A one year rider and a 46 year old sport touring motorcycle - 1979 GS850

I agree about Pledge on the visor or windscreen, it works well.

Don't make the mistake of using Pledge on your saddle - I'm convinced it degrades the vinyl. It doesn't happen overnight, but it falls apart a within a couple of years.
I know that anecdote is not evidence, but I had the situation where one saddle was occasionally cleaned with Pledge and another one was in storage and never cleaned.
When the first one fell apart, I laid off using Pledge on the second, it never had any and it's still perfectly sound.
Both covers were about the same age, give or take a year.

I have continuously owned at least one GS850 since December of 1979, including the one Redman mentioned a few posts above (still have it). Overall hundreds of thousands of miles on them.

I cast another vote for the Winjammer--for all of the reasons mentioned above plus one that I haven't seen elsewhere. It has been my experience that once moving the bike actually handles better with the fairing than without. I cannot tell you why, but my suspicion is that it shifts the weight bias forward and makes the front wheel feel more planted. Your results may vary.

The only drawback I have found is at very slow speeds and while pushing it around the garage. There it just adds to the existing top heaviness of the bike. For me that was/is an acceptable tradeoff.

You made a good choice with the GS850GN. A great and versatile motorcycle. I've owned the one below since 1990 and also was looking for a 1000G for more HP and torque but this one gets the job done and has carried me many enjoyable miles. They had 3 colors that year, red, blue, and black. I've never seen a black one except for pictures. A friend had a couple of red ones. One of which went away after a car pulled out in front of him. https://www.thegsresources.com/botm.php

I can't imagine the solvents in pledge being great for your saddle... probably not great for your paint either. Plexus is what I've used forever on the visor/shield but my friend in the UK reckons it's no good in the cold weather.

You made a good choice with the GS850GN. A great and versatile motorcycle. I've owned the one below since 1990 and also was looking for a 1000G for more HP and torque but this one gets the job done and has carried me many enjoyable miles. They had 3 colors that year, red, blue, and black. I've never seen a black one except for pictures. A friend had a couple of red ones. One of which went away after a car pulled out in front of him. Check out the Bike of the month for February 2023 if you want to see mine.

SatsuRyu said:

Part 2...

Suspension:
I don't feel like the suspension needs urgent addressing, but it is something I want to after the tires, brake lines, and electricals are addressed. I was thinking of getting the Progressive rear shocks or maybe saving up a bit for the Adjust-a-Ride Ikons. Are the Progressives good enough and the Ikons over kill or are they worth the step up? The front forks are still sporting the air forks that they came with and having adjustable front forks seems pretty cool but they seem troublesome from what I've read here. So I was thinking of ignoring them altogether and getting the forum favorite, Sonic Springs. From the chart, I should be using 1.00kg/mm spring rate. However, I do have a Windjammer mounted and I was wondering if that affected what spring rate I should use? I do plan on removing the Windjammer eventually so maybe I should just go for the 1.00kg/mm spring rate. The shop owner said that they fork seals have not been replaced and I currently don't see any seepage of fork oil, but at this age, everything should be replaced.

Brakes:
So I have noticed and intend on getting the twinpot caliper upgrade using the CBR600 rotors. I think that's the correct rotors. Anyway, I am making do with the current and original caliper and disc setup until I can get to the upgrade. The front brakes squeak when I apply the brakes so I'm not too pleased with that. And the brake lines are original, so they need to be replaced with steel lines. I don't know the status of the master cylinder so that probably needs to be rebuilt. Are those OEM Suzuki parts available? If not, what would be some good upgrade for the master cylinder? I guess the same question for the rear master cylinder as well. Whether there are OEM rebuilt kits or a viable replacement for it? If I weren't going for the twinpot upgrade, I would want to swap to the 1980s calipers and slotted rotors. However, the twinpot is for the front calipers and not the rear, if I recall correctly. Would the 1980s caliper and disc be an upgrade to the 1979 caliper and solid rotor or no?

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Yes the windjammer will affect the spring rate for sure. Service the forks, straight weight springs and Cartridge emulators if you're feeling fancy.

Rear brakes - they are all the same, there are no real upgrades. A Modern MC can be made to work back there with minimal mods (I did a post on it). Always go OEM for brake rubber parts. KL stuff is not great. A lot of these bikes have a pretty shoddy looking bore in the rear MC when you get them apart these days.

For front brakes - I can't remember if the 1979 has round pads or the rectangular ones. If round then yes the later brakes are an upgrade but they are still nothing against the power of the twinpot conversion. (I do have a few bracket sets left). You can use the master cylinder from the twinpots (with the twinpots but even with stock brakes) for a cheap reliable upgrade path.

Oh... and welcome to the forum.

salty_monk said:

I can't imagine the solvents in pledge being great for your saddle... probably not great for your paint either. Plexus is what I've used forever on the visor/shield but my friend in the UK reckons it's no good in the cold weather.

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A good friend Roy and my cousin Rick always used lemon Pledge on their bike finishes and windshields. Rick's, Hot Rod Pearl yellow 2001 GL1800, virtually never saw a bucket of soapy water but only Pledge and a rag. Both bikes always looked good for decades. I don't believe they used it on their seats though. I use Plexus on my helmet visor and windshield but not so much on the rest of the bike. At $40 for the large can it's too expensive for me. It used to be $11 for a large can but the price has gone crazy There's nothing better for a windshield or a visor though.

Revival thread from May 2, 2025.

Yes, very good intro...in two-part segment!

Nice photo too!

Wow thank you for all the follow up on the post! All of the advise is much appreciated. I had intended on, but did not get around to sharing my first motorcycle road trip ever riding the versatile GS850GN. I rode around Lake Michigan with minimal troubles and I was grateful for the GN model because I legitimately needed the kickstart lever for a couple of days haha. Turned out the screws on the starter solenoid backed themselves out until it disconnected and the start button stopped working. Once I figured that out and tightened the screws, the start button worked again. Everything else was fantastic. I'll get around to making a longer post with some pictures haha.

Even though this example was well cared for, vintage bike is gonna vintage bike so I have some minor issues right now.

Tachometer is acting up. Moderate revving induces a buzzing or whining sound and the tach needle shoots past 9k RPM. I was steeling myself to get into its guts to see what was wrong, but I found a moderately priced NOS tachometer so I'm hoping it'll be fine once I install it.

My newest concern is that I have noticed an oil leak coming somewhere on the left rear side of the engine. Maybe a head gasket leak, but the gasket on this GS850 is recent. The bike isn't bleeding copious amounts of oil, nor is it leaving a puddle on the ground. Currently I can't tell where it's coming from just from idling. The oil appears after riding the bike, but not in large amounts.

Just acquired new throttle cables and clutch cable, as I am somewhat wary of the originally dated '78 lines on the bike.

Acquired stainless steel brake lines for front and rear from EBC brakes. I also have new gaskets and round brake pads for the front. Probably should find rebuild kits for the front and rear master cylinder. Hoping once I replace the pad and give the discs a nice cleaning, the squeaking will stop haha. I replaced the rear brake's gasket and pad last year. I'm just trying out replacing what the bike has but I might be interested in the brackets for the modern twin-pot brakes off of the CB650 or Ninja, right?

Also, the rear brake stopped working so that's not ideal. The rear brake lever goes straight down with no resistance. I had this happen last year when I was working on the rear brake too. I had the shop I bought this GS850 from fix the issue but I'd like to see what's going on with it this time before I throw in the towel and head to the shop again.

And yes, I'd like to get some straight rate springs for the front forks and new shocks for the rear. I think the original front and rear suspension parts are tired at this point. I can still ride it, but I bet new suspension will make a heck of a difference. Seems like Sonic Springs isn't making vintage GS springs anymore? RaceTech still does though.

SatsuRyu said:

My newest concern is that I have noticed an oil leak coming somewhere on the left rear side of the engine. Maybe a head gasket leak, but the gasket on this GS850 is recent. The bike isn't bleeding copious amounts of oil, nor is it leaving a puddle on the ground. Currently I can't tell where it's coming from just from idling. The oil appears after riding the bike, but not in large amounts.

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When you say the gasket is new, do you mean the valve cover gasket or the real head gasket?
If the latter, was the bottom (base) gasket changed at the same time?
If not, likely the leak is from there, as they should be changed when the head is disturbed, and the base gasket will (always) eventually leak on its own anyway, even if it's undisturbed.
If you're lucky, the leak might be from the cam chain tensioner at the back of the cylinder block. That's a simple fix.

Grimly said:

When you say the gasket is new, do you mean the valve cover gasket or the real head gasket?
If the latter, was the bottom (base) gasket changed at the same time?
If not, likely the leak is from there, as they should be changed when the head is disturbed, and the base gasket will (always) eventually leak on its own anyway, even if it's undisturbed.
If you're lucky, the leak might be from the cam chain tensioner at the back of the cylinder block. That's a simple fix.

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I'm thinking the valve cover gasket. The garage I bought the GS850 from said one of the things they did before putting the bike up for sale was they did the valves and I noticed after taking the fairing off that they didn't cut the connecting bits at the end of the gasket.

But at least I have a heading on where to focus on looking for the leak.

If you don't have one, get a 1/4" drive inch-pounds torque wrench for the valve cover bolts. Slacken all of them off, then tighten them evenly from the centre outwards in a spiral pattern, to 75 or 80 inch-pounds.
Keep your fingers crossed they've not been over-tightened in the past.

Yes Racetch still has springs. You might struggle to find MC parts - note KL ones usually don't work on these.... Try to find OEM.