81 650E Refurb

[MAJikMARCer]

I've been searching for the black 1983 case covers with the TDCC logo on them for over a year. You just gave me an idea for an alternative if the search proves fruitless.

Thanks Marc!

Oh yea, that'd look great! I'm thinking about the cross bar on the forks, that hides the brake-line T. It looks ok, but the sticker that goes on the front is missing. Can't find it OEM, but if I could powder it on, that'd look great, plus easier to clean off when bug guts get splattered on it.

 

[GS650E_81]

I am going to replace the gasket here soon.

After removing the old liquid gasket, did you use a liquid gasket when applying the new one?

The hardest part is getting the old gasket material off. I used Permatex Low-VOC Gasket Remover. No particular reason for that brand, it's just what they had at the store.

I had to let it sit over night and I still had little bits clinging. It did do a good job on the liquid gasket the previous over had used.

This is actually my second gasket. I changed mine in the summer because of the same leak you are dealing with. I foolishly didn't adjust the valves while I was in there. I highly recommend doing it at the same time.

This time I put just a little bit of liquid gasket (Permatex Blue) on the 'nose' of the head where the leaking has been problematic. Not sure if it'll help or not and I'll probably have to replace the gasket again when I open it next time, but hopefully it'll be awhile before I have to do that.

I bought my gasket from my local Suzuki dealer. As others have suggested Boulevard is great. Their prices are the lowest I've seen online. The only reason I deal locally is the shipping costs. But it's pretty close. Sometimes Boulevard even has the parts cheaper with shipping so I always check both.

 

[MAJikMARCer]

I am going to replace the gasket here soon.

After removing the old liquid gasket, did you use a liquid gasket when applying the new one?

I only applied a bit at the 'nose' of the cover where there was a problem before. I used a new OEM gasket also, in case that wasn't clear.

I was sure to keep it minimal and cleaned up the excess that squeezed out, to keep things neat and clean. Unlike the PO.

 

[GS650E_81]

How about the moons? Did you put any sealant on them?

I have never changed out a gasket before, so lot's of questions

I will use RTV black, that seems to be decent product after doing some searching on here.

 

[MAJikMARCer]

Yup, just on the underside (curved) of the half-moons. Nothing on the gasket side. I know a lot of guys here like the Ultra Black. It's supposed to have the best oil resistance and adhesion, so if the surface isn't completely clean it'll still stick.

You don't have to use a lot, just a thin layer. It'll squeeze out a bit when you tighten the cover back on, wipe away any excess.

In the future, assuming you didn't get any on the top of your half-moons, the gasket should lift off of them without pulling them loose. In other words the half-moons should stay in place.

Some guys like to turn the moons around so the little lip is on the inside and engine pressure doesn't push them out, but I did mine by the book and I've not had any issues. Mine were pretty bad before too. Leaking oil.

You can see all the mess I had to clean up too...ugh.

 

[GS650E_81]

Great, nice picture.

Where did you get the replacement screws for the cover? It looks like you used allen head.

 

[MAJikMARCer]

Great, nice picture.

Where did you get the replacement screws for the cover? It looks like you used allen head.

Z1 Enterprises. Part #: NGSS-667

 

[cowboyup3371]

Either Z1, Cycleorings.com, or even Ace Hardware.

 

[GS650E_81]

Valve cover gasket just came in the mail. Going to have a go at it tonight. Was the tach cable hard to get out?

 

[MAJikMARCer]

Valve cover gasket just came in the mail. Going to have a go at it tonight. Was the tach cable hard to get out?

No not really. Mine was bad, so I replaced mine with a new cable. If you do that be sure to get new O-rings for it.

 

[GS650E_81]

Just pulled the valve cover.. how does it look? Will it be okay to remove the old baked on gasket with a razor blade? I also have a rubber piece where the moon sits, is that normal?

It looks like the PO used some kind of thread locker on all the screws, I should be able to throw these in some year old berrymans carb dip to clean up, right?

 

[cowboyup3371]

You can use a scraper just go REAL easy on it or you'll gouge the metal. If that happens you could be in for a good leak. I use both my metal and plastic scrapers as well as a Roloc wheel to take mine off.

 

[GS650E_81]

Got the gasket on this morning.

Not sure if it is leaking or not. I fired it up for a few minutes, and white smoke was coming from what looked like the carbs. not sure if there is water in the float bowls as the bike hasn't been started in two months or so.

Might be leaking a little at the moons and one side, but hard to tell right away.

It needs an oil change as the oil is very low so I don't want to run it to much right now..

 

[MAJikMARCer]

Carb/Airbox Removal

Carb/Airbox Removal

Today I removed the carbs and the airbox to clean them both up. The airbox was coated with old grease and grime.

I'll tear into the carbs a bit more later, I just wanted to get them out of the bike so I could get started at my leisure. One thing I did notice that the carb tutorials and the service manual didn't mention was how to remove the throttle and choke cables. I figured them out, but I may have to try to write something up about that for other noobs.

I need to inventory all the little pieces and parts I'm going to need to order. There were a lot of worn out screws holding things together. I had to use vice grips to remove the air filter screw it was so badly stripped out.

I think I'm going to go ahead and have the airbox powder coated while I have it out too.

Question about the airbox. There was a little hole on the bottom that didn't correspond to any screw holes. I'm guessing it's a weeping hole for oil/fuel, that manages to get back into the airbox, but I keep hearing about making sure the airbox is all sealed up, so I'm confused. Should there be something connected to it, or is it just a weeper?

The plastic part of the airbox, that connects to the carbs, was OK, but it looks like I'll have to replace one of the air tubes. It was bent up badly and not connected up right so the lips were damaged.

I also noticed that one of the tubes was narrower than the others. I'm guessing it's because it's closest to the actual air intake hole from the airbox, so it needs to be more restricted to balance the air flow. Is that right?

I was only able to get one of the intake boots off the head. The others were not budging. So rather than risking damage I put some penetrating oil on the screws and I'll tackle them later.

The one I did manage to get off looked like there had previously been a silicone sealant used. I didn't see it on the boot so I'm guessing the PO bought new boots but didnt bother to clean off the surface on the head. <sigh>

Here are the carbs. They don't look terrible but they do need to be cleaned up and the floats will very likely need to be tested and possibly removed. Oh and the inline filter will be going away, since most of you all seem to feel they do more harm than good. My tank is clean so rust isn't an issue.

 

[MAJikMARCer]

Got the other three intake boots off. A little extra leverage thanks to my slip joint wrench helped. I tapped the right sized screw driver in with a hammer and then with the wrench I was able to break the screws free with no breakage. They look like they were fairly new, thankfully.

I did tear up the head on a couple of them, but I planned to replace them with allen bolts anyway.cycleorings.com has them so why not?

 

[tom203]

Your bike's PO liked goop! There is a drainage hole in air filter box (to let water out when rain riding. There is also a nipple fitting at bottom of airbox itself- I haven't taken mine out yet, but I suspect it's a crude one way valve gizmo- lets fuel drain (if there's a carb problem), but shuts under engine vacuum.
If you haven't already, doublecheck cam to crank timing to be safe.

 

[MAJikMARCer]

Your bike's PO liked goop! There is a drainage hole in air filter box (to let water out when rain riding. There is also a nipple fitting at bottom of airbox itself- I haven't taken mine out yet, but I suspect it's a crude one way valve gizmo- lets fuel drain (if there's a carb problem), but shuts under engine vacuum.
If you haven't already, doublecheck cam to crank timing to be safe.

As I understand it the POs dad had the bike first. I think it was fairly neglected when the kid got it. He had a job at the local Suzuki dealer so he may have been doing SOME things right for it, but he was being cheap. Same as his dad apparently. Granted the bike isn't worth the amount of work I'm putting into it, but I'm going to do it anyway. I'll learn a lot in the process and end up with a nice fun bike.

As for the drainage hole. There was no nipple or anything on it, just the hole. The fiche images don't show anything like that either.

 

[tom203]

Look at the parts fiche (if you can see it), part #7 is a hose that connects to airbox bottom thru a nipple. My guess is that it has one way valve in it.

http://www.alpha-sports.com/spst/1981 GS650E/01.htm


Yours seems like a worthy restoration- I've yet to see a E in my area- lots of shafties, mostly neglected. I got lucky, mine was maintained despite sitting out fot two riding seasons.

 

[MAJikMARCer]

Look at the parts fiche (if you can see it), part #7 is a hose that connects to airbox bottom thru a nipple. My guess is that it has one way valve in it.

http://www.alpha-sports.com/spst/1981 GS650E/01.htm


Yours seems like a worthy restoration- I've yet to see a E in my area- lots of shafties, mostly neglected. I got lucky, mine was maintained despite sitting out fot two riding seasons.

Ah, no I have that hose. It connects to the plastic 'front' part of the airbox. The hole I have is on the bottom of the big blocky box.

 

[MAJikMARCer]

Finally started to take the carbs apart for cleaning. The PO told me he had rebuilt them. I'm thinking he might not have been lying. Things look pretty clean. The only obvious issue that I've seen is that it looks like the fuel and vent T tubes didn't get new O rings. They were looking a bit flat.

I had to leave the garage door open a bit with a fan due to the fuel fumes (there was about a tablespoon and a half of fuel in each bowl), so I could only work until the cold got to me.

Thankfully all the screws, jets, and needles have come out without an issue. Only one had previous damage, but it wasn't bad and didn't give me any problems.

So, thus far, this is looking to be an easy project, mostly just cleanup. I think I'm going to take the connecting plates to the powder coater with my airbox and make them look pretty. That means I probably should get some polished allen bolts. Thoughts on where I can get those?