'79 GS850G - Re-Born!
I have recently bought a rather crusty '79 GS850G and while it isn't running just yet, I have begun to inspect it and am doing a few little tasks. This is an attempt to re-live a great time in my life when I bought a brand new leftover 1979 Suzuki GS850G. Also, we recently moved out to the country and I built a pole-barn for my hobbies and as a refuge from the world.
This post describes a small step, but an interesting one that includes a slick modification I made 43 years ago and a bit of snazzy new 2024 technology. Many GS Resources folks may already know about this little fix - but just in case....
The Problem
As we all know, the early Suzuki 4-strokers had just one significant flaw (IMO and that of most of the bike magazines of the day), the charging system was...shall we say, of dubious quality and unreliable performance. Basically, the regulator/rectifier unit was under-rated and unreliable and the alternator itself, particularly on the 1979 GS850G (the bike I had) was not up to the job of keeping the battery charged and running any accessories (it was intended as a big tourer....). The thing to do was to try to reduce the electrical load whenever possible and, aside from the starter itself, the headlight was the thing that drew the most current when starting the bike (the point in time when the reg/rec was most likely to fail).
This was compounded by the fact that daytime running lights on bikes became mandatory in Canada in either 1978 or '79 - and so you simply could not turn the headlight off - no-way, no-how. If the ignition key was turned on, the headlight was on. There was a headlight switch knob on the left-hand handlebar switch cluster on my new '79 bike, but it appeared to be glued in place and would not move at all.
The Solution
One way to solve the charging system problem would be to shut off the dang-danged headlight when cranking the bike. Also, back in the early 1980s, I was a serious motorcycle tripper and camper and so finding a way to kill the headlight when I wanted to make a stealthy entrance to a campground would be a bonus.
Soooo, a few weeks after I bought the shiny new leftover '79 GS850 back in 1981, I went back out to the dealership (Tony's Suzuki in Kingston, ON) and asked Tony (truly one of the sharpest mechanics I've ever met) if there was any sort of kit or...something that would make it possible to turn off the headlight. Without a word, he pulled out his #1 Vessel JIS driver and removed the tiny little M2 screw that retained the fixed headlight switch knob on the LH handlebar, and took off the knob (see the photo below). He winked and pointed out the little plastic tab that stuck out from the large "radiused" face of the switch knob. That tab engaged with a slot on the handlebar switch cluster - and prevented the switch from moving.
He then pointed out a little metal bar that protruded out of the switch cluster on the bars (see the photo below) - that bar is the headlight switch actuator.
NOTE: the photo is of my "new" '79 GS850G - and the switch is shown in the OFF position.
....and, now back to 1981: Tony winked as he moved the metal switch lever to the rearward position (shown above) and started the engine.....NO HEADLIGHT - and then once the engine was running, he moved the lever to the forward position and WAH-LA - headlight on.
He went on to say that since the headlight-on thingy was a federally mandated requirement, it would be illegal for him to grind off that little tab on the switch knob, but of course, if someone else did it, there would be nothing he could do about it.
The 2024 Fix - 3-D Printing - Yah Baby!
I am still getting the pole-barn ready for real projects (building a workbench and shelves etc.) but one of the things I noted when I was examing the "new" bike was that the "headlight knob" fix had not been done to it because the knob was absolutely rigid on the bar switch cluster. So, I pulled out my #1 Vessel screwdriver and removed the switch knob, and sure enough, there was the offending little plastic tab on the radiused side of the knob. As I began to carve the tab off the knob to do the 1981 modification on the "new" bike, a little wedge-shaped chunk of plastic fell off in my hand (see above) and so I thought "OK - gotta glue that back on" and continued carving.
Then the tiny little M2 screw rolled off the seat of the bike...and completely disappeared.
I guess it is now in the land of 10mm sockets and missing socks....somewhere.
Anyhow, at that point, my former student and good friend (now a senior executive at a very prominent Detroit automotive engineering firm...that specializes in very high perf Fords and whose name starts with "R") came over to see the progress, just as I was down on my hands and knees looking for that danged little screw.
He said, "Oh heck, I can 3-D print a new knob for you in a flash - total piece of cake. How many would you like and what colour?"
A day or so later, he came over with the new knob shown in the photo below. It is virtually identical to the old one and no carving or grinding is required to make the light switch functional. He told me that it took him about 15 minutes to draw the part with a free-ware CAD program and about another 10-15 minutes to 3-D print it. Also, I went to our IT people and they have an infinite supply of little M2 screws that they have harvested from dead computer hard drives etc. - so I am back in business!
This just proves the old adage, "It's not what you know, its who you know AND what you know....".
Pete
I have recently bought a rather crusty '79 GS850G and while it isn't running just yet, I have begun to inspect it and am doing a few little tasks. This is an attempt to re-live a great time in my life when I bought a brand new leftover 1979 Suzuki GS850G. Also, we recently moved out to the country and I built a pole-barn for my hobbies and as a refuge from the world.
This post describes a small step, but an interesting one that includes a slick modification I made 43 years ago and a bit of snazzy new 2024 technology. Many GS Resources folks may already know about this little fix - but just in case....
The Problem
As we all know, the early Suzuki 4-strokers had just one significant flaw (IMO and that of most of the bike magazines of the day), the charging system was...shall we say, of dubious quality and unreliable performance. Basically, the regulator/rectifier unit was under-rated and unreliable and the alternator itself, particularly on the 1979 GS850G (the bike I had) was not up to the job of keeping the battery charged and running any accessories (it was intended as a big tourer....). The thing to do was to try to reduce the electrical load whenever possible and, aside from the starter itself, the headlight was the thing that drew the most current when starting the bike (the point in time when the reg/rec was most likely to fail).
This was compounded by the fact that daytime running lights on bikes became mandatory in Canada in either 1978 or '79 - and so you simply could not turn the headlight off - no-way, no-how. If the ignition key was turned on, the headlight was on. There was a headlight switch knob on the left-hand handlebar switch cluster on my new '79 bike, but it appeared to be glued in place and would not move at all.
The Solution
One way to solve the charging system problem would be to shut off the dang-danged headlight when cranking the bike. Also, back in the early 1980s, I was a serious motorcycle tripper and camper and so finding a way to kill the headlight when I wanted to make a stealthy entrance to a campground would be a bonus.
Soooo, a few weeks after I bought the shiny new leftover '79 GS850 back in 1981, I went back out to the dealership (Tony's Suzuki in Kingston, ON) and asked Tony (truly one of the sharpest mechanics I've ever met) if there was any sort of kit or...something that would make it possible to turn off the headlight. Without a word, he pulled out his #1 Vessel JIS driver and removed the tiny little M2 screw that retained the fixed headlight switch knob on the LH handlebar, and took off the knob (see the photo below). He winked and pointed out the little plastic tab that stuck out from the large "radiused" face of the switch knob. That tab engaged with a slot on the handlebar switch cluster - and prevented the switch from moving.
He then pointed out a little metal bar that protruded out of the switch cluster on the bars (see the photo below) - that bar is the headlight switch actuator.
NOTE: the photo is of my "new" '79 GS850G - and the switch is shown in the OFF position.
....and, now back to 1981: Tony winked as he moved the metal switch lever to the rearward position (shown above) and started the engine.....NO HEADLIGHT - and then once the engine was running, he moved the lever to the forward position and WAH-LA - headlight on.
He went on to say that since the headlight-on thingy was a federally mandated requirement, it would be illegal for him to grind off that little tab on the switch knob, but of course, if someone else did it, there would be nothing he could do about it.
The 2024 Fix - 3-D Printing - Yah Baby!
I am still getting the pole-barn ready for real projects (building a workbench and shelves etc.) but one of the things I noted when I was examing the "new" bike was that the "headlight knob" fix had not been done to it because the knob was absolutely rigid on the bar switch cluster. So, I pulled out my #1 Vessel screwdriver and removed the switch knob, and sure enough, there was the offending little plastic tab on the radiused side of the knob. As I began to carve the tab off the knob to do the 1981 modification on the "new" bike, a little wedge-shaped chunk of plastic fell off in my hand (see above) and so I thought "OK - gotta glue that back on" and continued carving.
Then the tiny little M2 screw rolled off the seat of the bike...and completely disappeared.
I guess it is now in the land of 10mm sockets and missing socks....somewhere.Anyhow, at that point, my former student and good friend (now a senior executive at a very prominent Detroit automotive engineering firm...that specializes in very high perf Fords and whose name starts with "R") came over to see the progress, just as I was down on my hands and knees looking for that danged little screw.
He said, "Oh heck, I can 3-D print a new knob for you in a flash - total piece of cake. How many would you like and what colour?"
A day or so later, he came over with the new knob shown in the photo below. It is virtually identical to the old one and no carving or grinding is required to make the light switch functional. He told me that it took him about 15 minutes to draw the part with a free-ware CAD program and about another 10-15 minutes to 3-D print it. Also, I went to our IT people and they have an infinite supply of little M2 screws that they have harvested from dead computer hard drives etc. - so I am back in business!
This just proves the old adage, "It's not what you know, its who you know AND what you know....".
Pete
