1982 GS850 head vs 1985 GS850 head

[Guest]

Hello everyone! New to the forum, and I really hope I?m posting in the right spot!

I started a cafe racer project on an 82 GS850G about a year ago and I have been at a dead stand still for about 4 months now. I had 2 heads, and both seems to beyond repair. I have had zero luck finding another head for an 82, and last night a guy posted a head on eBay for an 85 GS850. I know the 79 heads don?t work on the 82 because of the CV carbs and the spacing between the ports, but does anyone know if the head for the 1985 will work on an 82?

Any help would be greatly, greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,
Jason

 

[Nessism]

Should work. Check the valve cover bolt pattern and compare to yours.

 

[Guest]

Thank you Nessism! The head comes with the valves, buckets, tappets, cams, valve cover, and breather. My only fear would be the spacing for the carbs, but if you think that?s the same as the 82, I?ll go ahead and get it!!

Thanks again! I am so ready to get this thing on the road, and that?s really the only thing I?m missing!

 

[Who Dat?]

Nessism mentioned the bolt pattern. If the '85 head comes with the valve cover, it won't matter. Some time during the '82 production run, Suzuki changed from 16 bolts to 19 bolts in the valve cover.

The only other difference is that the '85 head will be black.

One other thing to consider: '83 was the last year the 850 was available in the US. Where was the '85 originally sold?

 

[bwringer]

Yeah, no such thing as an '85 GS850 in the USA.

The head, whatever it is, should work as long as it's not a 1979 and it really is from a GS850 (and I would verify both pieces of information before spending the cash), but you'll need to make sure you have the correct 16 or 19 bolt valve cover gasket.

There are a lot of reasons GS model years get mislabeled. Sometimes the seller just fat-fingers something, sometimes they just got incorrect info. Forty years ago, some state DMV/BMVs were a lot more casual about registrations, so there are quite a few bikes sold in and registered under the following model year.

 

[rphillips]

Welcome Taylorj, Gallatin TN.??? Dang that's right across the river, almost next door.