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    #16
    Originally posted by allojohn View Post
    Maybe Suzuki made a cheap/easy change to the existing molds eliminating the drain hole.
    This.
    I remember back years ago some had a drain plug there.
    sigpic

    Don't say can't, as anything is possible with time and effort, but, if you don't have time things get tougher and require more effort.

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      #17
      Thanks again everyone. Mine is a 1982 gs450t. Love the bike. Was my first motorcycle.

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        #18
        Rainy boring day, I looked it up. No GS450's I found had the drain plug on the filter cover. The "77","78", & "79" GS550 "E"'s had them, GS550 "L" did not, neither after "79" had them. I can't believe I've been this bored today.
        1983 GS1100E, 1983 CB1100F, 1991 GSX1100G, 1996 Kaw. ZL600 Eliminator, 1999 Bandit 1200S, 2005 Bandit 1200S, 2000 Kaw. ZRX 1100

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          #19
          Before the GS450, Suzuki made the GS400. It came out the same year as the GS550 -- so maybe they had the extra drain plug, too.

          At the time in '77 I was torn between the GS400 and the GS550. They were both great bikes, but I'm glad I went with the GS550 -- I was just bored at the time, and it cheered me up!
          sigpic
          '77 GS550B
          '78 GS550C

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            #20
            Suzuki HAAAAAAATES redesigning parts, so an un-used boss for a drain plug is just part of the oil filter cover casting on lots of GS models. But not all.

            In any case, if yours doesn't actually have a drain plug, you may safely ignore it completely. If it does have a plug, I suppose you could place it on the bottom, but you could also just ignore it completely and remove the whole cover when changing the filter. If you only change the filter every other oil change, then a drain plug would enable you to get that last bit of oil out with less trouble than removing the cover. But I and everyone I know just changes the filter at every oil change so it's completely moot.


            Backing way up to see the bigger picture, this extremely "frugal" corporate ethos is one of the big reasons so many of us can keep these things alive and ride the wee out of them 40 years later. GS parts were re-used for as long as possible on as many models as possible, so parts availability can be (but isn't always) surprisingly good.

            To give one example, the driven spline unit in the rear wheel of GS shafties debuted in the 1979 GS850G, and is still in current production for Suzuki's Boulevard C50 805cc cruisers.

            There are still several one-year or two-year wrong numbers and dead ends, of course; the absolutely cursed "siamesed" carburetors found on certain years of (I think) the GS650. The GR650 Tempter twin was actually a pretty good bike, but didn't sell well and went away quickly. Still, there's a lot of useful commonality between the GR and GS models.
            1983 GS850G, Cosmos Blue.
            2005 KLR685, Aztec Pink - Turd II.3, the ReReReTurdening
            2015 Yamaha FJ-09, Magma Red Power Corrupts...
            Eat more venison.

            Please provide details. The GSR Hive Mind is nearly omniscient, but not yet clairvoyant.

            Celeriter equita, converteque saepe.

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