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Greetings from AZ

jdub6092

jdub6092

Forum Mentor
Super Site Supporter
New forum lurker from suburban Phoenix AZ.

Tried to give my 1981 GS650E away back in July 2023, but no takers. It was sitting in my garage for nearly 28 years. So I decided to embark on a rebuild project with very little experience.
Started out by cleaning and rebuilding the carbs and have been obsessed ever since.
About 4 months later and lots of parts, cleaning and polishing, I'm taking regular spins around the neighborhood and it feels like 30 years ago. Now I've got the bug to start riding again.
Lots more work to do, so I found this forum and hope to gain the knowledge and help to bring this project home.
 
Well, welcome to the site and welcome back to riding after 28 yrs. Congrats on getting it woke back up, heck GS's never like to sleep that long.
 
Before I continue with new tires, sprocket/chain set, paint, etc., would like to make sure that the engine will run properly. It has about 40k, but compression was above 150 on 1 and 4, and around 125 on 2&3, so not too bad.
It does not start right up after a few hours sitting. The choke doesnt seem to do anything except make it stall faster. Need to hit the throttle to keep it going until it warms up and after a ride, the revs increase from about 1200 to 2000 and the throttle responds slowly when releasing. Plenty of power and Good response to throttle when taking for a spin. No hesitation.
Im guessing that its running a bit rich, but i backed the mixture screws out 2-1/8th, while they had been set to 1-1/8th.
Have not had carbs synced yet, nor had the valves serviced, but could this be the sole reason for these issues?
I promise not to be lazy, and know I will find the answers by searching this forum, just wondering if there is a catchall answer for this type of behavior.
 
Hope you replace all the rubber (tyres, brake lines, in particular) before you go further afield.
Here's a tip - when mine was off the road for a decade I spent the best part of a thousand quid getting it roadworthy again, and that was just on parts.
 
Thanks for the advice Grimly,
I have already spent over $1500 on parts and tools and have not yet replaced the tires or brake hoses or chain and sprockets or fork seals. If I am able to get it to run well, I plan on a full restore and won't be concerned with additional costs. Can anyone suggest a source for reasonably priced brake hoses? What I've seen so far for quality hoses is a bit alarming, but if it's the going price, then so be it.
 
Welcome to the Forum.

Some people make their own Stainless Steel Braided brake hoses from parts from Earl's Brake Lines and Hardware, available from various online sources. Others of us, who don't want to be bothered, buy then already made to length with the ends already fitted. I got mine from Venhill. Measured my line, ordered the size I needed, and swivel ends, and banjos all in the colors I wanted. Ordering was easy. Customer service was great. They called me the day after I ordered to say the hose color I wanted was discontinued so I picked another. Shipping was about week, IIRC. Was @ $50 for one line for my front brake complete w/ swivels, banjos, and copper washers. Line came with 2 or 3 rubber grommets already on it. This was pre-Covid so anything could have changed.

Be sure you know what size fittings and banjos you need. This era of GS used the 10MM x 1.0 pitch, not the more common 10MM x 1.25. - But make sure you know before you get anything, A previous owner could have changed MC and/or caliper.

Now, no more advice til we see pictures. ;)
 
Will now need to figure out how to reduce photo sizes on my android before uploading.
 
There is a better way to post pictures. Use a pic hosting site that allows you to copy the BBCode of the image. Then just paste that into your post. Specifics linked in my signature, see post # 6 of that thread.
 
Last edited:
I wired in the cheap Samdo instrument gage. For those who prefer original equipment, I made jumper plugs to the stock connectors that can be removed quickly. I did just recently purchase an original set of instruments so it will take about 5 minutes to go old school.
 
It would be nice to be able to paste links to pics on a Google Drive and have the pics show up here. But that doesn’t work here. Best you can do with that is paste a link that we have to click on to go to your google drive. Whatever you did in post # 10 worked well, if you only want to post one pic per post.
 
Thanks for the welcome Rob S.

I had read the top 10 newbie mistakes and realized that an intake air leak might be the problem.
I thought I did a fairly decent job putting the carbs back on with new boots and orings. I must say that geting the carbs and air box clamped on both sides was the most difficult tasks I've done on this project due to the lack of clearance to work with. The air cleaner manifold seemed like it might be a bit warped, but I eventually get the clamps on pretty solid and tight. At least I thought so.
 
20231114_161448A.jpg
Bought a battery that claimed to fit my bike. Nope, can't even put on the side cover.
Valve end caps missing. I have 3 NOS parts coming.
Both heat shields broke off long ago. I have one NOS one with mounting H/W on the way.
Fork paint on this side was spotty, so I began sanding it all off and will eventually get it painted.
Just got the seat cover installed after seat pan restore and foam cushion repair and insert replacements.
 
20231114_161505C.jpg
Funny thing is that the other side of the bike had a decent amount of surface rust, but this side didn't. I did live near the ocean in CA and wondering if when it was parked outside, the rusted side was receiving the moist ocean breeze directly. Don't have another explanation. It did not gain any rust while baking in my garage in AZ.
 

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Welcome, good luck and enjoy. Fellow site member Kiwi Canuk did a beautiful restoration on that same bike a few years ago.
 
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