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1980 GS1000S Reluctant Rebuild

.[/QUOTE]Also, where did you get your Vapor Blasting done? I haven't been able to find many places that do it, and I'm interested in your experience with them and what they charged.[/QUOTE]

http://www.vaporblastcanada.com/

There are a couple of places in the US apparently, but I went here which is a 30 min drive from my place.
Forks $40.00
Each side case $15.00
If you open the brochure on the site it has all the prices listed, and plenty of pictures.

I was very happy with the results, and they had them done in a few days.

They also mentioned if I wasn't happy with any finishes I applied, I could bring them back and they would blast them again for no charge.
 
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Isn't vapour blasting the newest thing for cleaning carbs?
 
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Thanks for the info, Kiwi. That's EXACTLY what I'm looking for. It's just too bad I can't find anywhere closer to the Central US...
 
oh this thing is just too beautiful!!!!

I think we should import a few to Australia! hey Pete? ;) bulk discount? ;)
 
Kiwi Canuck said:
A picture of the parts that I had Vapour Blasted after I had sprayed the valve cover and the rear hub with VHT SP115 Satin Clear. (the top cap was painted with SP127 silver) See how it's quite a bit darker than the side covers, I sprayed them later and they went even darker, so I stripped them with paint stripper and then gave them a good polishing.




Here's the side cover decals, any ideas as to where to find a set of original Black & Sliver?
Click to expand...


Dave -- Great progress on the rebuild. I have some NOS decals but with gold letters -- these are period correct for the GS1000ST (not SN) but only the "SUZUKI" decal is for the GS750/1000. The "DOHC" decals are too small and were incorrectly sent to me as a matching pair. They may fit GS550/450 etc.




I will be posting some pics soon on my project -- you definitely have a head start! How is the seat rebuild going?
 
Geez............how did I miss this thread! I didn't realize the bike needed that much work.

The bike is looking great, Kiwi! I will keep you in mind if I dig anything up.
 
Vmass said:
Geez............how did I miss this thread! I didn't realize the bike needed that much work.

The bike is looking great, Kiwi! I will keep you in mind if I dig anything up.
Click to expand...

Thanks Rich, I think the tipping point came when I discovered that 3 of the 4 spark plugs were cross threaded or stripped and that required the engine apart so that lead to the removal of the engine and then why stop there.;)

I probably could have done a quick fix and had it back on the road by now, but I would have never been able to trust any of the work the previous owner did after what I found, and that would take a lot of the pleasure out of riding, so the goal is to have it back on the road before the end of this summer.:D

Cheers,
 
Those engine cover emblems can be restored fairly easily, at least the paint can. Do your body work and fix any small dings with bondo and/or spot putty, then spray the entire emblem with satin black. Then get your sanding block with some 400 grit paper and carefully sand the top of the letters to remove the black. I did a couple of emblems and they turned out really nice afterwards. Better than those later model versions anyway.

Good luck with your restoration.
 
Nessism said:
Those engine cover emblems can be restored fairly easily, at least the paint can. Do your body work and fix any small dings with bondo and/or spot putty, then spray the entire emblem with satin black. Then get your sanding block with some 400 grit paper and carefully sand the top of the letters to remove the black. I did a couple of emblems and they turned out really nice afterwards. Better than those later model versions anyway.

Good luck with your restoration.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip, I had thought about that and wondered if would work, I will try it.
When I removed the old ones I was not very careful as I thought I had new ones coming, if I had known I would have been much more careful, hopefully they will clean up OK.
 
Wtf

Wtf

Well last night I made some good progress and took some more pictures as well,
Here's a picture of the swing armed installed.



I finished cleaning and installing the front disc brakes and luckly I didn't crimp the tab washers as as I forgotten the trim that goes on the speedo side, once that was installed and I sorted out the rear bolts from the front set as they are different, it was time to install the front wheel.

That's when I realized something didn't look right, there was a 15-20mm gap between the wheel spaceer and the fork leg.
I went to look at the exploded diagram to see what I had missed, but all the spacers were there (I'd just changed the wheel bearings) so I decided to sleep on it and look again in the morning.



When I got up this morning I wondered if the forks were in fact straight, I loosened the pinch bolts and rotated the fork leg 90 degrees and sure enough the gap closed up.



WTF!! the lying POS PO who said the bike has never been in an accident and never dropped. What a lying sack o ****e, turns out what-ever split the front fender may have something to do with the bent front forks.:(

 
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Your not having any luck are you? I have a set of upper forks off a 78 1000e. If they will work you can have them for shipping.
I checked the part numbers and there the same #51110-49001.
cg
 
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Charlie G said:
Your not having any luck are you? I have a set of upper forks off a 78 1000. If they will work you can have them for shipping.

cg
Click to expand...

Charlie, if it wasn't for Bad Luck, I'd have no Luck at all on this one. :D

Thank you for the kind offer, I'm taking them into Wally Routledge (our local motorcycle alchemist) in the morning and hopefully he can take care of them, if not, I'll PM you with my info.

Yes, quite enough surprises on this bike.
I have bought many used bikes in my life (and quite a few new ones as well)and most of them met expectations, if there were any issues they were easy to take care of.

Unfortunately with this bike I had fairly high expectations and I was very disappointed with the way the PO has been since I disclosed the issues to him, all he wants to do is defended how good the bike was, even when I have sent him pictures and called him on the amount of damage and mangled parts, he just can't get his head around the fact that I was expecting a bike in better condition. What a d*ckficult person.

I hate suing people, but this clown needs to be taught a lesson that it's not OK to rip people off by being dishonest. If I go to the trouble I may also file fraud charges against him as well. (he is a Financial advisor in Montreal so hopefully he likes his reputation)

I sold the 4 into 1 Kerker that came off it to Glenn (Eddie 21) and it was so bad he couldn't salvage it, so I gave him back the $50 he paid me for it.

When you look at the photo of the bike you can see the 4 into 1 Kerker looks OK but in fact it was pretty much beyond repair, same story with many other items on the bike.

Even though there was a lot wrong with the bike, I'm happy that it's going to be put right eventually and I'll have a nice bike when I'm done.:D (that's what I'm telling myself anyway)
 
That's what happened to me . The more I looked , the more I found .
The trick is to fix them properly as you go and then you'll have no problems later .
It's all worth the effort .
Mine starts first time , every time and has done so for six years now .
In some ways it was good mine was such a piece of $hit , I got to know it intimately and I knew it was put together goodly .

Hang in there .

Cheers , Simon .
 
Let me know if you need them. These forks came off a bike I bought for AZR and Sandy last year. They took home what they needed and I just can't bear to take the leftovers to the bone yard. Lets hope the surprises are over.

cg
 
If your fork tubes were bent, there is a chance(?) that the frame is no longer aligned correctly:(
I had the case with my GS 1000 ST where my front wheel was offset by 1 cm:mad:
Sorry to maybe add this to your bad news list...
 
John Kat said:
If your fork tubes were bent, there is a chance(?) that the frame is no longer aligned correctly:(
I had the case with my GS 1000 ST where my front wheel was offset by 1 cm:mad:
Sorry to maybe add this to your bad news list...
Click to expand...

Is there any way to check the frame for alignment before I reinstall the forks and wheels ?

I will check the wheel alignment once I get the forks sorted out, if the wheels align does that mean the frame is straight?

Thanks,
 
Kiwi Canuck said:
Is there any way to check the frame for alignment before I reinstall the forks and wheels ?

I will check the wheel alignment once I get the forks sorted out, if the wheels align does that mean the frame is straight?

Thanks,
Click to expand...
I suppose it could be done by inserting a tube through the fork bearings and determining where it touches the ground?
The way I discovered by how much the frame was bent consisted in shining a laser light from eitheir side of the rear wheel and then noting where the beam touches the ground on eitheir side of the front wheel.
It's a remake of the string method but far easier to perform and less prone to errors.
Will this garantee that your frame is straight?
Not 100% in my view but at least it tells you that your wheels are in line at zero load:cool:
 
Forks are straightened

Forks are straightened

I talked to Wally this afternoon and he was able to straighten the forks, the bend was just below the bottom triple clamp (as they usually are) so he didn't need to disassemble the forks, good news as he only charged me $35.00 total.:D

What a great guy to have in my neighborhood.

I'll pick them up tomorrow and be back ontrack getting the bike back together.
 
Got the forks back and installed, everything went in very smoothly.

I cleaned up and fitted the front fender just to see how it looks, it's a bit bent as I suspected, and I will need to get the split in the front repaired, which will mean having to have it re-painted as well.



Now that I look closer I can see what happened with the split fender and the bent forks.
I suspect the PO rear ended a car or more likely another bike and the fender got scuffed on the rear tire and bent it down causing it to split and deform, as the fender is clearly not sitting straight and has a few bulges were there shouldn't be any.
Might be a tough one to get straight as the brace under the fender is also slightly deformed.
If I can find a used straight one, I could have it painted and still be able to keep the original one to fix up as a spare to go with my spare set of plastics.

Anyone have a spare front fender available that will fit a GS1000?

Thanks,
 
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