G
Guest
Guest
Heyo, I'm getting my A2 license soon and will be upgrading from a 50cc moped to an 86 GS450L. Would love to hear your thoughts on the bike! 
-
Required reading for all forum users!!!
Welcome!
Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.A note to new registrants...
All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.A Special Note about Email accounts!
DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.A note to old forum members...
I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.
Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...
-
Returning Visitors
If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.
If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.
Rijko
Forum Sage
Welcome.
And another welcome - to the world of classic bikes.
Unless you can find one that is very well maintained, which is very, very rare,
be prepared to spend extra on initial maintenance.
Things like front fork and brakes rebuild, oil change, tires, chain and sprockets, battery, petcock issues.
Valve adjustments, carbs cleaning, sorting out electrical issues.
And more. These bikes are old and often maintained poorly.
It would help to have a grease monkey friend because most motorcycle shops
won't touch the oldtimer with a 10 foot pole.
Or charge you an arm and a leg to do the work.
And even then they may not have the proper knowledge to work on these old bikes.
So be prepared to do a lot of technical work yourself.
So a BIG warning - the bike may look good and be cheap to buy, but could cost you
a lot to get it running properly. Also, some parts are hard to find and expensive to buy.
It may be cheaper to buy a bit more modern bike without issues.
That said, this forum is GREAT in helping you to get the bike running well.
And once the issues are sorted, these classic bikes are reliable and big fun.
So tell us a bit more, you already got the bike ?
Pictures are always appreciated here.
And another welcome - to the world of classic bikes.
Unless you can find one that is very well maintained, which is very, very rare,
be prepared to spend extra on initial maintenance.
Things like front fork and brakes rebuild, oil change, tires, chain and sprockets, battery, petcock issues.
Valve adjustments, carbs cleaning, sorting out electrical issues.
And more. These bikes are old and often maintained poorly.
It would help to have a grease monkey friend because most motorcycle shops
won't touch the oldtimer with a 10 foot pole.
Or charge you an arm and a leg to do the work.
And even then they may not have the proper knowledge to work on these old bikes.
So be prepared to do a lot of technical work yourself.
So a BIG warning - the bike may look good and be cheap to buy, but could cost you
a lot to get it running properly. Also, some parts are hard to find and expensive to buy.
It may be cheaper to buy a bit more modern bike without issues.
That said, this forum is GREAT in helping you to get the bike running well.
And once the issues are sorted, these classic bikes are reliable and big fun.
So tell us a bit more, you already got the bike ?
Pictures are always appreciated here.
Welcome to the site, Gusteko.
The L is sometimes good naturedly referred to as the red-headed stepchild of the GS family. No matter, make it yours and enjoy it.
The L is sometimes good naturedly referred to as the red-headed stepchild of the GS family. No matter, make it yours and enjoy it.
G
Guest
Guest
Congratulations and welcome to the Forum. You have come to the right place to get your bike up and running properly. I don't know much about the 450L as I have an 850L that I restored and that is what brought me to this forum. Be sure to check out Bikecliff's website for tutorials on everything to get your bike up and running. In your part of the world obtaining parts might be a bit of a problem but check out Z1 Enterprises as they sell parts for the Japanese four only. Good luck and enjoy the upgrade from the moped.
G
Guest
Guest
I don't have the bike yet, I'm planning to go and buy it in a couple weeks. I just turned 18 and will be getting a bike instead of a car. I got a moped 3 months ago to commute to work over the summer because my escooter broke down (I tried to give it more power 
). I thought it would be just that, a way to get to work, but it was much much more than that, I fell in love with riding and knew I wanted a classic chopper/cruiser after the first week, put over 5k km on my moped (which has a ts of 60kmh) in 3 months. I just love riding. And for the maintenance part, the one I'm planning to get seems to be in near perfect state, but if anything goes down I have a friend that is extremely knowledgeable about bikes, so fixing anything won't be a problem.
). I thought it would be just that, a way to get to work, but it was much much more than that, I fell in love with riding and knew I wanted a classic chopper/cruiser after the first week, put over 5k km on my moped (which has a ts of 60kmh) in 3 months. I just love riding. And for the maintenance part, the one I'm planning to get seems to be in near perfect state, but if anything goes down I have a friend that is extremely knowledgeable about bikes, so fixing anything won't be a problem.
G
Guest
Guest
i recently bought an 85 gs450l, and after dealing with PO (previous owner) issues, im quite happy with it. it needs prettying up, but i feel its a solid first motorcycle.
the only bad thing is decent parts for this thing are either hard to find, or ridiculously expensive. usually both
the only bad thing is decent parts for this thing are either hard to find, or ridiculously expensive. usually both
Certainly hope you're right.
Welcome to the site. And congratulations on stepping up to a real motorcycle. I was also 18 when I started riding. Take it slow at first, and get yourself a shop manual. An owner's manual is also nice to have.
Good luck, and welcome to the brotherhood.
Rijko
Forum Sage
I don't have the bike yet, I'm planning to go and buy it in a couple weeks. I just turned 18 and will be getting a bike instead of a car. I got a moped 3 months ago to commute to work over the summer because my escooter broke down (I tried to give it more power
I think that story will make most members here remember their first bike experience and smile.
Great that you have an experienced wrenching buddy, hopefully he will help with the purchase.
Myself i always want to take the bike out for a ride if possible and ask the seller not to start it before i get there.
Warm engine, usually i walk away.
And these old Suzuki's can have electrical issues : there is an ignitor or "CDI box" that can go bad and if so,
most of the time the regulator/rectifier unit is bad also.
And that ignitor box is very hard to find and quite expensive.
If you are interested, in my sig is a link to 'The Stator Papers' that describes lots of checks and makes for a good read.
Recommend to perform at least the 'Quick test'.
Electrical issues are for sure if you pop the RH side cover to get to the battery and
if you take a voltmeter and measure more than 15 volt with the engine revved to 5000 rpm things are going to get expensive.
Measure this after the test ride, revving to 5000 rpm on a cold engine is not good.
Totally. I made it clear to the seller of my 11EZ that the engine and exhaust must be cool to the touch. Then you can see how easily it starts, how nicely it idles and how well it pulls to redline.
Rijko, what has the ignitor to do with the charging system? I?m not sure I see the logic in your statement.
Maybe it a time thing. When your ignitor goes the stator is not far from going too. Or vice-versa.
However, I never had any problems with the stock Suzuki electronic ignition...
Last edited:
Could be, I just have not seen anyone make this correlation before. I’m willing to learn.
Rijko
Forum Sage
i could have phrased that clearer - a broken igniter will
not likely result in a broken R/R.
Maybe i should have put the correlation the other way around :
if the R/R fails, you usually get higher than 15 Volt on all components.
This will quickly take out the igniter.
So if you find high voltage on a bike with an igniter, you may very well
have the igniter on the way out even if it still seems to work ok.
And yes, maybe all was caused by a bad stator ..
Last edited:
Rijko
Forum Sage
Main thing i wanted to offer was the advice to measure voltage.
That's no guarantee for good stator, R/R or igniter - but high voltage
usually means a repair, sometimes expensive.
And when buying a bike, measuring 15+ Volt usually means i walk away.
Last edited:
Rijko, thanks for clarifying.
