GS850 G forks on L (Maybe?)

[bwringer]

Yep, that's definitely a 1979 caliper. It's not going to work with those GL forks.

So a set of 1980+ calipers would be something of an upgrade, and you could get them with the correct brackets for the GL fork (or a G fork).

However, if that's a 1979 G frame, then all in all I'd stick with the G forks so the geometry is correct.

The 1979 G and the 1980 G and GL all had 17" rear wheels. The GL models switched to a 16" rear wheel in 1981. Since your bike has the 1980+ slotted rotor, I'm thinking that's the 1980 GL rear wheel.


Crikey, you're going to have to make a spreadsheet to keep track of all this...

[bwringer]

Looks like a 79 master cylinder as well but no kick start ?

I'm pretty sure we've established that the engine, airbox, sidecovers, seat, headlight, rotors, rear fender, tank, and carbs are 1980 GL. The frame, forks, calipers and MC are probably 1979 G. Wheels are probably 1980 GL, could be 79 G with 80 rotors.

Not sure about the instruments.

[koston286]

Why do you want to change the forks?

The issue with the old calipers and new fork is the caliper hangers are wrong. You could possibly look for some caliper hangers off a 1000L, but not sure they would be a proper match either.

The right fork seal leaks. The last time I changed it I noticed some kind of wear in the lower tube seal surface. It sounds to me though I shouldnt use these newer GL forks if I have a G frame.

[eil]

It looks to me like a 1980 GS850GL with 1979 GS850G forks. If the PO swapped the forks but not the triple-tree, the handling will be weird.

[bwringer]

It looks to me like a 1980 GS850GL with 1979 GS850G forks. If the PO swapped the forks but not the triple-tree, the handling will be weird.

Read through the other posts: that's not a GL frame.

[Steve]

Looks like our posts crossed!

That's definitely a 1980 GS850GL. Perhaps an '81 ...

The '81 L had different airbox and side covers. Those are '80 parts.

.

[Grimly]

It's almost as if someone had a '79G (with a title) that got really ratty and nasty, but found an '80L (cheap, no title) with a front-end smash that gave up its good bits.
It's the kind of thing people do to keep going / turn a buck.

[bwringer]

It's almost as if someone had a '79G (with a title) that got really ratty and nasty, but found an '80L (cheap, no title) with a front-end smash that gave up its good bits.
It's the kind of thing people do to keep going / turn a buck.

Yep, kinda what I was thinking. As I mentioned above, there's nothing fundamentally wrong with this. With a bit of care you could still end up with a motorcycle that works perfectly well, and it sounds like the OP has been riding around happily for a while. Just have to be careful with future repair and maintenance.

Too bad the folks who put together these "bitsas" never seem to keep any notes...

[Brendan W]

A close up of the motor mount plates and the fork clamp screws would be interesting.

[koston286]

Yep, kinda what I was thinking. As I mentioned above, there's nothing fundamentally wrong with this. With a bit of care you could still end up with a motorcycle that works perfectly well, and it sounds like the OP has been riding around happily for a while. Just have to be careful with future repair and maintenance.

Too bad the folks who put together these "bitsas" never seem to keep any notes...

Yeah, it's been a great bike for sure. But I need to get started on the spreadsheet!

A close up of the motor mount plates and the fork clamp screws would be interesting.

I'll take some pics and post soon.

Thanks,

K

[bwringer]

A close up of the motor mount plates and the fork clamp screws would be interesting.

Why?





tencharacters

[Brendan W]

Why?tencharacters

Maybe a PO got creative, maybe it's a genuine factory Frankenbike. If there are no toolmarks at the mounts or clamps it leaves the second possibility open.