1983 GS1100E project

[Guest]

So I bought this bike about 20 or so years ago from a crazy brit who was living in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. I took the train down from Seattle and rode it back home (this ended up taking much longer and being more of an adventure than I planned but makes a great story to tell over beers or around a campfire these days). It was my daily rider for some years (I didn't own a car back then) and I did my first Iron Butt ride on it (A "Bun Burner 1500"). She started showing signs of age and wear. There was an gradually worsening oil leak and a disturbing clunk from time to time. At some point, I don't remember exactly when, I parked her with the intent of one day trying to tear her down and if not repair, at least figure out where the noise was coming from. I partially stripped her and put many of the parts into storage bins in the garage and there she has sat, a rolling chassis with a motor, waiting for my ambition and resolve to overcome my anxiety.

A couple weeks ago, I finally pushed her up on the bench and have started the process.


I used to be a member and regularly follow this forum and I'm hoping that I will be able to find some support here (moral and possibly technical) as I get in up to my eyeballs and hopefully not over my head.

 

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Welcome Back
A worthy project for sure.

 

[Baatfam]

Welcome! We love the 1100E, (at least I do)

And what's that tucked away on the left??

 

[dorkburger]

Welcome. A well abused 83 1100e is what got me hooked on big old Suzukis back in the 90s.
The 82-3 1100e bikes are among my favorite Suzukis.

 

[Guest]

And what's that tucked away on the left??

Tucked away to the left is the first motorcycle I ever owned . A 1974 Yamaha RD200A. That one was apart in milk crates for a number of years too.

 

[Guest]

It looks like this.

 

[Baatfam]

 

[Rob S.]

I was hoping for the RD400. Still, wow and wow. May we see if you have the blue or (faster) red 11E?

 

[Guest]

May we see if you have the blue or (faster) red 11E?

LOL, no it is the red one. I'll find a pic or two from her glory days to share.

 

[rphillips]

It's about time you got started on that thing. What kind of disturbing clunk, the GS1100E shouldn't do that. Welcome back & remember we're keeping an eye on the progress. And contrary to what Rob thinks, you could easily make it a little faster if you just paint it the orig. blue, the blue was always faster.

 

[steve murdoch]

Welcome back to the site.
Love the RD.

 

[Guest]

https://imgur.com/8vLnl2t

Going to see if this works

 

[Guest]

What kind of disturbing clunk, the GS1100E shouldn't do that.

I have enough of the motor apart that I think I know where the clunk was coming from (if not the why) and plan to make a post or series of posts if my dumb-a%^ can figure out how to do pictures (other than thumbnails). Was just trying to use imgur, and i can get a link, but not anything that looks like what I saw in "how to" post. I'll ask for you to bear with me as I figure this out.

 

[Guest]

Hey, I'm getting smarter! or at least i figured one thing out. This is "volito" in her glory days

 

[salty_monk]

Welcome back

 

[Guest]

So, as mentioned, I put it up on the work bench a few weeks ago. In the time since, I have been removing as many of the motor parts as I can to make it lighter and facilitate removing it from the frame. There have been a few complications so far. One of the cam cap bolts broke off below the surface of the head. I think it must have been broken before I started working as I just unscrewed the bolt. Didn't realize it was broken until I noticed that it was shorter than the others. It was in the locator tube in the lower right of the pic below (correction - this isn't the right pic - should have been from other side, but you get the idea).

I used a spring loaded punch tool to divot the top. Then I used an extra drill bit to increase the divot and give myself matching faces and used JB weld to bond the bit to the bolt. It was just strong enough.

The next problem was the head bolt on the exhaust side between the NO 1 and 2 cylinders. It was completely locked and rounded off when I tried to loosen. (center left in pic below)

After failing to find a nut extractor that would fit, I had to resort to a painstaking process of using a flex shaft extension on a dremel and alternate between a ball and side cutter bit to machine enough of the bolt away to get it off.

successfully removed head.

Have to go work for a bit, but will try to post again a bit later with next problem and suspected source of the "clunk".

 

[Baatfam]

Progress!

(And photos!)

 

[rphillips]

Awaiting the "clunk", looks like we should be getting nearer.

 

[Guest]

the clunk?

When inspecting my starter clutch I was surprised to find that two out of the three spring loaded pistons wouldn't come out of their respective recesses (bores) and the third wasn't doing its job (the spring had collapsed enough that it wouldn't actually push against the metal cylinder (roller).

It appears that the rollers had hammered into the metal around the recess enough times with enough force to deform it a bit and even crack it creating small edges that the shoulder on the pistons couldn't get by. I had to use the trusty dremel with flex shaft and ball cutter, while holding the piston down, to machine back the edge to get the pistons out.

eventually I was able to free them (you can see one out here and one still stuck in its bore).

While studying the part, I also noticed, aligned with the bottom of the bore, some deformations on the piece of metal that wraps the solid part. It looks like the pistons slapped back hard enough to dent the case (similar deformation aligned with all three bores).

The first thing I want to do is confirm that this should be a smooth round part with no "bump out" aligned with the bores. Does anyone have one they can look at? I was surprised (lucky?) the bike never gave me any starting issues. So this evidence looks like it aligns with the sound I was hearing (I hope I don't find other evidence of hammering further in, but who knows). My best guess at this point is that it was maybe a carburation issue that was causing it to maybe want to back fire or miss (shrug, not really sure if that makes sense) or possibly cam chain issue? Something that was making the crank want to rotate the wrong way for a millisecond, grab the starter clutch rollers and throw them back. Again, shrug. I would love to hear any theories, because what I've found certainly looks more like a symptom than a cause.

Oh, also, I am a combination of poor and cheap and reluctant to spend $180 on a new starter clutch. I'm going to keep my eyes open for a cheaper replacement option while I rebuild. If none come along, I'm going to try and reuse this one (it was starting fine before parked) with some new pistons, springs and shim (rollers seem fine). If it does end up giving me grief down the road it isn't so difficult to get to and replace later.

 

[rphillips]

I'd not seen this on a Suzuki, nor heard the clunk. A buddy has a CB1100F Honda & several yrs. back it started giving trouble starting. Starter would spin but didn't want to engage the crankshaft. Hit the button several times & it would finally start but getting worse. The Honda was about the same as the Suzuki set up. We got it apart & all looked good except the springs were all distorted, looked like they had been binding in the little slots & also they were about to push thru the outside of the hub. Bad cracks & hump where they were almost pushed thru. His rollers & little pistons were fine, just the springs & hub. New springs & a good hub from ebay & all has been good since. His never clunked, just had trouble engaging the crank. Glad you found it.