I checked out Pingel and and I like what they have but price is an issue, the adapter alone is about equal to oem petcock in price, if it was the only part I was replacing that wouldn't be an issue it is a superior item to the oem. My expenses are already well above what I originally intended to spend, the cylinder head repair was more extensive than expected. I have about $2,500 invested right now and I still need a battery and tires and guaranteed there will be other items I don't know about as yet. I have to pace this right or the Mrs. is going to make my life uncomfortable, she doesn't see the point of having three bikes in the garage. "They all do the same thing and you can only ride one at a time!"

[wyly]

At the rebuilder's shop I took a chance and went through a box of used petcocks and found one from a GS400 it's identical to my 1150, $20. Twenty less than internet price for new oem but I don't have to wait two weeks before it arrives and I get the carbs tested and assembled even if the petcock leaks....update *installed, no leaks!*...

I rode this bike briefly 32 years ago so I don't have any practical recollection of it's handling characteristics. I've read that some owners didn't like the 16 inch fr wheel, describing it as twitchy. Is that any issue I should be concerned with? I assume a larger wheel will slow the steering, is it something I should consider changing?

A larger wheel would make it easier to get on the center stand it's a challenge now even with my 200lbs standing on it, my cbx is a much simpler lift.

[derwood]

the 16 incher is not a problem other than limited tire selection. ( Metzler lazer-tech work best on the front)
Don't expect a quick steering bike, the 1150 isn't. it does like to shake its head now and again but its pretty mild.
It should be really easy to put it on the centerstand, I am 160lb and have no problem. Perhaps your remote preload adjuster for the rear has leaked out all its fluid over the years.

[wyly]

leaking preload adjuster! Noooo I don't need any more $urprises ...

but thanks for the tip it was in my brothers tools shed since 1991 so I wouldn't know if it leaked any fluid. I'll check that out. Something must up if with my 200lbs I struggle to get it on the stand.

is the head shaking worth investing in a steering damper?

[derwood]

no,no steering damper required, the headshake is hardly worth mentioning. If it bothers you it is probably not normal and you need a tire or something.
if the preload adjuster doesn't work it maybe repairable for little cost.

[wyly]

So how accurate are the factory specifications?

I finally got the carb floats set to factory heights which were 2mm out from what I found in the carbs when I disassembled them.

The carbs had been serviced in the past and someone must have set them at the non factory height without any performance problems that I'm aware of.

Today I got the carbs assembled and hooked them up to a fuel supply to recheck the float height with a clear graduated tube designed for the task.

The factory specs called for 3mm +- .5mm below float bowl gasket surface, the level on the float tool came in at 5mm below.

Clearly one of the specs is wrong, which one? should I just go by the final external measurement and trust the person who serviced it before got it right?

Update-I put the float heights back to the way I found them which was wrong according to the internal float height specs and then did another external float measurement. The new external measurement matched the 3mm factory spec...so is that the measurement I should go with?