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1982 GS1100GL Teardown and Refresh

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After my 2002 VR6 Jetta hogged space in the garage for a whole month, I have moved on to some necessary service for the Suzuki GS1100GL I bought last November. The PO had done some service to the bike but admonished me that it would need valve stem seals in not too long because there was a little bit of smoke from the left tail pipe at startup. Well, a little quickly turned into a lot and a lot quickly turned into not just at startup. To me, new stem seals means a complete head service. Because I didn't want the bike to be disabled for weeks while I waited for the valve grind, stem seals, guides, and milling, I bought a head on eBay and sent it to the machinist I have worked with for twenty years. With help from Steve, I ordered all necessary gaskets to do a reseal on the engine.

Oh, while I waited for the head, the base gasket started to weep on the right side of the engine. A weep quickly turned into a stream that made the bike unusable. In a way, I am glad that the base gasket started leaking; if it had not, I probably would not have replaced it. I have since learned that the base gasket should be replaced when the head is removed because it may not seal properly when the head is torqued down again.

Last night I began tearing into the engine. It is such a relief to work on something Japanese after a long spell of working on German cars. I actually find myself saying "thank you" out loud at the thoughtful touches Japanese engineers generally put into their work.

I texted Steve last night to ask about the removal of the timing chain tensioner because I thought I remembered a gotcha in that process. He said no gotcha to removal, so I am going to proceed with removing the tensioner, head, and cylinders tonight after work.

I will get some pics up ASAP, but for now I would like to get some information recorded here. A while ago, I asked which manual is best for my motorcycle and the answer was none. Torque specs are incorrect and details are wrong or missing.

Will somebody share correct torque specs and sequences for all relevant fasteners, i.e. head stud nuts, the two little M6 bolts at the ends of the cylinder head, cam cover, vent cover on top of cam cover?

Is there any other procedural information I should have before continuing in disassembly and beginning reassembly? Specifically, how to I handle reinstallation of the timing chain tensioner?

While the bike is torn down, I will at least clean some parts up. If time allows, I will sand and polish some engine parts. I am going to try not to fall down another rabbit hole while doing this service, as I am especially prone to the "while I'm at it" syndrome. I really want to build a set of headers for the bike, but I should wait and make that a winter project; I do not want it to be down for an extra month while I do that. I want to ride the bike that I thought was ready for spring when I bought it.
 
Copied and pasted from a reply Steve made in another thread:

Any time you remove the tensioner, it needs to be reset. :-k

As you remove it, it will probably extend the plunger to its maximum, preventing you from putting it back in.

It sounds like you have the technique down properly, but just to verify:
1. Retract the plunger (turn the large knob to allow this), lock it in place with the setscrew.
2. Install tensioner in cylinder block.
3. Turn setscrew to release plunger.
4. Turn setscrew in to seat lightly, then turn back out 1/4 to 1/2 turn.
5. Hold setscrew in place with screwdriver, lock in place with locknut.
 
You should replace the seal and O ring in the cam chain tensioner and tach drive while you're at it.

I'm not sure why you were told "none" about a manual

Find one here http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/ and download it

Lots of good tutorials on other GS stuff in there
 
All of the manuals have problems but I would start with the Factory Service Manual you'll get from Basscliff's site and then move from there.
 
Well, rats. I got everything torn down yesterday and was prepared to clean and reassemble today.

I went to clock the fire and compression rings. I started at the right and moved to the left. When I got to the left cylinder, which I assume is #1, I found a broken fire ring. It has about an inch missing from it. Worse than that is that some ham handed mechanic had been in there before, either found or broke the ring, and opted to send it. Surprisingly to me, this cylinder was only about 5psi down from the others. I'm sure a leak-down test would have shown a larger difference.

So now I am going to order rings. I bought all of my gaskets from Parts Outlaw before. I had to wait a little while, which didn't bother me at the time because I had time. Now I have a big motorcycle torn apart and spread out on my workbenches. If anybody has positive experiences with other parts suppliers, please speak up. I have to order these tomorrow morning.
 
My last order from partsoutlaw took exactly 2 weeks. I have another large order in with them now for all the gaskets, ect. to rebuild the top end and some other bits. But I've also gotten some things from my local dealer that told me it would take a week and parts showed up in 3 days. I have 2 dealers that are relatively close by. The closer one is closed (at last check, due to COVID). The further one is open for parts and repairs.

Check with your local dealer, if you have one.
 
...and it sat for too long. I got restless. Now I'm going to build a header for it. I had a friend cut come stainless steel flanges and the same friend is getting me a quote for some machined pieces at the top of the runners to make the runners seal against the head.
 
Headers are built. Bike is running well thanks to Steve's help. Now the clutch slips, so back to the center stand!
 
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