Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Suzuki's in the family

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Suzuki's in the family

    At age 63 now, I have two older brothers now 72 and 75. Way back in 1981, my oldest brother bought a new GS1000G and persuaded us to buy new bikes as well. I had a Honda CB550F which I traded for a GS850G, and my other brother had a BSA which he traded for a GS650G Katana. So now there were 3 new shaft-drive GS's in the family!

    For a number of years after my 2 children were born and growing up (1984/1986 to mid-nineties), I did not ride my bike much. Thereafter I used the bike more regularly for weekend breakfast runs. My oldest brother had fitted a Vetter fairing and Krauser panniers to his 1000G, so he put on a fair distance with some touring during the 'eighties. However, from about 1992 both of them did not ride at all anymore for various reasons, so their bikes were kept in a corner in their garages!

    Fast forward to 2017, when both of them moved to smaller homes and decided to sell their bikes. I bought the 1000G because my oldest brother had collected many OEM Suzuki tools, which I did not want to see going out of the family. My other brother asked me to do the necessary work to get his 650G running again after standing for 25 years, in order to be able to sell it in safe running condition. Amazingly, his bike had only done 9 918 km's since new!

    So on-and-off during the past year I have brought the 650G back to life, having attended to tyres, forks, brakes, carbs and fuel tank. Although the fuel tank was not rusted inside (and I therefore did not want to coat it inside), its contents of 17 litres of fuel had reduced to a brown, flaky and brittle residue, which resisted many attempts to remove completely. Eventually I filled the tank with a 50/50 mixture of acetone and toluene, and let it sit for 2 weeks to dissolve all the gunk, which finally resulted in a nice clean tank again.

    Today I took it on its first ride again in 25 years! It ran surprisingly well and just needs a final re-check of all bolts before it is ready to go to a new owner! Next on the list is the 1000G, and I have vowed that I will get it back on the road in just a few months instead of a year like the 650G!

    I would really like to get a photograph of our 3 bikes with my brothers, before the 650G is sold. I have not decided yet if I will keep the 1000G and sell my 850G, or vice versa, as I unfortunately will not be able to keep both of them due to space constraints.

    Here are some photos documenting the 650G's original km reading, and clocking over to 10 000 km, as well as a photo of the 1000G.














    1981 GS850G "Blue Magic" (Bike Of The Month April 2009)

    1981 GS1000G "Leo" (Bike Of The Month August 2023)

    #2
    The tank on the 1000 is HUGE!!!

    What's the capacity?

    .
    sigpic
    mine: 2000 Honda GoldWing GL1500SE and 1980 GS850G'K' "Junior"
    hers: 1982 GS850GL - "Angel" and 1969 Suzuki T250 Scrambler
    #1 son: 1986 Yamaha Venture Royale 1300 and 1982 GS650GL "Rat Bagger"
    #2 son: 1980 GS1000G
    Family Portrait
    Siblings and Spouses
    Mom's first ride
    Want a copy of my valve adjust spreadsheet for your 2-valve per cylinder engine? Send me an e-mail request (not a PM)
    (Click on my username in the upper-left corner for e-mail info.)

    Comment


      #3
      Great story! Holy cow....that tank is huge!


      Ed
      GS750TZ V&H/4-1, Progressive Shocks, Rebuilt MC/braided line, Tarozzi Stabilizer[Seq#2312]
      GS750TZ Parts Bike [Seq#6036]
      GSX-R750Y (Sold)

      my opinion shouldn't be taken as gospel or in any way that would lead you to believe otherwise (30Sep2021)
      Originally posted by GSXR7ED
      Forums are pretty much unrecognizable conversations; simply because it's a smorgasbord of feedback...from people we don't know. It's not too difficult to ignore the things that need to be bypassed.

      Comment


        #4
        Excellent story!
        2@ \'78 GS1000

        Comment


          #5
          Cool story and nice job on the 650.
          I’ve always liked your 850. It’s a beautiful cycle.
          sigpic
          When consulting the magic 8 ball for advice, one must first ask it "will your answers be accurate?"

          Glen
          -85 1150 es - Plus size supermodel.
          -Rusty old scooter.
          Other things I like to photograph.....instagram.com/gs_junkie
          https://www.instagram.com/glen_brenner/
          https://www.flickr.com/photos/152267...7713345317771/

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Steve View Post
            The tank on the 1000 is HUGE!!!

            What's the capacity?

            .
            Hi Steve

            The capacity is 28 litres. I am not really sure why my brother felt the need to increase the tank volume, as the range with the standard size tank is adequate.

            Unfortunately the top right-hand edge of the tank is now showing cracks in the filler that was used to smooth the welds (the photo was taken before the cracks appeared). I will put the OEM tank back again (my brother kept the brand new original tank in a box) because repair and repainting of the tank will be costly.
            1981 GS850G "Blue Magic" (Bike Of The Month April 2009)

            1981 GS1000G "Leo" (Bike Of The Month August 2023)

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by dorkburger View Post
              Cool story and nice job on the 650.
              I’ve always liked your 850. It’s a beautiful cycle.
              Thanks Glen, I appreciate your comment!

              There is actually a further story behind the fact that the 1000G has exactly the same colour scheme as my 850G. The silver/blue was one of the OEM colour schemes on 850's we got here in South Africa. The 1000G's we got here had a black/orange colour scheme (like the late FlyBoy's "Jennifer") and a dark metallic silvery-grey with blue, which was actually the colour of my brother's 1000G when he bought it.

              At that time, he was the Parts manager at a rural Datsun dealership, which was also a Suzuki dealership. He bought the 1000G still in it's shipping crate and took it home to assemble himself. While he was still busy with assembly, he came across the Vetter fairing at the main Suzuki importer. The Vetter fairing had the silver/blue colour scheme in the photo, which matched the 850 colour scheme perfectly! So my brother asked the Suzuki salesman if he could swop his 1000G's tank, sidecovers and tailpiece for those on a 850G on the showroom floor. That is how his bike ended up with the same colour scheme as mine!

              Unlike your country where the Vetter fairings were manufactured and are very plentiful, here in South Africa they were very rare (so rare in fact that when another member here in South Africa, Matchless, wanted to fit one to his 1000G in 2010, he could not find one here and so appealed to the broader GSR community. Member Chuck Hahn very kindly donated a fairing which member Rustybronco cut into 3 pieces for shipping in separate smaller boxes to escape the huge shipping cost for the full fairing to South Africa. Matchless then joined the pieces together again, painted it and fitted it to his bike!).
              1981 GS850G "Blue Magic" (Bike Of The Month April 2009)

              1981 GS1000G "Leo" (Bike Of The Month August 2023)

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by 2BRacing View Post
                The capacity is 28 litres.
                WOW!! 7.4 gallons. Impressive.

                .
                sigpic
                mine: 2000 Honda GoldWing GL1500SE and 1980 GS850G'K' "Junior"
                hers: 1982 GS850GL - "Angel" and 1969 Suzuki T250 Scrambler
                #1 son: 1986 Yamaha Venture Royale 1300 and 1982 GS650GL "Rat Bagger"
                #2 son: 1980 GS1000G
                Family Portrait
                Siblings and Spouses
                Mom's first ride
                Want a copy of my valve adjust spreadsheet for your 2-valve per cylinder engine? Send me an e-mail request (not a PM)
                (Click on my username in the upper-left corner for e-mail info.)

                Comment


                  #9
                  I think that tank is awesome. Imagine doing the Cannonball Run with that bike.

                  What you said about the Vetter is wild. I hope someone took pictures. Here you almost can't give them away. One mans junk, is another mans treasure. I have one from a Kawasaki I had on my 1000G Suzy II, sitting out back in my shed unwanted, but I just can't bring myself to throw it away.

                  I hope you post pics of the trio.
                  GSRick
                  No God, no peace. Know God, know peace.

                  Eric Bang RIP 9/5/2018
                  Have some bikes ready for us when we meet up.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by gsrick View Post
                    I think that tank is awesome. Imagine doing the Cannonball Run with that bike.

                    What you said about the Vetter is wild. I hope someone took pictures. Here you almost can't give them away. One mans junk, is another mans treasure. I have one from a Kawasaki I had on my 1000G Suzy II, sitting out back in my shed unwanted, but I just can't bring myself to throw it away.

                    I hope you post pics of the trio.
                    Yes, I will definitely post pictures of the three bikes with the three brothers - although it may take many months to get all the logistics in place, as my oldest brother is 1 500 km away.

                    Talking of the Cannonball Run - my brother put 1000S cams in the 1000G, in order to "wake the bike up" and compensate for the extra weight of the fairing and panniers! Apparently it ran well, but I never rode it myself back then. So I will have to find out when I get it back in safe running condition again, although I do not have a reference point, with only my 850 as comparison.

                    Here is the Vetter thread - kudo's to Chuck Hahn and Rustybronco!
                    https://www.thegsresources.com/_foru...mer&highlight=
                    Last edited by 2BRacing; 03-05-2018, 12:04 PM.
                    1981 GS850G "Blue Magic" (Bike Of The Month April 2009)

                    1981 GS1000G "Leo" (Bike Of The Month August 2023)

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Wow, that was some job on the windjammer. Very impressive.
                      sigpic
                      When consulting the magic 8 ball for advice, one must first ask it "will your answers be accurate?"

                      Glen
                      -85 1150 es - Plus size supermodel.
                      -Rusty old scooter.
                      Other things I like to photograph.....instagram.com/gs_junkie
                      https://www.instagram.com/glen_brenner/
                      https://www.flickr.com/photos/152267...7713345317771/

                      Comment

                      Working...
                      X