Another Aussie GS rebuild - GS1100G

[JimmyR]

Oh I did do some "experimentation and engine research" in the higher rev range. Almost scared the crap outa me! A Harley just doesn't do that! I amazes me how it just keeps going. Twist and keep twisting - it keeps going faster. The acceleration is just crazy. I think the flatslide carbs make it more brutal than the CVs. I like the flatslides!

 

[john82q]

big big bike

big big bike

Well Bro, to Paraphrase Toad from the 1974 movie Stone;

"once youve ridden a big big bike really really fast, its like nothing else matters man!"

 

[JimmyR]

Bit of an anti-climax today. After yesterday's euphoria today's spare time was spent finding an e-clip for the jet needle that I lost. AArgh! So once I got home I re-assembled the carbs with the needle one notch lower to make the mix richer on acceleration but no - it bogged. Tried it one notch higher and it ran like a pig. I guess I'll put it back to the middle and try something else...

BTW john82q I love that film! It's kinda so bad that it's great or something. I also love The Cars That Ate Paris. I reckon it was a huge influence on David Lynch. There were some great films made in Australia in the 70s.

 

[landshark]

Stone: Mad wheelies on Z1's (or was it Z9's?)

 

[Charlie G]

You do realise that you are missing out?,get her nicely warmed up then wind her up to 5,000 in 3rd,keep the revs up and snick into 4th then top and keep the revs around 7,500-oh and HOLD ON(just do it away from the local cops) just make sure you have some nice smooth road as they don't like undulating surfaces at over 120mph-or maybe the one I rode was laughing at the fact it had a 59kg rider trying to keep its 230ish kilos in check!!!,but it was a hell of a lot of fun.Glad to see that you are getting there with settings-keep it up!.Johnny

Oh I did do some "experimentation and engine research" in the higher rev range. Almost scared the crap outa me! A Harley just doesn't do that! I amazes me how it just keeps going. Twist and keep twisting - it keeps going faster. The acceleration is just crazy. I think the flatslide carbs make it more brutal than the CVs. I like the flatslides!

You two are a bad influence on me.

 

[JimmyR]

Cool! Always wanted to be a bad influence.

 

[JimmyR]

More carb tuning today. Almost there! I have managed to improve low-throttle performance fairly dramatically but it's not quite 100% yet. But still, I have to think that perfection is very close.

I was feeling pleased with how it was running so I took a couple of crappy phone pics at one end of my ride route - City Beach. Beautiful winter's day here. Cool enough to be very grateful for my leather riding jacket but not cold enough to really need it off the bike.

You can see what I need to do next - refinish the tank and front fender. I think that new rings are in this bike's future. It smokes white smoke from the exhaust when starting with choke. It only started doing this recently. Mind you, it IS 30 years old and has done at least 98000km.

 

[Johnny Drummond]

heh heh heh,told you you would never be the same again Charlie,glad to see that the flatslides are almost there Jimmy,some more "experimantion and engine research" still required????.Nice photo,your winter sun is about as warm as our summer!.Johnny

 

[JimmyR]

Yeah a bit more tweakage this afternoon and getting better all the time. Amazing how tiny adjustments affect things. Tried the E clip on the needles on the second top notch - really good. Tried them on the same notch but with the nylon washer on top of the clip rather than below - terrible! That's about a 1/2mm difference. I have some #20 pilot jets on the way and I'm hoping that they will sort out my low-throttle issues once and for all. It's getting smoother all the time but the idle and just off is still a bit rough.

And Johnny - Winter here is my favourite season, followed by just after and just before. A sunny winter's day here is one of our little secrets. It makes you feel good to be alive. Summer is just too bloody hot!

 

[ged]

Jimmy love the pipes...........still waiting for mine :clap:

 

[JimmyR]

How long have you been waiting? Mine took about 6 weeks but it was ok because I was overseas most of the time. The look great and sure seem to work ok but they were such a PITA to install, so I can't be perfectly happy with them. They don't quite meet up properly under the bike either, so I had to make an bigger joining pipe that slips over the original pieces. Just today I noticed a leak there so I had to pull the whole bloody thing off and put some exhaust putty in there to seal them.

And my #20 pilot jets turned up, along with some spare E-clips for jet needles. I lost one when adjusting them last week. I have to say that Ian Williams Tuning in Adelaide is outstanding. I ordered them around midday Perth time yesterday and got them at 1.30pm today. Great service!

So today was my best ride yet. Not quite the euphoria of my first ride on this bike when I discovered just what a good bike a GS1100G is, but the best now that I have new flatslide carbies. I have very nearly nailed it I reckon. I might just try some larger main jets over the weekend to see how far I can push the top end, but the low end is where I spend more of my riding, and that is almost perfect now. I can't believe how smooth the bike is. And I'm really liking the riding position. Leaning forward, legs tucked under but there's not too much weight on my wrists and I have excellent heads up vision.

Still work to do but it's so fun to ride. I just wish it was easier to get better brakes on these bikes. As it is they are good but not amazing. I quite like amazing brakes...

 

[JimmyR]

Well fine tuning the carbs has taken longer than expected but I have learnt such a lot about them now, having taken pretty much every wrong turn I could have! Today's ride was fantastic. I can't believe how smooth the bike is, and the amount of GO on tap is hilarious. I have completely gotten rid of silly noises from the carbs and exhaust now and the exhaust even smells better now! It is a joy to ride now and that inspires greater confidence in the bike.

Still have a few things to do but definitely on the home stretch. As soon as I have done the tank and front fender I will post some more pics.

 

[landshark]

Looking forward to some pics mate.

 

[Guest]

Awesome stuff Jimmy!

And +1 on waiting for pic's, would love to see how she turned out

 

[JimmyR]

Well it doesn't look much different from the last pics yet, but very soon... It's just so much fun to ride in the meantime.

 

[Guest]

Nice Jimmy, glad to hear it

I really need to get my carbs dialled in too, and looking like the end of next month will see some budget for more tuning equipment... can't wait!

 

[JimmyR]

Raining today so not so much riding - I mean testing. Made one small tweak - turned the mix screws from 3/4 out to 1/2 out and that seems to have fixed my last "issue" with carb smoothness. It's weird that I have tried setting those mix screws according to highest idle and it just doesn't seem to work on my bike. But if I set them to tweak idle/just off idle richness they work a treat. Something you can't tell until you start riding.

In fact I found that adjusting anything on the carbs other than the idle adjust without testing it by riding was impossible.

Anyway, just as soon as I got the carbs running beautifully I get an intermittent starter! It didn't take long to work out it was a bad ground on the starter relay. So that's sorted now too. Nearly time to visit my friendly powdercoater again.

 

[JimmyR]

I know it's no fun me talking about this bike and not posting any pics, but I can't contain myself. Just came back in from another ride down the coast and damn this bike is so good to ride. I tweaked the mix screws and accel pump a tiny bit and I'm gradually getting this bike as smooth as butter. I think it's funny that I bought this bike purely on looks and it's ended up being such a great performer.

And when I think back to what this bike was like to ride when I first got it to how it rides now - well there is no comparison. Now it's running properly it even smells better and I don't think it needs new rings any more. There is no smell of burning oil any more or anything like that. I wonder if Suzukis of today will be able to be set up and run like this one does in 30 years time? It's pretty amazing.

I think the flatslide carbs were a good idea. I have leant so much about engines in the last few weeks. The RS36s really give the bike a kick up the backside and it feels like riding a new bike. 30 years old? Pah!

 

[Charlie G]

Jimmy,

Pictures or not it's nice reading of your positive experience with your bike.

cg

 

[JimmyR]

Took some pics for you! Here is the new tail light. I thought the rear needed a bit of a lift, it was looking a bit dark.

And here is a close up of the signal lights. I found these neat little brackets at http://japan.webike.net/ They're apparently designed for a Yamaha I think but they fit the GS1100 perfectly.