1992 GSX1100G project

[ddaniels]

Hey Paul, nice project going there. You'll have a great slab buster when you're through. I test rode one once and it was a beast. Not much good in the corners though.

 

[GS1000G Shopper]

That describes about 99% of my riding, so I'm looking forward to it.

 

[GS1000G Shopper]

Front fender & wheel are off. I removed both front wheel bearings & will remove the tire later today so I can clean the wheel. I also took apart the speedometer drive so I can re-grease and reseal it. I'm tempted to paint the wheels black like I did on the ST1100.

The GSX-G has a lot of chrome on it. If I keep the stock gauges, I'll paint the cups black, and will either refinish the mirrors in black (they are pretty rough) or buy new black ones. I think when I refinish the master cylinders and switch panels I may black them out also.

Calipers are all cleaned, honed, and painted red. I've been reading header paint reviews and may go with the VHT primer & ceramic black. The techline coating is expensive and more difficult to apply.

The front fender was filthy- this appears to be from leaking forks, which are the next things to come off.

 

[GS1000G Shopper]

Fork tubes came off easily.

I'm replacing the fuel pump after it failed the manual test. Suzuki uses a complex 4-wire system. In a nutshell, it provides power either when the starter is engaged or when running- coil output. I've figured out a way to re-wire it using a couple of Radio Shack diodes and a regular 12V relay so I can use a 2-wire regular pump. The OEM pump is over $200! I'll upload a diagram later.

I found some Honda guys were using an Airtex E8316, which crosses over to an AC Delco EP234. I found one of those on eBay for $30 shipped brand new. The fitment is from a 1984 Honda Accord. There is no free lunch here, since the pump and non-removable bracket is considerably larger in diameter than the old one (pics below). I looked at grinding the bracket, but it still likely would not clear the side cover. It looks like I will try to fit it on the right side of the frame in front of the battery. I used a strap to compress the rear wheel so I could make sure nothing would hit it there while riding. My goal is to keep it accessible as well.

UPDATE
The stock fuel pump & circuit must be used. The aftermarket one I tried put out too much pressure. It may be possible to dissasemble the pump and rewire another one, but I ended up using a used pump.

Speaking of accessible (not) the air filter inside part was really clean- the intake had a bunch of leaves and crud. This supports either it was replaced in the 90's or the bike was not used that much.

I got the headlight bucket sandblasted, treated with rust neutralizer, and repainted, and the carb bowls sandblasted. They turned out better when I used something called LA Totally Awesome cleaner mixed with water. I get the cleaner at Dollar General for like $1/quart.


Here are some pics from the past couple of days:
Fuel bowl after sandblasting:

Caliper painted:

Clean carb (left) vs. dirty one

OEM and Honda Accord fuel pumps:

Looks like a wreck, doesn't it?

Headlight bucket repainted:

 

[GS1000G Shopper]

I finally fought the dried out old front tire yesterday. Won the battle using a couple of 2x4 pieces as a bead breaker (it's on YouTube and it works).

I pressure washed the wheel and it had some spots of corrosion, so I decided to sand it and paint it Rustoleum satin black. I messed up one of the rotor bolts pulling them off, so there's one more thing for the next parts order.

I still have most of a 1991 ST1100 here, and one thing I really liked about it were the brakes. For grins, I measured the fork tubes and found they were the same diameter and length. If I had not already reworked my calipers and ordered progressive springs and new seals as well as sold the ST1100 front wheel, I think I would give them a try. The rotors were maybe 1/4" larger in diameter, so I suppose it would not have made much difference. I'm going with EBC sintered HH pads after reading a lot of brake reviews.

Pics will follow. We're having great riding weather now, and I hope the GSX-G will be ready for similar weather by spring.

 

[GSScoobie]

I'm going with EBC sintered HH pads after reading a lot of brake reviews.

Aren't the HH pads the ones that eat rotors?

 

[portdave]

Looks awesome. Your garage looks like mine sometimes......Keep up the good work....

 

[GS1000G Shopper]

Aren't the HH pads the ones that eat rotors?

I read a lot of reviews and didn't see any complaints or comments about that. I was concerned over the issue as well as opposed to say the Galfer Greens, but apparently if it is an issue, it's not been widely reported.

It occurs to me I've put a little over 9K miles on my favorite bike since 8-2010 (it is currently in rotation with the Blue GS1000G), so coupled with my conservative riding style it's unlikely I'll run through rotors very fast, especially when I get the Sabre & GSX-G operable.

EDIT
Searched for those terms & found this on a Triumph forum:
EBC HH pads not rotor friendly
Short-attention span summary: This allegation arose from a parts guy. Two riders on that forum refuted the allegation with actual use of 30K and 25K miles. The posts are very recent & relevant, just a few days ago.

Your garage looks like mine sometimes......Keep up the good work....

LOL that's one of the tidier parts. You should see the area around the Sabre. Or maybe not. Thanks for the compliment.

 

[GS1000G Shopper]

More progress yesterday & today with mounting the larger fuel pump, and other fuel-related issues.

I found the petcock was seized and like the float bowls full of dried out gas. I tried a few things like soaking it in lemon juice, then acetone, and then the cleaner/degreaser in the ultrasonic cleaner. I was finally able to move the lever, but I can't blow air from one port to another. Looks like another $50 expense.

I still have to check out the part in the tank.

After reading all sorts of things about repairing plastic, I tried heating the warped part of the inner fairing with a hairdryer. Didn't get hot enough, so I used a propane torch. This softened it up and I was able to get it straightened out. It's not smooth or pretty, but now I can add a thicker sealing strip to it and close the gap. I plan on mounting some gauges in that area as well.

Next up was reattaching the part that broke off. This went really well using some JB Weld and painter tape to hold it together overnight. Seems fairly sturdy. I need to reconstruct the lip where the seal goes on one side, and will try some moldable 2-part epoxy clay for this part. Pics will follow when complete. It looks like I can use one of the old pockets as a template for the covers. I plan on trying some plastic and will add hinges at the top if they will fit.

I'm also shopping for another IPF headlight. I have these on my GS1000 bikes and really like them- it's the best pattern I've seen short of a projector HID, which can't be had for our bikes that I'm aware of. From where the inner fairing was warped, it looks like this was right over the headlight, so I'm going to put a 12x12 piece of thermal insulation there to avoid this happening again, and also since I plan on trying the 80/110 watt lamp vs the 55/60W one I have in the older bikes. I'm adding a power feed and relay there to handle the extra power draw. I'll do a post on this when I have everything together for it.

Fuel pump (UPDATE- this did not work, I bought a used pump)
I used a long 1/4-20 U-bolt from the hardware store (Lowes). It is 1/125" wide, and a snug fit on the frame. I cut a piece of aluminum so I could mount the pump at a decent angle. This will make for more compact fuel hoses. Since I'm not using the stock pump, I had to figure out how to turn four wires into two. I started by cutting the harness off the old pump, which gave me a decent pigtail to work with. I'm using a waterproof relay and socket- you can find it on eBay for about $20. Here is my wiring diagram:

Here are the wiring components:

Here is the pump bracket:

Here is a pic of the pump mounted:

I looked at mounting the relay by the pump, but settled on locating it behind the battery box. I welded a tab on to it and threaded it for 6mm, same as the other hardware.

Here is a pic of the repainted front wheel:

 

[GS1000G Shopper]

I took a good look at the tank today, and it is rotten- literally. Under some of the bubbles were rust holes, and the poor kreem job had plugged up the reserve outlet. The sender was rusted away. Only decent part was the cap, but I think I can clean the pipe part.

I'm also looking at gauge alternatives. The stock gauges are not to my liking- too cruiser-ish. I'm considering (based on cost & availability) a set from the GS750E (has gear position, fuel, and oil temp) or maybe a 90's model ZX11 (has fuel & temp and a clock). I may try to make my own panel as well using some digital meters I have on hand along with some regular round gauges.

Regardless of if I stick with stock gauges, I'll add a panel at the bottom of the windshield with my extra gauges. This will help to cover up the warped area of the inner fairing.

I also tested both coils and plug wires. All are well within spec at 3 ohms for the coils and about 35K ohms for the wires.

 

[GS1000G Shopper]

When I first looked at this bike, I thought one of the worst things would be trying to get covers for the fairing pockets. After a two day crash course in plastic work, I took a 12x12 sheet of 3/16 PVC that I was going to use for a gauge panel and cut it in half. Heated it in a toaster oven (with Mrs. Shopper's OK ) @ 250 degrees for a few minutes and it was pliable. Used the pockets as molds and held it in place til it cooled/rehardened. Then used the pockets again with a Sharpie to mark the area to be trimmed (12" is like a perfect length for them). Trimmed the sides and ended up with something I think will do the job. The next hurdle will be locks and hinges, but I'm sure the McMaster-Carr supply house has something that will work.

Pics to follow.

The fairing repair seems solid. I'll need to touch it up and repaint it when all work is completed.

It occurred to me tonight there is a lot more satisfaction in working on a crusty old bike like this vs. paying a good bit more for one ready to ride. But then today was a good day, and I recall having plenty of bad days while doing this with the Sabre. I guess that just proves the Suzuki is the superior bike.

 

[GS1000G Shopper]

Here are the pics for the fairing repair and pocket cover fabrication. See prior post for material and details. This PVC was so easy to work with I'm thinking of using it for a custom dash panel.

Raw material:

After bending, sitting on pockets:

Same, side view:

Marked for trimming:

Fairing repaired and taped with pocket covers in place:

Close up on fairing:

 

[almarconi]

That is a great mod for the fuel pump. The RF900R that I have uses a similar setup.

Do you have the part number for the SCR that you used?

 

[GS1000G Shopper]

I am not planing to use a SCR. Instead, I used two 3 amp 50 volt diodes form Radio Shack, one in each line as shown on the diagram. They are very common and like $1.59.

This has not been tested on anything except paper, but from what I can tell the pump draws around 1 amp, so they should be good.

UPDATE
This did not work, I bought a used pump.

 

[GS1000G Shopper]

After the success with the pocket panels, I've decided to try and make a PVC dash panel. I like to have instrumentation, and have added oil pressure, oil temperature, voltmeter, and air temp gauges to both of my bikes (and have an added panel ready for the Sabre).

While I really like the mid-80's GS750ES panel due to it having oil temp and a gear position indicator (GPI), I have not figured out how to make this type of GPI work. Since I couldn't find an existing panel I liked, I sketched out one that will allow me to reuse the stock speedometer and tachometer. The remaining round gauges will be from VEI systems. They serve dual functions and are night dimmable. I used one of their combo gauges on my Concours and ST1100, and am recycling it to the Sabre. The rectangular air temp gauge is from Parts Express. I have one on my red GS1000G. The colored icons are turn, highbeam, oil, and neutral LEDs. These fit into 3/8"| holes and are found on eBay. I have a set leftover from my last custom dash project. I should be able to adapt a digital (single digit) GPI here somehow.

Using this plan, wiring problems will be minimal. I'll connect the fuel level lead to the VEI gauge, use the other lead from there to power the VEI gauges, and wire in the LEDs to replace the small bulbs. The remaining VEI functions will require their own harness. I'll likely add a photocell to dim the digital lights. I see VEI has improved their gauges since I bought mine.

Here's the sketch:

 

[GS1000G Shopper]

One advantage to never or rarely throwing stuff away is you have free parts to experiment with. When I was trying to make an alternate gauge panel for the Sabre, I bought a few Triumph gauges, notably a 180 MPH electronic speedometer. I pulled the GSX-G speedometer and found with minimal trimming the Triumph one fits in the same bracket.

The next issue is getting an electronic speed signal from the wheel sensor. I found it is an oddball, with an 11 mm x 1.0 thread at the wheel, and the cable has a standard 12mm x 1.0 at the speedometer. I converted the Sabre to a cable drive unit, so I made use of the speed sensor from it. Long story short, I'm going to attach a 12mm x 1.0 bung onto it and use a longer cable. I can flatten the end of a regular cable to drive the sensor, and it will mount out of the way near the gauges. It will need a 9V power supply- I had tested it with an Acewell dash and I know it works.

I've made a cardboard mock up of the dash panel pictured above, and have ordered some 1/8 PVC to work with. The trick will be getting the right angles cut into it so it will line up properly. I'll likely make a template out of paper to do this. The next obstacle will be modding the mount bracket to allow a wider spacing of the gauges.

I'll update some pics as I make progress. The main holdup now is the original batch parts order from Boulevard Suzuki.

 

[GS1000G Shopper]

I've been doing some more reading & research on gauges. I think I found an interesting feature on the GSX. I was looking at gear position indicators, and saw the GSX-G used the same switch as the F and some other models of that era. I removed the switch from my bike and saw it had one contact- for neutral. Others I've seen had multiple contacts. It looks identical on the outside to these. When I moved the shifter, a round piece under the switch rotated. It had a contact on it and a hole in the middle for another contact. It looks like I could wire in a mufti-contact switch and use this to output a signal to the dash, such as the GS750ES dash.

There is still some work to do on this, but it could make an alternate dash a lot easier.

I'm also looking at combined gauges in a PVC housing over the stock ones. This would be the easiest way to add gauges and not require a lot of rewiring.

Yesterday I installed the new front wheel bearings and an angle valve stem. The new Bridgestone went on a lot easier than the old dried up tire came off.

I've pulled the forks apart and cleaned them. The progressive springs arrived two days ago, and now I'm waiting on seals and fork oil. The springs say to use a 7.25" spacer. The spacers in the forks were 7.25", but the old springs were not progressive.

Another area I'm looking at is the oil cooler plumbing. It looks like one of the hoses has been weeping around the hose to tube area. These hoses are over $150 each. I reinstalled the header pipes after wrestling them out of the exhaust so I could check clearances. The block fitting is a 16mm x 1.50 banjo, and the cooler fitting is an o-ring that I can't easily duplicate to adapt it to AN. The cooler measures about 16" w x 8" h x 1.75" deep. I'm thinking a B&M Supercooler will fit in here and allow for AN plumbing. At the block, I should be able to use some 90 degree AN8 to 16mm adapters.

There is a similar setup on the block to valve cover hoses. I have not looked at them in detail.

 

[GS1000G Shopper]

More progress in the last few days.

Here are the new and old front tires:

The gauges are now blacked out. I've found a workable solution to use the stock gauges and add on what I need:

I was working on figuring out how to replace the oil lines, and the largest obstacle was the fitting at the block. I cut it off and tapped it for 1/4 pipe. Using a tee and some AN fittings there and on the valve cover (tapped it for 1/4 pipe as well), it will allow use of AN hoses. I've also tapped the oil cooler to use 1/4 pipe fittings and will use some tube sleeves and nuts to use the OEM oil lines by the filter. I can then adapt them to AN8 hose up to the cooler.

Here is the fitting at the block- in progress:

Here is a pic of the fairing repair using some JB Weld to reattach the broken off part, and some POR putty (epoxy putty) to repair the channel where the seal goes.

 

[GS1000G Shopper]

Spent some time sanding the fairing and also installed one hinge for a pocket cover. Seems like a decent enough fit. I'll tackle the lock next. I've also cleaned and painted a few more parts like the front master cylinder and both levers.

I looked at the luggage rack so I can add a trunk. There is a place in England (this bike seems to be very popular in Europe for some reason) that sells them, but they are close to $300 with shipping! Looking at their design, it uses a second hole in front of where the factory short rack goes in addition to the factory rack hole for a total of 4 mounting points, whereas the factory unit uses only 2.

The main problems are the offset between them and that there is no threaded nut in the front hole. After some thought, I made up a piece of 3/16" steel that will run from the factory rack to the front hole. In the slot behind the front hole I dropped in a custom-made aluminum nut. It is a small block of aluminum with a 10mm thread in it. There is no way to use a conventional nut there. While I only got one side done (didn't have enough steel), it seemed to help brace the rack.

Once this is done, I'll add a 12x12 piece of aluminum on top of the factory rack so I can mount a trunk there.

I got the intake boots off- although I managed to break off one of the mounting ears. I've got some JB Weld on it and will see if this will work or if it has to be welded. The boots are in good shape for their age, and I've ordered a set of cycle o-rings (40mm) for them. I found the same o-ring looks like it will fit in the fuel filter unit for the tank. Good thing as it is discontinued.

I saw a low mile Bandit shock FS here and sent a PM. It looks the same as mine, but of course the part numbers are different.

The OEM parts order should be here this week, as I got an email from Boulevard Suzuki that it was complete and going out.

 

[GS1000G Shopper]

The forks are resealed and remounted, and I got the other luggage rack support welded & drilled today. I've ordered a 12 x 12 aluminum plate and some rubber isolator mounts. I want to add some rear lights under the trunk as well like I have on the red GS1000G.

The JB Weld appears to have worked on the broken carb boot ear. I ran a tap through it to clean it up so the new stainless bolts from cycle o-rings.com will thread in OK.

I bought the Bandit shock from another member here after he measured it & it will fit. While it is 15 years old, it's been off the bike and inside for a long time as opposed to mine which sat outside.

I hope to get the front wheel back on tomorrow, and start prepping the body parts and the replacement gas tank for painting. The tank had a mid-sized dent in it & I used the Harbor Freight air-powered dent puller on it. It reduced the dent to where I can fill it.

I got the gear position indicator from a CB700S Nighthawk for like $15 on eBay. While I wanted an LED I could wire in to the new gear position switch, doing so cheaply involved a lot of electronics or it would cost over $100 for an aftermarket one. The Honda uses the same system as the GS- when the switch is in a gear, it grounds the wire and lights the lamp- or in this case the LCD. It has a built-in light so it will be visible at night, and it uses a standard Molex connector I can buy at Vintage Connections. I hope to have enough room to mount it between the 2" gauges I'm adding and have enough room for a small digital thermometer under it. It needs about 1.5", and I plan to cut a hole for it and use the Honda "Gear Position" faceplate with some clear acrylic between that and the panel to make it watertight.