450s

[wahoo]

Hello,
New to this forum and to the GS. Picked up a 1981 GS450 I think the S model, cafe look in silver with blue trim 10,000miles. Bought it on a whim for a couple hundred, now wondering what to do with it. After draining the oil (more like a gas/water/oil mix, been sitting awhile. I put new plugs in it and charged the battery. It fired right up, takes awhile to warm up, rode around the yard. Haven't cleaned the carbs yet, it runs just so so. So I guess my question is what to do with it. Would like to turn it into more a cafe look, like this bike http://hammerprofolio.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/gs450-by-lake.jpg
However, before spending any more money, would like to have it checked it make sure It doesn't have any big issues. Im not a mechanic, so should I take it to a Suzuki dealer? What should I have them look for? Its $50 for a dyno test, is that worth it. How many miles do these 450s usually go without a rebuild. Or should I just part it, perfect tank and seat, are they worth anything. Thanks for any help, lots of newbe questions.
Josh

 

[7981GS]

First off, we need pictures.
Secondly, you can probably fix any and all ills that the bike might have with the help of the members found here!

Daniel

 

[Charlie G]

I've got close to 21000 miles on my 450 and I paid $800.00 for it. I probally about $300 too much for it, but I don't plan on selling it and it has been alot of fun. I see them all the time for $500 or less in varying condition. These bkes seem to get neglected and abused. I think riders move on to something bigger. I've seen them with 50k on the clock. Pictures would be good. You can see pictures of mine in my album. No dealers!

Charlie G

 

[cowboyup3371]

Dealers and "professional mechanics" will try to screw you out of your money.

Ask me how I know.

 

[Nessism]

Tough Love

If you can't wrench, sell the bike now. If you can do your own work, I suggest you get a manual and go though EVERYTHING. Full carb rebuild w/new O-rings, intake boot O-rings, valve adjustment, oil/filter change, brake system tear down and clean out w/new brake lines, etc. You bought a 30 year old vehicle that needs work. Paying someone to do this work will cost more than the bike is worth so keep this in mind, and not doing this work will likely leave you stranded somewhere and/or damage the bike.

 

[81ZUKI75]

Mr. Nessism is giving good advice.

If it is an "S" model, it should have a factory bikini fairing on it. Those are a little more rare and IMO, slightly more desirable.

Please consider posting it here for sale berfore considering parting it out.

 

[emjay]

Does it look like this one?

The picture is from Jarmo Haapam?ki great site called All suzuki Motorcycles Ever Built.

 

[Steve]

Take that silly notion of "take it to the dealer" and get rid of it as quickly as possible. First of all, you will find that most dealers have a "10-year rule". That is, anything older than 10 years will not make it past the doorway. I think you will find that your bike is just a bit beyond that. Second, anything you do to the bike will take some time. Just to clean the carbs properly will take about four hours, but will be spread out over three days. Current shop rates are $75-100 per hour. Would you willingly spend $3-400 for carb work on your "couple hundred dollar" bike? Then there is all the other work that Nessism mentioned: valve adjustment (about an hour), brake system rebuild (2-3 hours), checking/cleaning electrical system (an hour or two), not to mention the parts that will be required (brake hoses, master cylinder rebuild kits, caliper kits, brake pads, TIRES, valve shims, etc.). If you take it to a dealer and he accepts the job, you can see where you will very quickly have WELL over a thousand dollars into it, just in labor alone.

If you choose to do it all yourself, $3-400 in parts will probably take care of it. It may take a week or two to get all the parts, then another couple of weeks to put them all into place. By the way, the dealer would be charging you $6-700 for those parts, so add that amount to the labor mentioned above and see your savings by doing it yourself.

.

 

[wahoo]

Thanks for the replys. The bike came with a manual, so I plan to take the carbs off this weekend. I can wrench a litttle but new to bikes, but will give me something to do this winter. It doesn't have the fairing or gold rims, so would this make it the E model? I'll try to post a pic, not sure where the camera is. I've seen alot of maroon ones the last couple weeks looking around online, but only one other silver. Was silver a factory paint? Josh

 

[Charlie G]

Thanks for the replys. The bike came with a manual, so I plan to take the carbs off this weekend. I can wrench a litttle but new to bikes, but will give me something to do this winter. It doesn't have the fairing or gold rims, so would this make it the E model? I'll try to post a pic, not sure where the camera is. I've seen alot of maroon ones the last couple weeks looking around online, but only one other silver. Was silver a factory paint? Josh

I've seen some silver ones for sale. This sites gallery has a few pictures of silver 450's in 1981.

cg

 

[emjay]

... It doesn't have the fairing or gold rims, so would this make it the E model? ...

Check the site I linked to above. You'll probably find it there, though it's not complete.

 

[Tech7]

Dealers and "professional mechanics" will try to screw you out of your money.

Ask me how I know.

And all Irish are drunks. And all people from the south are rednecks. Please don't stereotype. I AM a "professional mechanic". Just sayin'.

 

[cowboyup3371]

Understood Tech. But I had a professional mechanic here in town that is "highly regarded" by both Suzuki/Honda/Kawasaki dealerships tell me I needed to completely rebuild my engine because one cylinder's compression was too low and was going to charge me several thousand to do it. A carb cleaning, valve adjustment, and new stator/rectifier later (with the help of folks here) and I got two months of good riding in before packing it away for the winter to do other things (chain, shocks, forks).

It's kinda putting a sour taste in my mouth for it along with ones left on my personal vehicles (one's a diesel so I don't have a choice).

 

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. wahoo,

Doing your own repairs is the only way to keep these bikes somewhat economical. You'll find a couple of maintenance lists in your "mega-welcome" with links to the proper procedures for carb cleaning and other necessary tasks. You'll find other "how-to" guides on my little website. Let's roll up our sleeves and get started.

I just stopped by to welcome you to the forum in my own, special way.

If there's anything you'd like to know about the Suzuki GS model bikes, and most others actually, you've come to the right place. There's a lot of knowledge and experience here in the community. Come on in and let me say "HOoooowwwDY!"....

Here is your very own magical, mystical, mythical, mind-expanding "mega-welcome". Please take notice of the "Top 10 Common Issues", the Carb Rebuild Series, and the Stator Papers. Now let me roll out the welcome mat for you...

Please click here for your mega-welcome, chock full of tips, suggestions, links to vendors, and other information. Then feel free to visit my little BikeCliff website where I've been collecting the wisdom of this generous community. Don't forget, we like pictures! Not you, your bike!

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[Guest]

Welcome Wahoo, there are quite a number of 450 owners around here now and more (like yourself) keep popping up all the time, so the wealth of knowledge will only keep growing.

I'm currently doing a frame up rebuild of mine and am in the process of putting my motor back together at the moment (link in my sig. below).

The only wrenching I've done before this has been things like spark plug gaps, points adjustments, and oil changes, although I did once help my dad get my old Sigma back on the road years ago when one of the counter balance shafts' drive sprocket sheered off.

Anyway, my point is if you can read a manual and post stuff on here, you can do it

The other thing I'd like to say is that if you have a Haynes manual, don't use the torque spec's from it! Go get yourself a Clymer manual.

The Haynes will be handy as a picture/process cross reference to the Clymer, but I won't be taking any measurements or spec's from it again after stripping a thread in my crankcase because the Haynes manual listed it at twice what it should be.

Anyway, good luck and can't wait to see what you do with it!

 

[2Wheel_Kungfu]

Hey, good luck with the new bike.

I was in the same situation about 3 months ago when I bought an '82 GS450E. (Well, still might be... but I'm glad I bought it and it's been a great little bike) Before this bike I had done almost zero wrenching on any bike and it's really been a breeze. I like the Clymers book, I don't have a motorcycle haynes manual to compare it to but it blows any haynes car book out of the water for accuracy and completeness. BassCliffs top ten list of things to check on is a great place to start if you're having any troubles with the bike, has a lot of stuff I wouldn't have thought of to check.

Only other thing I can think of is don't fix it if it isn't broken. Sometimes these bikes are 30 years old and stock, but you never know, you could have one that's had it's valves adjusted regularly and been really taken care of too. Especially if the seat and tank are in great shape, sounds like it either didn't get ran much or was well taken care of. Maybe a little tune up, valve adjustment and carb cleaning and she'll be good as new? Mine's sitting at 19k miles right now and running really well.

 

[Buster-boy]

Ditto what Steve said. By the time you're done paying a dealer you could have bought this bike three times over, and what he said about the 10 yr rule is true - they won't touch it.

Do what all the others have suggested - buy a Clymer's, get your knuckles ready to be scraped, and DIY! Not only will you save money but you'll learn a lot about your bike and doing it yourself instills a sense of pride second to none. Yeah, it may not be perfect. Yeah, it may not be the prettiest machine on the road, but it's YOURS and YOU did it!!

When I first bought the 850 pictured below I had no clue what I was getting myself into. It didn't run and it certainly didn't look like it does in those pics. I got suckered big time when I bought that bike. I shelled out almost $1k in parts and labor trying to have some guy fix it because I didn't know how.

But, I found GSR, found a world of advice and information, made a few friends (and enemies) along the way, and now my bike runs almost perfect.

The folks on here will help you more than any dealer or mechanic will - and best of all it's FREE!! The guys on here a special breed in that they eat this $hit for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and after sex, everyday, 365, and they can't get enough of it. There is no better source for info than on this website, trust me. Books can tell you a lot, don't get me wrong, but these guys have the "been there, done that, doin it twice this Sunday" type of experience that no book can provide.

How do I know? Been there, done that!!

 

[koolaid_kid]

Hey, wait a minute Buster-boy, after sex all I want to do is....Wait, is that a GS at the corner?...Doesn't it seem a bit lean on cylinder 2...

But seriously, heed the advice and train yourself. It ain't rocket science. Just build a quality tool set and knowledge base, and you will be fine.
When I first started, I justified tools this way: The mechanic wants $100 to tune this. I pay $10 for parts, $90 for tools, I end up with the same results (a tune-up) and $90 worth of tools.

 

[Steve]

When I first started, I justified tools this way: The mechanic wants $100 to tune this. I pay $10 for parts, $90 for tools, I end up with the same results (a tune-up) and $90 worth of tools.

Then, ... next time you need to do it, it's only $10 for the parts (OK, maybe $12 by then) and you get to use your tools again. :dancing:

.