1981 GS G Cafe Build

[Guest]

Work in progress. 1981 Suzuki GS850 G. The guy i bought the bike from says it did start but about 2 years ago. Ive started with a mono shock conversion and getting most of the parts i need to get her running. I have new headlight indicators ignition etc. Ill be mounting all of that in the next 2 weeks. So while im busy doing the wiring I was wondering if you guys have any advice before i start her up. Ive seen if a bike stands to long the clutch plates might stick together. Should i open her up first or try get her started as is and take it from there. Thank You !

 

[Guest]

This is how I got her.

 

[Suzukian]

That swing arm has no trusses from the shock back. that's a lot of stress on the length of the arm. It could crack right at the point where the shock is, on the swing arms. You might want to build up a truss. See pic below. I did this quick and dirty, but you should get the idea.

 

[Rob S.]

Kenny Rogers? Did you used to play a gay cowboy on TV?

Just kidding, welcome to the site!

 

[Suzukian]

So mean!!!!

Welcome to the forum Kenny G.!! I hope you looked at the picture closely. With dimensions, or really sharp orthogonic (left, right top) pictures, I could draw you out a blueprint. I have designed many trikes and bicycles, yes, human powered, but it's harder to designed something light weight. In any even, there are many ways you could gusset up that swing arm. If your bike is in neutral, it won't move. It should never be left idling that long, and for any amount of time, put a huge floor fan in front of it.

 

[1978GS750E]

"Ive seen if a bike stands to long the clutch plates might stick together. Should i open her up first or try get her started as is and take it from there. Thank You !"

My personal experience with a bike that has been sitting for a while is to go ahead and get it running and worry about the possibility of stuck clutch plates at that time. The clutches in most old GS's are very robust and over engineereed. I've even had ones that slipped when first back on the road, get much better after an oil change and adjustment. Just my .02!
​

 

[dorkburger]

As noted, two years may not be a big concern on the clutches sticking. Mine sat for12 years... they were quite stuck. I'd be more concerned about the carbs...

 

[Rijko]

You could try to start the bike as is and see what's what.
Small risk, but doing so could damage stuff you might have noticed by checking the engine.

With history unknown you are going to have to do the maintenance so why not now you have great access to everything.
Take off oil pan hoping not to find water, sludge, debrees, parts fallen down there through the cam chain tunnel ...
Take off clutch cover and take out clutch plates. I encountered broken clutch plates and bent steels, loose clutch hub centre nut, etc.
(i was glad i did not start that engine, i was tempted to ...)

With the carbs and exhaust off, look at the valve stems, hope not to see rust.

Check valve lash, hope not to see damaged cam lobes or other issues.
Clean the carbs per the manual https://gsarchive.bwringer.com/bikec...rb_rebuild.pdf​​

Measuring compression is not going to tell you the complete truth because the rings may be sticky and produce values below
what you expect but it will tell you if there's compression on all cylinders.
Sticky rings usually improve during the first 300 km driven.

i see pods so write down all current settings - which size jets, jet needle number and clip position, mixture screws number of turns out, etc when disassembling.
What brand are the pods ?

Check out the Newbie mistakes link, it holds a lot of accumulated experience.

 

[Guest]

Thank you all so much for the responses, much apreciated! Looks like ill be opening her up first then. Ill definitely be adding some gusstes at the back. The pods i got from my local motorcycle store, it says JWBP on the box it came in not much other details other than the size. I do live close by the ocean so rust is possible. It looos like she was storred well, all the openings were closed up with either cloth or custom plastic covers. Ill be adding more pictures as i go to hopefully avoid headaches at the final part of the build. Again thank you all for the feedback! Much apreciated!

 

[Guest]

So the shock is from a 2008 R6, i used the shock and linkage system. Shes mounted at the bottom to my frame then mounted to the swing arm then mounted to the frame at the top again. I haven't cleaned it up yet all ive done so far is get it at the right angle for the shock to do its job properly. So it looks very bad at the moment but please bare with me till its cleaned up. That flat bar there i still have to clear out a half moon for clearance etc.

 

[Rob S.]

A former poster here (South Park?) has delineated a rather simple method for freeing a "stuck' clutch without opening it up, using just the torque of the running engine (and the clutch lever, brakes etc.).

Of course, this does not work 100% of the time. And you do not know, apparently, with certainty, the history of the bike. So good luck, and keep those pics coming.

 

[Rijko]

Thank you all so much for the responses, much apreciated! Looks like ill be opening her up first then. Ill definitely be adding some gusstes at the back. The pods i got from my local motorcycle store, it says JWBP on the box it came in not much other details other than the size. I do live close by the ocean so rust is possible. It looos like she was storred well, all the openings were closed up with either cloth or custom plastic covers. Ill be adding more pictures as i go to hopefully avoid headaches at the final part of the build. Again thank you all for the feedback! Much apreciated!

Those pods are el cheapo ones that may work..... usually they do not.
The material used sometimes is paper-like so will work when in dry weather but may clog up in damp weather.
So you get the bike running right sometimes and the next day it wil not run ok.

K&N and APE for instance are very good but quite expensive.

If you run into tuning issues, these pods may be the reason.
With good pods the bike will run very well, but never as nice as with the original airbox...
Pods have the advantage of looking nice, sound is nice, carbs are easy to take off and mount.
Disadvantages are the bike will be more sensitive to rain and wind from the side.

Just some info to keep in mind when deciding what to do while tuning.

 

[Rob S.]

K&N and APE for instance are very good but quite expensive.

Apes were 1/2 the cost of K&N when I bought 9 years ago.

 

[Rob S.]

With good pods the bike will run very well, but never as nice as with the original airbox.

Not never. I sprang for a professional builder/tuner/racer to jet my carbs on his dynomometer. It ran more than 'nice'.

 

[Rijko]

Not never. I sprang for a professional builder/tuner/racer to jet my carbs on his dynomometer. It ran more than 'nice'.

You're one of the exceptions Rob.
Probably not the first time you've heard that

 

[Rob S.]

You're one of the exceptions Rob.
Probably not the first time you've heard that

'True dat'! :mushroom:

 

[Suzukian]

What kind of welder do you have? Tig would be more then enough. There are many ways you could gusset the swing arm, so look them up, don't go by my one pic. I really would consider draining the oil, taking off the clutch cover, checking the free length of the springs, sitting that long, they are probably squished, and then check the clutch plates.

 

[Guest]

Ive been using a MIG welder to get the shock in place. I have a plan already layed out for gussets on the swing arm. Once thats done ill send some more pictures... So i finally got my battery today after struggling for a month. Just so i can run into a little problem. Based of the dimensions i got online for the batery it was going to fit under my tank. I made a little mock batery out of wood and it fitted 100%... long story short... it doesnt fit under my my tank its about 10mm to tall( i screwed up when i made the mock batery). I really didnt want to put my batery under the seat but it looks like i might have to. Cutting and welding on the subframe i dont have a problem with, but i dont want to cut and add to the rest of the frame. shes just to tall to slide into position... i can take the engine out and then put the batery in, but that is not practical at all. I also dont want to cut and move those 2 gusstes blocking the batery from sliding in.

I will now be building my seat around the batery, id prefer a flat seat with a tiny lift at the back, if i mount the batery in the back it will be a bit to high for what im going for. Mounting the batery above the shock seems like my best bet at the moment.

 

[Guest]

That seat frame there was jusy to test the shock its getting taken off, after that the batery will fit alot better.

 

[Guest]

something like that then the rest of my electronics further along the seat.