1981 GS450E Rebuild

[SVSooke]

The KM's after a project like this are worth the effort.Loved every one on Old Yeller.Even the wet ones.

 

[Guest]

The KM's after a project like this are worth the effort.Loved every one on Old Yeller.Even the wet ones.

Cannot argue with that

Did another 40 odd today with John82q, and every km is just awesome right now

Thanks again for the short blast John, we will definitely have to go for a longer one soon!

 

[Johnny Drummond]

Well done mate,but you should have bought 2 sets of tyres-cos if you're anything like me the first set won't last long(as in the desire to ride day after day after day) you know "oh I fancy a soda,uuummm I'll just take the bike" he he he he he. Johnny

 

[Guest]

Well done mate,but you should have bought 2 sets of tyres-cos if you're anything like me the first set won't last long(as in the desire to ride day after day after day) you know "oh I fancy a soda,uuummm I'll just take the bike" he he he he he. Johnny

Thanks Johnny! Hhahaaha yeah I know what you mean, I keep itchin' to ride and plan on many more km's yet

Like when I got her registered... couldn't just ride straight home... nah gotta go via the house mate's work and say g'day first... hahaha

 

[Guest]

Ok, checked on my little potential leak again tonight, and there was a bit of a greasy mark there but no real oil as such and no drips on the ground below. I think it was just excess chain lube



I noticed a little seepage on the valve cover at John's place after the ride today, and that one allen bolt needed a little nip up, but the other allen bolts all seemed to be tight:



I definitely need to run around the crankcase bolts etc. with the torque wrench though just to make sure all is still good and tight.

During the ride today the speedo was still not quite right, seemed ok up to about 60 to 70 then just doesn't seem quite right after that. However the tacho also started to play up today, jumping all over the shop by the end of the ride.

So after talking to John I realised I'd never gone the whole hog with getting those cables cleaned and lubed, so tonight I ripped the centres out and gave them a big clean and degrease.



Inner cables out:



Quite disgusting really!



First thing I did was spray a heap of DWF down each cable followed by some degreaser.

I just kept spraying until it looked like what was coming out was the colour of what was going in.

This is what came out of them:



Must'nt lose the little washers that are on them:



And after a thorough wiping down of each inner with kero they're much cleaner and all back together:



I need to get some sillicone based lubricant to squirt down them and then they can go back on to test again. Hopefully that sorts it...

 

[Guest]

And I trimmed the top of the knee pad mock up tonight and stuck it back on a little lower down. I also flattened the top a bit compared to how arched it was originally.

I think this is right now so I can cut the neoprene to shape and work out what to carve into them...

 

[john82q]

Pete,

Enjoyed today , will go again when weve got more time to go further, and out of the traffic too.

Just to be clear when we were talking about silicone lube, I meant the speedo its self, not the cables, for the cables just use a light grease or a heavy oil.

And dont worry about the speedo till you know its the problem...


Cheers John

 

[Guest]

Pete,

Enjoyed today , will go again when weve got more time to go further, and out of the traffic too.

Just to be clear when we were talking about silicone lube, I meant the speedo its self, not the cables, for the cables just use a light grease or a heavy oil.

And dont worry about the speedo till you know its the problem...


Cheers John

Yep that was great until we found that four wheeled Honda

And got ya on the lube, yeah we were talking about the speedo itself...

Now that you mention it I'm sure I've seen someone mention this in relation to lubing cables:

http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/3-in-one-Handy-Oil.aspx?pid=1124#Description

I couldn't see anything else in the garage last night while I was hunting around for silicone based stuff...

 

[salty_monk]

Looking good Pete, congrats!

 

[Guest]

Looking good Pete, congrats!

Cheers Dan!

 

[Guest]

Forgot to update this last night... did a bit over 60km's 'round town yesterday after taking my wife for her second interview (she got the job ). I was in search of a pilot jet locally (no luck) and had to go visit my dad.

Anyway, everything still seems ok and the only single drip on the floor last night seems to have come from the chain. Just to be clear... I cleaned the packing grease off it and lubed it, then after washing it I lubed it again, so I think I have over-lubed it, but at this stage I'll just keep an eye on things until I get to the 1000km mark where I'll do the valves and head nut torque etc. again along with another oil and filter change. Then I'll go back to my 5000km services

The speedo and tacho still don't seem quite right. The tacho still got a little bit of a bounce every now and then and the speedo just seems to stick a bit around the 60km/h mark. Sometimes it seems to increase normally with the speed, sometimes it seems to stick, then pop up, and sometimes it will creep up slowly, then pop up when I slow down...

I need to get a tank bag so I can stick my iPhone in it with the speedometer app running and see what speed that tells me.

I've also seen someone on here effectively was the insides of the speedo and tacho by putting some mineral spirits in via the cable mount while upside down, shake them all around, and let them sit upright to drain the fluid.

I'm thinking of giving this a go with some metho to see if that helps.

Oh, and the cables have been lubed with 3 in 1 yesterday so I'll pop a bit more of that in each one, and I got some silicone based lube so if I need to I can give the gauges a squirt with that.

Any thoughts on this?

 

[cowboyup3371]

Please let us know how well that iPhone app does as I might want to check it out as well.

Thanks.

 

[rustybronco]

The speedo and tacho still don't seem quite right.

I've also seen someone on here effectively was the insides of the speedo and tacho by putting some mineral spirits in via the cable mount while upside down, shake them all around, and let them sit upright to drain the fluid.

I'm thinking of giving this a go with some metho to see if that helps.


Any thoughts on this?

Yeh, don't... cut them apart, clean and lube them properly.

 

[Matchless]

Pete,
As Dale says! You would land up with diluted oil and dirt on the inside of the face and glass I think.
Just bend the folded lip up with a screwdriver and get the glass out then the rest will follow. Use Benzine if you can get it.

 

[Suzuki_Don]

I need to get a tank bag so I can stick my iPhone in it with the speedometer app running and see what speed that tells me.

YOU CAN AFFORD AN IPHONE -- C'mon Pete, people restoring "old" Suzukis are supposed to be dead broke. Not able to afford the latest gizmos like that.

Bike must be running reasonably ok if you've done the initial 60km with no stalling, carb mixture issues. Hope it keeps running well for you. It took me nearly 12 months to really sort my carbs out properly. But I am happy with them now.

keep the posts coming.

 

[Guest]

Please let us know how well that iPhone app does as I might want to check it out as well.

Thanks.

Will do Scott, tried it on the train on the way home this avo but it can't get a good GPS signal to work, however I walked home at 5kmh apparently...

If I can manage to get myself a tank bag (Chrissy time budget restrictions in place) then I'll give it a go and report back.

Yeh, don't... cut them apart, clean and lube them properly.

Had a peak in at this today, and that's what I'm doing, although not cutting, prying the bezel off instead

Pete,
As Dale says! You would land up with diluted oil and dirt on the inside of the face and glass I think.
Just bend the folded lip up with a screwdriver and get the glass out then the rest will follow. Use Benzine if you can get it.

Yup spotted these updates today, done

Uploading pic's at the moment... and have a question...

YOU CAN AFFORD AN IPHONE -- C'mon Pete, people restoring "old" Suzukis are supposed to be dead broke. Not able to afford the latest gizmos like that.

Bike must be running reasonably ok if you've done the initial 60km with no stalling, carb mixture issues. Hope it keeps running well for you. It took me nearly 12 months to really sort my carbs out properly. But I am happy with them now.

keep the posts coming.

Hahahaha nah don't fear Don, it ain't my iPhone, it's allocated to me by work

I have to have mobile access to email and it's more cost effective than a crapberry, so that's what we get

My personal mobile's on the cheapest plan I can get onto... hahaha

I am fouling the left plug at idle which I noticed especially yesterday when sitting at traffic lights, so I ordered a #20 pilot today which should be here tomorrow and that should hopefully take care of that.

Aside from that, I'm really happy with how well she's running considering I've done some total guess adjustments and no plug chops as yet...

I really want to spend the effort getting them dialled in as good as I can though and I reckon she's lean on the needle going by the subtle popping I get during deceleration at times.

 

[Guest]

Ok, so these are the two lubes I picked up yesterday, and the 3 in 1 is what's in the freshly cleaned cables now, with the silicone one reserved for the gauges:



Hopefully it's the right stuff...

So tonight I had to do the horrid thing and rip the instrument cluster apart again. I really don't want to and risk breaking something and having her off the road again so soon, but they're no good the way they are... really should've done it when I did the gauge LED's... anyway... all apart...



The back of them is decidedly disgusting:



I'm not cutting the gauges, I'm prying the bezels off instead. I don't have a drill press to hold a cutoff wheel to be accurate with the cutting, so that's too scary an option...

I had trouble getting started with prying the bezel, so I grabbed some wire cutters and cut into the bezel to give me a starting point:



Levered my way around with a small flat blade screwdriver:



And after taking a while being careful and getting enough clearance to slip the screwdriver down the side of the plastic housing, I was able to lever the bezel off finally:



Didn't make too much of a mess of them:

 

[Guest]

Both bezels are off:



However I can't for the life of me work out how the trip meter reset knob comes off!



Searching says three options:

- Yank it off, press fit
- Screw it off, left hand thread
- There's a philips head screw holding it on

I've tried the first two and can't see a screw anywhere and none are working... any clues? I'll pop a thread in one of the tech. forums in a sec...

 

[Guest]

Just popped this thread in:

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=186027

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

I read here that mine should just pull straight off, but it didn't budge, for the life of me didn't want to pull any harder. I was skepticle to hold the shaft with pliers and twist the knob in case it really did have a flat locator on the shaft and was supposed to pull off.
Never have figured it out.
Yours with the hole in the center, I'd be looking really close for a screw.