Bringing a 1981 GS1100E back to life.

[astroboiler]

That sensor is common to many of the GS models. Whether you want to replace it is up to you of course. It's easy enough to cross-reference part numbers to find which other models used that part. If you choose to replace it, it's just a case of undoing the two screws and pulling it out. There's an O-ring fitted to the rear to provide an oil seal. Probably best to replace that.

Thanks Steve.

 

[Nessism]

Be sure to pull those valves and replace the stem seals, and use OEM Suzuki gaskets during assembly if you value oil tightness.

What's with that bracket and rusty screw above the drive sprocket?

 

[astroboiler]

Be sure to pull those valves and replace the stem seals, and use OEM Suzuki gaskets during assembly if you value oil tightness.

What's with that bracket and rusty screw above the drive sprocket?

Thanks Nessism. Looks like the chain snapped on some PO and the sprocket carried the chain thru the side of the case. The bracket is just a welded on piece of bar stock that butts up against the spacer on that engine mounting bolt. That bar stock was also tapped to accept said rusty screw to hold the primary sprocket cover in place.

 

[astroboiler]

Time to bring this thread back to life. I have received the starter motor, keys, and airbox. Big thanks to Bill (Mr. Chef1366) for the airbox and filter.


And a big thanks to David (Mr. Kiwi Canuck) for the keys that he cut and shipped to me. I tested my two keys out on the four locks on my bike and they all work just as they should. With the new key I was finally able to open the gas cap, and I seem to be a lucky devil: the little bit of the inside of the gas tank that I can see from the open gas cap looks to be nothing short of immaculate.


Whenever this bike was taken off the road for the last time, the owner must have put something in the tank to preserve it and it probably has not been opened since. There was a little something sloshing around in there when I bought the bike.

When I last updated, I had just taken the top end off and removed all of the side covers. I snapped off both timing chain tensioner mounting bolts in the block, so I dremeled a slot in the bolts, hit those babies with some PB blaster, and got them both to cry uncle with an impact screwdriver. Shortly after that I got into it with my now ex-girl, in whose garage this project was taking place. She held the bike hostage for a little while, and since it was in relatively little pieces, I spent some time playing nice and smoothing things over. Yesterday I got permission to get everything out of there, so I went ahead and reassembled according to the FSM. I didn't take many pictures since time was of the essence, but I started by oiling the bearings at the big and little ends of the rods, and oiled the sliding surfaces of the pistons. I then aligned the piston rings according to the diagram, and used the hose clamp method on the piston rings to get the pistons in the jugs two at a time.

Cylinder head went on at that point, and I torqued my twelve cylinder head nuts down to spec in the proper order. I then oiled the cam journal bearings and applied Suzuki moly paste to the exhaust cam journals and the intake cam journals, and retimed the engine according to the FSM. Here are the first and second pictures of the day.




I then torqued down my caps in order and according to spec, and reinstalled the cam chain tensioner according to the procedure in the FSM. The plunger seems to move as it should under spring force, so I think I will move forward with this OEM tensioner instead of springing for a manual tensioner just yet. At this point I had more than worn out my welcome at the ex's house, so I reinstalled the signal generator cover, put the valve cover on finger tight, screwed in my spark plugs, zip tied the Lockhart oil cooler to the valve cover so it wouldn't get beaten up, and then got the hell outta there.


Big thanks to my buddy Ben for his help during the reassembly and providing the truck. In between the ex's and our destination is a Mexi joint called Bandito Burrito, where we ate a dinner for champions. If you're ever in the Huntsville, AL area, give them a visit. For the sake of vintage superbikes everywhere, I think we scored one for the good guys today.

 

[astroboiler]

We got the roller and engine unloaded without issue.



I have a concern. I have read through the stator papers, and from what I understand about the stock charging system, the third phase of AC power is unregulated and routed through the left hand control and the headlight, and then it ends up back at the battery. As you can see from my second picture, I have no headlight. So then, will my r/r have the task of sinking all of the heat of the third phase since I have no headlight? I bet I have this all wrong, but my real question is this: do I need to be concerned for my r/r and stator if I start this bike because I have no headlight? Thanks in advance for the guidance I am about to receive.

I went ahead and adjusted my valve clearances according to the specs and procedures in the FSM and then put the valve cover on and torqued it down to spec. I checked my spark plug gap and installed those. All that is left for the motor is an oil change and I think it will be ready to go!




Next (in some particular order) I will check flow thru the petcock, print out the wiring diagram and shake down the ignition and charging connections, receive carbs and o-rings from Ray (Mr. RapidRay), clean and replace o-rings on said carbs, and then put 'er all together.

 

[astroboiler]

I received the carburetors and o-ring kit from Mr. RapidRay.



I unganged them and started on them one at a time. I kept the small bits in four egg cartons when they weren't in the dip.



First one out of the dip.



Most of the components appear to be stock, but it appears that I have #110 main jets and 160 main air jets. I've read on the carb specs thread that stock main jets for my 1981 GS1100E are #107.5 and stock main air jets are 1.2, which I'm guessing is the same as 120, right?

My 1981 GS1100E came with a Kerker 4-1 exhaust, and I bought a stock airbox. From what I read here I believe the #110 main jets are a good place to start, but I'm not so sure about the 160 main air jets that I have. Thoughts?

 

[astroboiler]

Got the carbs all clean, replaced o-rings and fuel, vent, and vacuum lines, and ganged them all back together. I got my float heights all set to within spec and set the mixture screws to 2.5 turns out. In my last post I said I had 160 main air jets, but those are actually my pilot air jets, and 160s are stock, so those went back in.



I dropped the oil pan and cleaned that out real well too.



I took a closer look at my wiring harness and it looks like the only burned up wires are the pink one to the oil temperature gauge switch and the G/Y to the oil pressure gauge switch.



I made two wires for the SPG scheme: one from the frame to SPG, and the other from the battery(-) to SPG.



Then the engine went back into the frame.



I bought this bike with some really rad superbike bars, but unfortunately they are 1" diam. so none of the stock controls or lever assemblies fit. I swapped them for some 7/8" bars that were lying around and I finally was able to mount the controls and levers. Just for fun I put the tank, taillight assembly, seat and frame cover on.



Now the plan is to clean the fuse box, replace the fuses, tighten down the engine mounts, install exhaust, replace the oil, spray electrical connections with cleaner as i reconnect them, put battery in box, install airbox, install carbs, and rig up some kind of aux gas tank. Hope then I can try and start 'er up.

 

[loud et]

If you need a new front sprocket / engine cover let me know. I wasn't sure if yours was damaged or missing.
Pm me if you need.

 

[astroboiler]

If you need a new front sprocket / engine cover let me know. I wasn't sure if yours was damaged or missing.
Pm me if you need.

Thank you but I have one.

I tightened the engine mounts and filled up with oil, then cleaned up the fuse box with electrical cleaner and replaced the fuses. I connected the three legs from the stator directly to the r/r. My SPG is located at the rearmost mounting screw for the starter solenoid. I chose this one because the b/w harness return lead was too short to reach either one of the r/r mounting screws. So I have the b/w harness return, r/r-, battery- and a wire going to a frame bolt coming together at the SPG. I cleaned up the rest of my connectors with electrical cleaner and hooked them up. I dropped a very run down battery into the box, hooked it up, turned the key, and I got a few lights to come on in the check panel.



Next day I bought an AGM battery and installed it and I got the starter to turn the engine over. The wires going to my RH control are not connected, so I touched the Y/G wire to the O/W that leads to the fuse box to get the starter to turn. If I touched that O/W wire to the other O/W wire that leads to the igniter, I got voltage at the coils. If I touched all three together, I got cranking and spark at the plugs. I installed the airbox and carbs and plugged the vacuum line going to carb #2.



I installed the Kerker 4-1. The leverless vacuum petcock on my tank isn't cooperating yet, so I used a lawnmower gas tank. With a little choke, she fired up. After a few seconds, I put the choke back in and she idled on her own. I'm stoked! Here's a little video:



Tracking down the title for this bike has been a saga probably more fit for "GS Stories" than "Projects/Rebuilds" however yesterday I got some info from the PO that may require me to go a different direction with this bike. I will update when after I meet with the PO at the end of the week.

 

[astroboiler]

I bought this bike last December on a BOS from a guy who was not the title holder. Last week, I tracked down the legal owner, and he was nice enough to just sign the title over to me. I've got the bike registered in my name now. Great success!

When we were talking on the phone, the PO told me that the motor had had some performance work done. I recall when I was putting the motor back together in February, I measured 3" across the top of one of the pistons. I didn't think anything about it then, but I guess it could be a 1260 kit. I have a picture that I took of the cams when I was reassembling, and I see 451 stamped on the intake sprocket and 470 stamped on the exhaust sprocket. The sprockets have not been slotted, so I think these are stock cams. The bike came with some obvious go-fast items, i.e., a Kerker 4-1 and a Lockhart oil cooler, but I didn't really think anything of it at the time.

When I bought this bike, it was missing carburetors, so I bought some BS34's from a member here, refurbished them, and they are now on the bike. About a week later is when I found the PO with the title, and he told me that he had some 40mm smoothbores for this bike. I will see if I can negotiate a decent deal for those smoothbores.

I think I will just try to get this thing back on the road and enjoy it this riding season. I still have some things to buy and plenty of work to do. I'll take the motor back apart this fall and winter and see what is really going on in there.

 

[bobgroger]

Make sure you lube and free up the timing advance mechanism, they have been known to lock up solid....

 

[astroboiler]

Make sure you lube and free up the timing advance mechanism, they have been known to lock up solid....

Thanks Bob. I'll do that.