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83 GS1100GK restore / refresh

G

GRich

Forum Apprentice
I know that the old GK isn't the most "exciting" bike for most people, but I do want to document my progress online. I have found it's a great way to help others, but also to keep track of everything that is done to the bike. As some of you may have seen from my member introduction, here's what I'm starting with:

20231024-142632.jpg
 
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Now the history of the bike, along with its current state...... I just found it about a week ago and the seller got it from his brother. I was told that the brother loved the bike but ended up with dementia and forgot that he even had a motorcycle. The seller did tell me that his brother didn't own a garage (so the bike was stored outside under a cover) and the brother didn't work on the bike himself (generally). I was also told that some parts were sent out to get powder coated and never reinstalled. For the most part, the bike is in amazing shape for its age! There is about 39k on the odometer, but the bike was parked for the past 20 years or so. And there was a ziploc bag full of receipts of work done over the years.

The bad news? In that bag of receipts was a police report detailing how the owner was rear ended at a stop sign (luckily it was a guy stopped behind the bike, and then crept forward knocking the bike over). Then there were receipts for new luggage from a yard in California- it's obvious by looking at the condition of the luggage it doesn't match the bike itself. And since parts were taken off 20+ years ago, there are some odd bits and bolts missing. No rubber battery strap, one of the air box / carb clamps is gone, a bolt for the engine card disappeared, etc, etc..... all in all, nothing to worry about. Just a matter of poking around the bike and making a list of oddball things to get from Ebay!
 
After the initial "oohs" and "aaahs" in the garage, I started stripping the bike down making a list of what's missing and getting some of the smaller stuff (ie: cheaper stuff) taken care of. I already changed the gear oil at each end to synthetic 75w-90. Since the airbox was off the next step was to pull the carbs off and start cleaning them. I don't own any Berrymans, but I spent a couple hours tearing them apart / spraying carb cleaner / blasting them with air. They honestly weren't "too" bad, but bad enough to warrant a good cleaning.

I did notice however, that the mixture screws had been opened up and messed with. At some time, a couple orings and washers disappeared...... and the stock jets were still installed with a K&N filter and the 4-1 exhaust. More stuff added to the list.....

 
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I found this paper in the ziploc bag of receipts - it is a list of recommended jetting changes for the Vance & Hines 4 into 1. Hopefully it helps someone else out too.

 
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While waiting for some parts, I bought some weather stripping and sealed up the airbox. Also cleaned and oiled the K&N filter.

 
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Also got my valves checked. When I started, only one was actually in spec......

 
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For some odd reason, the rear caliper had 99% of the paint stripped off of it. I have a receipt it was rebuilt, but no idea why the paint was stripped.....

 
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All stripped down. Sure enough, everything has new rubber in there. Yay!

 
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Off to a good start. I did a 1982 GS1000GL a couple of years back and documented it here. This is how it turned out. Keep posting photos. Might want to use a site like IBB to download your photo.
gs-done-1.jpg
 
craz1 said:
Off to a good start. I did a 1982 GS1000GL a couple of years back and documented it here. This is how it turned out. Keep posting photos. Might want to use a site like IBB to download your photo.
gs-done-1.jpg
Click to expand...

Agree. Once the photos are uploaded to a hosting site, then the BBC IMG code can be linked here and the photos will show up in high resolution. You can add 10 photos into one post also.
 
Let's give this a shot.....

This is the "BBCode full linked". Looks fine on my phone, any issues on a proper PC?

 
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Thanks gentlemen! Ed, that part of your signature? I said that just the other day when my son and I were doing the valve shims. There was one shim (#4, intake) that didn't need to come out, but I told him it was coming out to get measured at least. He asked why, and I said "to measure is to know. We are not guessing or hoping here....".

Today was a pretty busy day - the mixture screw hardware came in from Z1, so the carbs got all buttoned up and reinstalled. Airbox was mounted too (but one of the clamps is missing), and the actual nounting bolts for the frame is missing. More stuff on the list!

I did however, get the rear caliper reinstalled, and took the front calipers apart for cleaning & painting.

 
 
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Thanks Redman! I've checked out your GK many times since stumbling upon this one.....

You're correct about the mirrors - and they are not in a box somewhere stashed in my garage. I have some standard handlebar mirrors I can use to get me on the road, but I'd like to run fairing mounted mirrors in the future.

The seat was reupholstered back around.....2006 I think? The foam wasn't evened out left to right on the passenger area, and then the fabric is off center as it goes back to the rear. I'd like to get around to is eventually, but there's plenty of stuff before that.....
 
Ok..... been a little hectic here recently. I was working a bunch of overtime before Christmas, then was dealing with some health issues. I was trying to work on the GK when I could, but I couldn't find time to update this thread. So here's what I've been up to!

New petcock because, surprise surprise! Mine was dumping gas into the engine.

 


If you look, you can see 4 holes in the side of the saddlebags from a previous owner. There were LARGE reflectors mounted up at some time, and then they were taken off and misplaced. So to fill the holes, I'm using much smaller reflectors:

 
On the left / lower panel of the fairing, there was a small bracket for what I assume was a garage door opener or something? Since there was already a couple mounting holes (and I'm not using the old bracket), I installed a small voltage meter.

 
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