Chopped up GS1000 - Attempting to resurrect it

[gs1000mechguy]

So to make a long story short, around 5-6 years ago I was young and reckless with money and I bought a chopped up and modded GS1000 with a rebuilt engine, fresh tires and a neat army style look. The previous owner used a Harley sportster tank and chopped the rear of the frame up.

In order to make it street legal I had to do a few modifications. First off it had no muffler, which would get me pulled over instantly. I got a quiet core cone exhaust from dime city cycles and slapped that on without knowing anything about carbs, so no I didn't reject or tune, I fiddled with the idle screw a bit and that's it. I also needed to add mirrors and turn signals, so I did it and got it all wired up properly, inspected, passed and good to go.

Here is what it looked like after I got it street legal:

I Didn't know anything about motorcycles back then and I rode it for a year or so until it just kind of died on me. Since then it's been sitting in my garage while I've gone and gotten myself a Bonneville for my daily rides (which I'm in love with), but seeing as I now have a lot more knowledge of motorcycles and general maintenance/tinkering skills (mechanical engineering degree helped, as well as modifying my Bonnie and doing all the maintenance on it) I want to try and bring this baby back from the dead. Problem is, now I realize after taking it all apart just how much the previous owner butchered this poor thing.

Like I said it died suddenly on me and I couldn't get it going no matter what I tried. I even brought it to a Suzuki dealer/garage and they said it wasn't worth it for them to try and fix it, but didn't give me any indication of what was wrong....

So here is the state of things currently:

• Wiring Harness: In shambles. Previous owner didn't even bother soldering new connections they made, simply just twisted wires together and used electrical tape to connect them which now makes me cringe. I tore the thing out (looks like a rats nest) and plan on partially or fully redoing her. I have good electrical skill and lots of wiring and equipment to do so, so this I am not worried about doing.
• Carbs: Being a 78' GS they're Mikuni VM carbs. I followed the VM carb rebuild guide floating around these forums and to my surprise saw that all the jets, needs, o-rings and such are new and not the originals, and the carbs themselves seem to be in pretty good condition, so my guess is they were rebuilt.
  
  
  
  
• Brakes: Took them apart. The front master cylinder is not OEM but rather some weird cheap Chinese off brand which I found after a quick search on ebay for like 30 bucks, so this is definitely going to get replaced. The calipers themselves are OEM as well as the cables (will probably replace as well). The calipers are both in good condition but the dust boots and rubbers need replacing so I figure I'll also give them a fresh coat of paint while I rebuild those.
• Front Forks: I have no clue what is going on here. They seem to be OEM with gators, but there's no connection points for a front fender... They're painted black but I can't seem to see anything indicating they were cut off (there's a few scratch marks on the paint but that's from me). They seem fine, however the bleed valve on the right fork is broken and the seals could be replaced.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  To be continued in next post

 

[gs1000mechguy]

Frame: So the frame was chopped at the back, which I'm okay with because I like the current look of it. However I just realized when looking at the bike today that the previous owner cut off the bolts that the OEM tank bungs slot into... this is pretty annoying because I've grown to not like the current tank, mainly because the previous owner welded in the fuel petcock, basically meaning if that goes, so does the bloody tank...

Also, to accommodate the bobber style seat a weird raiser was welded onto the frame

Besides this the rest of the frame is in really good condition. The paint job isn't the best but that's alright and I don't feel like I would need to redo it besides a few touch ups here and there.


Now here comes my big dilemma and where I would love to have a bit of community input, what should I continue doing with this thing?

The way I see it is this:

• I'm confident I can get the engine up and running with the carbs, stock airbox and the dime city cycle muffler I have. I would most likely rewrap the exhaust because it's torn, as well as paint the muffler black to match the pipes and look of the frame.
• I personally used to love the look of the bike, but now that I'm a bit older my tastes and style has changed. I'm not the biggest bobber fan and I can picture this bike looking good with the current fender (repainted), a bench seat (I would make my own. I have experience working with fiberglass & foam and a friend of mine does leatherwork as a hobby), and a tank that matches the frame lines more.
• I have no clue what to do about a front fender since I don't have any mounting holes. I would have to use some sort of clamp to hold it in place. I have a small fender I made out of fiberglass which I used just to get it to pass inspection but it's pretty poorly made.

I found a GS650E tank along with the petcock and fuel gauge wiring for 90$ on kijiji, unfortunately I don't think I can get it securely on my bike without the slots for the tank bungs.

For now I think I'm going to work on wiring and continue to refurb the brakes and hunt for a new master cylinder. Would love any and all feedback from the community!

 

[Nessism]

Did you ever adjust the valves and check the charging system? Failing to adjust the valves will eventually lead to engine damage so hope you kept up with that. And GS charging system problems are common and one of the first things that should be checked (right after the valves).

Good luck with your project.

 

[gs1000mechguy]

So the valves are next on my list, however I don't have the proper tools yet to adjust them, have to find some decent ones. In terms of charging issues do you mean the R&R issues?

 

[Steve]

To check the valves, you will need a 10mm wrench (combination and socket wrenches would be nice), a set of feeler gauges that go down to 0.03mm or 0.0015" and a long zip-tie. Nothing exotic, just basic tools. Probably the most complicated tool would be a set of calipers to measure the thickness of shims that you can not read, or the spreadsheet that is offered in my signature.

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