Front indicator question

[eddypeck]

If you've followed my posts elsewhere you'll see my 1980 GS1000G came like this....

But came with the spares to put it back to original. Headlight bowl, headlight, indicators and fixings.

Which is what I did...

But I found the front indicators didn't fit very well and looking around, and from my history of other bikes I've always found the front indicators are normally on longer stalks that the rears. It's been pretty hard finding a decent pic of the front of an original bike with the later style indicators but I found this:

And I've found plenty of examples of the earlier round chrome ones that show the fronts are indeed on longer stalks.

So I'm thinking what I probably have is a spare set of rears that I've fitted on the fronts. They were supplied with the bike so either that's the closest the previous owner could find or they weren't aware. I thought initially the parts were maybe stored from new with the bike, but have found since there were recent bills in the document folder so someone was planning to put it back to stock - or just wanted to be able to provide them to make the sale more attractive.

So, can anyone confirm what I suspect? that front and rear indicators are in fact different and that what I have is rears on the front.

I don't mind and I think they look tidy like this, so I don't think I'll change them but just wondering.

 

[tom203]

Very likely... front signals were on longer stalks to stick out more,usually to satisfy safety requirements.

PS. I usually poo poo fairings, but I liked how that one used to look on your bike.

 

[Nessism]

Front and rear signals use the same part number in the US.

 

[bwringer]

Bear in mind that what I'm posting seems to apply to US models, so it may be slightly different for the UK.

The 1980 turn signals were round and longer, and are the same part number.

What you have there appear to be 1981 signals. They are indeed the same length, but the part numbers are different. That's because the front signals for '81 have running lights (at least in the US; no idea about the UK).

If your bike was built in 1980, it may actually be an '81 model (GS1000GT is 1980; GS1000GX is 1981). It was very common for confusion to creep in at some point during the licensing/titling process before things were heavily computerized.

And then again, maybe it's a 1980 bike and someone accidentally damaged a signal and switched them out for the '81 versions at some point. Or maybe Suzuki's bin of 1980 signals ran out and they pulled them from the '81 bin -- I've seen lots of little factory inconsistencies like this on actual bikes.

It's actually kind of a nice reminder that there was a time before absolutely everything was bar-coded and laser tracked...

 

[eddypeck]

Build date from frame sticker says Feb 1980,
US bike imported into UK 1996.
But V5 says build Dec 1980 but DVLA often get stuff wrong.
It's on a 1979 reg plate so it couldn't be more mixed up.

Anyway, one day I guess I'll just remove them again and do some fettling to get them to fit better.

 

[2BRacing]

The length of the stalk should not affect how the indicator "fits". It will only stand out further away from the headlight ears if the stalk is longer, but the short stalk indicator will still "fit" securely (not sure what you mean with "....I found the front indicators didn't fit very well..."

I looked on my 1981 "X" model 850G (which is similar to the 1000G) and the stalks of front and rear indicators (square type) are the same length.

There should be a rubber grommet in the hole in the headlight ear through which the mounting part of the indicator fits. Then there is a large flat washer, the earth eyelet terminal, a split washer, and the nut in that order. If your indicators do not "fit" properly, maybe you have one or more of those components missing or in the incorrect order.

 

[2BRacing]

My 1981 "X" model 850G also has those short-stem square indicators front and rear.

 

[Gorminrider]

goto CMSNL link below and see. Looks like "round" is the answer and round ones did not come in two lengths. You can look around 82,83 models and see how Suzuki had the square ones as to lengths, but really suit yourself. Personally, I think long ones are better to keep them further from headlight to see
https://www.cmsnl.com/suzuki-gs1000_model13502/

 

[eddypeck]

well this is what I have and I'm sure they're marked as genuine Suzuki parts

 

[Gorminrider]

well there you go. You must have a 1000GX and not a GT. It's a useful site!