Funkster's 1981 GS850

[Funkster]

As a qualifier to my experience I have spent most of my life building Turbo LS cars, trucks, etc. I am comfortable with a wrench and am a metal fabricator by trade so luckily I have access to plenty of tools and other helpful equipment.

Today I took delivery of my first bike today. It is a 1981 GS850G with 32,4xx miles. The bike is pretty much all original. Previous owner had it for several years and put about 10,000 miles on it in that time. He was riding it and says it flooded out on him and he put it in the shed as he had another bike to ride. Three years later he decided to put it up for sale. The bike also came with some spares and a Clymer manual. I have also printed off the original service manual and spent quite a bit of time familiarizing myself with it.

My plans are mostly to clean it up with some new finishes, do a lot of refreshing and modernize some things. End goal is just a comfortable, reliable and stylish looking bike.

The first order of business is deciding how to handle this engine needing rebuilt. Hoping all new gaskets and a carb rebuild will bring life back to this engine. If I start to dig into it and it seems too damaged or parts start adding up I may look for another 850 engine or maybe even an 1100 engine.

For now, let's get some pics up.

 

[Big T]

Why do you think it needs to be rebuilt?

 

[cowboyup3371]

Agreed with Big T; maybe do a thorough carb cleaning by following the procedures written by Nessism and hosted at http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff and with orings bought from www.cycleorings.com. While the carbs are soaking do a valve adjustment and oil change and you should be good to go.

 

[Funkster]

Rebuilt is the wrong term, I mean to say refreshed. I plan to refresh the carbs and sync them up. Then see where that gets me.

However the engine does have a few leaks and as I’ll likely end up coating or refinishing most parts I assume it will come apart eventually. However my first order of business is carb work and then seeing if it will fire and do some testing from there.

 

[Grimly]

On the 850 there is only one common leak that necessitates a tear-down, and that's the base gasket leak from the left front.
Almost guaranteed the leak will start appearing at 30,000 miles and steadily get worse. If the factory had put a smear of Zuki bond around the area, it would never have happened.

The other, much less common leak, is an internal seal between the gearbox and the front bevel drive box - that's a leak you won't even know you've got until you check the front bevel oil level, and discover engine oil in there.
All other gaskets and seals are accessible without stripping major parts off, just keep fingers crossed the two crankcase halves aren't leaking from the joint between them, but it's almost unknown.

 

[Steve]

Nice to see another 850 getting rescued. :encouragement:

A couple of observations:
- the front wheel has been replaced with an '82/'83 wheel. It is wider than the '81 (2.15 vs. 1.85") and has a different spoke pattern.
-.mismatched tires front and rear. Can't tell what the rear is, but have to ask whether the front is Kenda or Shinko? If it's Kenda, don't even trust it to not slip while PUSHING the bike around in your shop. Please don't try to ride on it. The Shinko looks virtually identical, but is WORLDS better. In fact, the two leaders in economy tire selection here are the Shinko 712 (what yours looks like) and the Shinko 230 Tour Master.
- I don't know if Athena cables are any better than their gaskets, but let's just say that most of us won't even touch Athena gaskets, let alone install them in our bikes.
- the "Limited Edition" sticker on the tail cowl is not stock. An interesting touch, but not stock.
- bodywork appears to be in GREAT shape.

You say you are comfortable with a wrench? Be sure to follow the Carb Rebuild Guide to the letter. Any shortcuts taken are merely opportunities to do the job over, and do it right.

Feel free to take advantage of the offer in my signature to help with your valve adjustment. It's not a how-to guide, just an Excel spreadsheet that helps you calculate shim sizes needed, as well as a summary page that works well as a maintenance log.

.

 

[kerrfunk]

"Funkster" huh? I don't know... muscling in on my name here...

Where in Iowa? I attended Grinnell, and lived in Mason City for a bit.
Welcome!
I don't give motorcycle tips, I take them

 

[Funkster]

Nice to see another 850 getting rescued. :encouragement:

A couple of observations:
- the front wheel has been replaced with an '82/'83 wheel. It is wider than the '81 (2.15 vs. 1.85") and has a different spoke pattern.
Nice catch, news to me for sure.

-.mismatched tires front and rear. Can't tell what the rear is, but have to ask whether the front is Kenda or Shinko? If it's Kenda, don't even trust it to not slip while PUSHING the bike around in your shop. Please don't try to ride on it. The Shinko looks virtually identical, but is WORLDS better. In fact, the two leaders in economy tire selection here are the Shinko 712 (what yours looks like) and the Shinko 230 Tour Master.
Front is a Kenda Challenger
The rear is a Metzeler ME Z2

- I don't know if Athena cables are any better than their gaskets, but let's just say that most of us won't even touch Athena gaskets, let alone install them in our bikes.
I honestly didn't plan to use any of the spares as I am kinda leery of age, etc. Thank you for the advice on a brand to avoid.

- the "Limited Edition" sticker on the tail cowl is not stock. An interesting touch, but not stock.
Previous owner and I joked about it when he delivered it. Basically he stuck it on when he thought it was cool at a much younger age.

- bodywork appears to be in GREAT shape.
Not too bad at all. A couple dings, but nothing that can't be pulled out.

You say you are comfortable with a wrench? Be sure to follow the Carb Rebuild Guide to the letter. Any shortcuts taken are merely opportunities to do the job over, and do it right.

Feel free to take advantage of the offer in my signature to help with your valve adjustment. It's not a how-to guide, just an Excel spreadsheet that helps you calculate shim sizes needed, as well as a summary page that works well as a maintenance log.

.

Responses in red, thank you for the information and advice regarding safety!

 

[Funkster]

"Funkster" huh? I don't know... muscling in on my name here...

Where in Iowa? I attended Grinnell, and lived in Mason City for a bit.
Welcome!
I don't give motorcycle tips, I take them

If it helps I have been using it on Forums for about 15 years haha.

I grew up in Newton actually and moved to the Des Moines area in 2008. Currently live in Grimes. I have a few friends from Grinnell and I always used to go up there to watch the basketball games with some buddies.

 

[Funkster]

Began a little bit of disassembly last night. Found a few interesting things, had a few not surprising things happen as well.

First got the tank removed and set aside. The bottom of the tank looks good luckily.

Removed the air box and another surprise was that the air box hoses were in good shape and still flexible.

I also couldn't help but notice the GS1000G stamp in the bottom corner of the airbox.

I removed the carbs and one of the not surprising parts was that the carb holders were brittle and broke apart on removal.

Pretty much as expected carbs are a mess. Blades are stuck as are the slides. One of the return springs looks broken as well.

The case looks to be in good shape and up top is leak free.

Disassembled the box and found a filter that was breaking apart with a trashed seal. I also was bummed to see both end caps had damaged seals.

Everything cleaned up pretty well, but obviously there will be some parts to purchase. I was hoping to be able to just purchase new seals for the end caps, but I only seem to be able to find the complete assembly. I do see people using foam weather stripping with success so I will likely look into that. Later on this week I will probably break down the carbs into individual units and disassemble them with rebuilds on them individually just in case I need to reference things.

 

[Burque73]

Looks like you're off to a good start there.

What ignition coils are those? They're not stock for sure.

With the gajillion posts on electrical system failures, I'm sure you've read about the burned up stators and regulator/rectifier upgrades. Hopefully yours has already been gone over, or it's on your list.

So many fun things lie ahead of you with that project. Hope you have fun! :encouragement:

I've never worked on smaller GS's but apparently the 850 and larger are way easier to wok on, which I'm thankful for.

 

[Funkster]

Looks like you're off to a good start there.

What ignition coils are those? They're not stock for sure.

With the gajillion posts on electrical system failures, I'm sure you've read about the burned up stators and regulator/rectifier upgrades. Hopefully yours has already been gone over, or it's on your list.

So many fun things lie ahead of you with that project. Hope you have fun! :encouragement:

I've never worked on smaller GS's but apparently the 850 and larger are way easier to wok on, which I'm thankful for.

Coils look to be EMGO, which based on my research is less than ideal, haha. I have been keeping an eye out for stuff relating to charging system. Currently I have the ElectroSport combo bookmarked. I need to do some more research on preferred brands, etc. regarding that issue. Thanks for the kind words!

 

[kerrfunk]

I grew up in Newton actually and moved to the Des Moines area in 2008. Currently live in Grimes.

I lived in Iowa from 1990 to 1998, and I started motorcycling in 2008 in Pennsylvania, and have lived in West Virginia since 2013. When I think of Iowa, I think flat and straight, even though I did RAGBRAI and I know better. Where do you ride for fun?

 

[Funkster]

I lived in Iowa from 1990 to 1998, and I started motorcycling in 2008 in Pennsylvania, and have lived in West Virginia since 2013. When I think of Iowa, I think flat and straight, even though I did RAGBRAI and I know better. Where do you ride for fun?

This is my first motorcycle, so no where currently. Haha.

Before I have just putted around and used Groms, etc. while at the dragstrip for running around and grabbing stuff.

 

[Redman]

Welcome to TheGSR.

THose intake boots may have done you a favor by volunteering like that.
SOmetimes it is not so obvious that they need to be replaced, they often can be hard and have not so obvious cracks if you are not looking for cracks, and that intake leak causes running problems.
Good news is that replacements are available (although not cheap). Also dont forget the o-rings.

Oh, for those o-rings and for carb o-rings and for a bolt kit of the intake boots find Cycle O-Rings, a fine GSR member here doing us all a great service.

Bike looked fairly stock, except for that LE sticker, seat cover, the low-short bars, and the holes for fender mudflap.
Sometime you might evaluate if you like those low-short bars or not.

 

[Guest]

do a bit of research on the r/r, the e-sport is not the preferred solution anymore. Search for "series" or sh-775. I wish "they" would edit/update the stator papers, I have seen many, many folks put good money into an e-sport r/r based on that dated info....

 

[Funkster]

Welcome to TheGSR.

THose intake boots may have done you a favor by volunteering like that.
SOmetimes it is not so obvious that they need to be replaced, they often can be hard and have not so obvious cracks if you are not looking for cracks, and that intake leak causes running problems.
Good news is that replacements are available (although not cheap). Also dont forget the o-rings.

Oh, for those o-rings and for carb o-rings and for a bolt kit of the intake boots find Cycle O-Rings, a fine GSR member here doing us all a great service.

Bike looked fairly stock, except for that LE sticker, seat cover, the low-short bars, and the holes for fender mudflap.
Sometime you might evaluate if you like those low-short bars or not.

Had lots of recommendations for cycle O-Rings and they will be a first stop for me.

I am up in the air on the bars. They look good, but have a pretty aggressive position to them.

do a bit of research on the r/r, the e-sport is not the preferred solution anymore. Search for "series" or sh-775. I wish "they" would edit/update the stator papers, I have seen many, many folks put good money into an e-sport r/r based on that dated info....

Very good to know. I'll continue to research that part. Thank you.