83 GSX1100ES, "worn-out-edition"

[Spiff]

So, I pulled the trigger on a tired looking cheapo GSX, with the plans being to bring it back to life and put the CB1100R full fairing I have on it and using it for two up riding with my GF. So away I went, picked it up and trailered it home...
After standing on the back of the trailer for 250km's of Norways finest salted roads both the car, trailer and bike was looking pretty bad....





The owner was the type of guy who had lots of plans but never followed through, or just failed doing it right, that was my impression.
I'm pretty amazed at how people can just neglect basic maintenance like a wash and wax... I mean how many calories does it take you to just clean the bike once or twice a year?!!
Then maybe your footpegs wouldn't have ended up like this?!


And seriously, woodscrews?


If you broke it then fix it or buy new panels, this is just a hackjob and did more worse than good :/


But, there are some good things though:

-It starts and runs. Starts pretty easy actually
-There is a full set of bags.
-I got an oil filter, a bottle of brake fluid and a new seat cover with the bike
-New brake pads, new choke and throttle cable.

But that's pretty much it. Here comes the bad stuff, and this is only what I have found after about and hour of looking over the bike and a short testride.

-Somthing is seriously wrong with the throttle, you have to really muscle it to keep it at part throttle/cruise. My hand almost cramped up.
If you twist it all the way it will stick in that position.
Something probably needs lubing and a lot of it...(I'm thinking he replaced the throttle cable hoping that was the cure)

-Front brakes are real soggy, gonna need new brake lines. (also a reason why I think he bought new pads, thinking it would solve it)

-Rear brake drags, won't let up fully after use. I'm thinking the rear caliper needs an overhaul or replacing?

-Front brake switch needs adjusting. Easy one.

-Tacho won't go over 5000rpms, any ideas on that one?

-As stated earlier the engine fires and runs but it seems to not want to run on idle without a little bit of choke... I tried to adjust the idle up, all the way up to 2500rpms, but it would just slowly go back down to 1000 and then just die...
Looks like i'm in for a carb clean?? Or any other ideas?

-Also a carb issue i think, it shakes and shudders like a bucking horse when you apply part throttle under 3000rpms, like if you're cruising into an intersection,engine braking to about 1500-2000rpms, coast is clear so you slowly accelerate out of it. Real violent hesitation until you get up to about 2500-3000rpms, then its smooth sailing from there...

-Gonna need a new front fork seal.

-Oil temp gauge not working.

-Instrument lighting not working.

It's got that anti-dive front fork, is that a bad or a good thing?


So as you see it's got a fair few things that needs fixing, but all in all I think it will make a good bike with lots of elbow grease and help from all you great GS'ers

And one last thing...... I dropped it....
Was putting it on the sidestand but didn't fully extend the sidestand so it returned just as I leaned the bike over and by the time I realized what had happened the bike was to far gone and hit the ground with a solid bang...
Results; one cracked stator cover and a broken clutch lever.

 

[Rob S.]

Not so bad looking

Not so bad looking

She's purdy - squeegee the windshield and she's good to go.

Seriously, I don't think she's all that bad looking.

I have the 1100EZ ('82) with the anti-dive forks, and the prevailing opinion here and other places is that they don't really do much, if anything at all. Just got mine a few months and 500 miles ago, so I have the same concern you do.

You have the "air-assist" in the fork, right? Another questionable feature.

 

[Spiff]

I have NO idea what I have No owners manual and I don't have a servicemanual, so need to get that....
And the windscreen has been painted black... poorly

 

[SVSooke]

You can probably bring the screen back http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=162364 the rest shouldn't be to bad either.Be a really nice bike fixed up.

 

[Charlie G]

It looks great Spiff. Bummer about the drop.

cg

 

[dorkburger]

Off to a rousing start...... good luck with it....As far as dropping it- ive dropped mine twice in 14 years of ownership, and both were stupid carelessness on my part....

 

[Guest]

One of bikes has a nicely rounded dent in the gas tank. It conforms to shape of the top rail on a uHaul trailer.

 

[Spiff]

Today i took of the saddle and the sidecovers, which are destroyed thanks to the woodscrews that held them in place. So I'll need some new ones there too.
I also removed the bar ends, which cured the sticking throttle problem, now it snaps back in to place like it should. Gonna need new ones there too since the right one is missing all the mounting hardware, and catches the throttle grip aswell.
-I'm thinking of going for oxford heated grips on this bike. It is after all gonna be a tourer and heated grips are great for cold days, or rainy days
-Since I need to change the seatcover I'm also gonna install some heating pads to keep my rear end all warm and fuzzy too

Tried some rubbing compound on the red parts of the paint, but it's too far gone to be able to get back. Also the clear coat has flaked of someplaces and so I'm in for a respray. Good thing I'm handy with the rattlecans....

 

[Guest]

Need Pic with the CB fairing.
G

 

[Spiff]

Need Pic with the CB fairing.
G

It's coming, but right now my first priority is getting the GS750 assembled again since having two bikes in pieces is no good....
So this project will be a little slow now untill the gs is done then this is gonna kick off. They both need to be done by springtime

 

[Spiff]

Turns out I had a GS clutch lever lying underneath some stuff on a work bench, so that broken lever issue is now fixed.

Also I couldn't help it and removed the original fairing
Guess what? One of the upper fairing bolt holes lines up perfect with a hole in the ES fairing bracket. Gonna need to manufacter a little spacer on both sides and go with a longer bolt assuming the lower fairing clears the engine and such with the upper fairing in that location, I was alone so I don't know yet as I could only handle one piece at a time

 

[Spiff]

Sorry guys, turns out something is happening with my photobucket account, I don't know what but I'm in contact with PB support so hopefully it'll be fixed and pictures will be displayed correctly...

 

[speedyandypandy]

Heia spiff! G? for gull!
New brake lines don't make that much of a difference on soggy brakes, documented tests show that and personal experience on my track bike taught me that to. Service the calipers, the pump, clean the pots regulary, get the best pads you can get. The biggest improvement you can do is discs and new master cylinder.

 

[Spiff]

Well that depends on how worn out your old brakelines are I think

Made a big difference on the GS. But I swapped cracked and bulging original lines for new steelbraided ones. Maybe original lines doesn't make a huge difference.

Anyways I fixed the hanging rear brake today, removed the brake pedal and used and abrasive nylon pad to remove the little spots of rust and smooth out the shaft and bore. Greased it up and assembled it again and now its working flawless

 

[speedyandypandy]

It could be that 2000 lines changed in 2012 are many times better than 1970-80ish lines changed 30-40 years later?

 

[Spiff]

Maybebaby

I've bought some oxford heated grips, these are the best and with the new smart controller it's super easy to connect. It just hooks up to your battery and you're done




Another thing I'm gonna buy to increase comfort is heated seat pads.

 

[russr33]

Good luck on the rebuild Spiff. I've always liked that color scheme on the ES; we didn't get that option in the US just the blue/white scheme. Should be a fun thread to watch. I used to have an ES with the Lockhart fairing which is similar to the look you will achieve (somewhat).

 

[Charlie G]

Good luck on the rebuild Spiff. I've always liked that color scheme on the ES; we didn't get that option in the US just the blue/white scheme. Should be a fun thread to watch. I used to have an ES with the Lockhart fairing which is similar to the look you will achieve (somewhat).

My favorite color scheme

cg

 

[Spiff]

Yeah that's a nice color scheme ;-)

 

[Spiff]

Ok, so I tried fixing the cracked stator cover using hts-2000 aluminium brazing rods but that turned out to be just load of crap! Cover was still leaking, but I wasn't quite ready to give in and buy a new stator cover just yet!
Enter Sugru:

This stuff is like play-doh, only it hardens when exposed to air to form a hard siliconrubber. It adheres to most anything, withstands temperatures from -50 to a 180degrees C. so I figured why not give it a shot!

Was alot of work grinding away the hts-2000 braze, that stuff probably contains a whole lot of Zn, hard as nails! But it came of eventually and again I V'ed out the crack. Rubbed it with som 80 grit and degreased it and washed thoroughly with alcohol! Sugru doesn't adhere well if there is the tiniest residue of oil left...ask me how I know
I applied one pack and pressed it firmly in and around the groove and smoothed it out:

A test after it had hardened to see if it sealed, it stood like this for a week without showing any signs of sweating or leaking on the outside of the cover

I haven't mounted it yet since I need to get, or make a new gasket for the cover. I guess then we'll see just how good this stuff is...
Here you can see the crack in the middle of the picture, just a hairline crack, but still more then enough to drip badly.