• 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.

GS850 G forks on L (Maybe?)

  • Thread starter Thread starter koston286
  • Start date Start date
K

koston286

Guest
Hello All,

I'm having a dilemma with replacement forks on my 1979 GS850. I've always thought I had the L model. But I bought some new L forks the other day to replace the old ones, and they are definitely not what is currently on the bike. My first clue was the brake calipers don't fit -- mounting bracket bolt hole spacing is wrong.

I now know that I've in fact had G forks on the bike the whole time. And I also now know what the previous owner meant in saying that this bike, "rides like a G." :)

My dilemma now is, do I continue installing the new L forks, and find new calipers? Or stick with the G's? I'm concerned because I've read that you cannot simply swap G for L forks....So I'm thinking that I either have a G front end, and should stick with G forks, or it's all wrong and I need to switch to L right away. Not sure what to do here; any insight would be much appreciated!


IMG_0002.jpg


Thank you,
Karsten
 
Previous post shows the new L forks I want to use. Here is my current fork:

WP_20150809_09_20_09_Pro__highres.jpg
 
Suzuki didn't make an 850L model in 1979 (model year). How about a photo of your entire bike so we can see what you have?
 
Nessism said:
Suzuki didn't make an 850L model in 1979 (model year). How about a photo of your entire bike so we can see what you have?
Click to expand...

Agreed. Aside from the front end, the biggest visible difference between the 1979 and 1980 models is the carbs. 1979 models have VM carbs and 1980+ models have BS carbs -- these are CV carbs with large round tops.

The biggest visual difference between G and GL models (aside from the front end) is the seat and the rear fender. The GL seat has a much larger step in it and the rear fender is chromed steel, with a steel tail light unit mounted to it. On G models, the seat is flatter and the rear end has a plastic tail section containing the tail light and a black plastic rear inner fender.


In similar situations, we've found that people have a 1980 model that was built in late 1979, and at some point a lazy DMV worker just punched in the year of manufacture instead of the model year.
 
koston286 said:
Here it is. There are a few more in my profile.

View attachment 41438
Click to expand...

Looks like our posts crossed!

That's definitely a 1980 GS850GL. Perhaps an '81, but as I mentioned above it's not uncommon for an '80 to be mistakenly titled as a '79. That is a 1980+ G front end.



Now, for another twist: I'm fairly certain that's a 1979 brake caliper. Turn it over -- 1979 calipers have round brake pads with a screw in the middle. 1980+ calipers have rectangular brake pads. (The 1980+ calipers work better, so they're a worthwhile upgrade.)

In 1980+ models, the brake caliper itself is the same on G and GL models. The calipers bolt to a bracket that's different to suit the different position of the rotor. However, 1979 and 1980 G calipers have the same bolt spacing, so that might explain it, and 1980+ slotted rotors can be bolted on to 1979 front wheels.

You've got a real bitsa there...
 
Last edited:
Brendan W said:
Looks like an early L. See you can match a frame number with this http://www.suzukicycles.org/All-Suzuki/all_suzuki_models.html
Click to expand...

Wow, that is perfect, thanks! I checked it out, and my frame number suggests a model year 'N', which is the 1979 GS850G...???

OK, so I've got a 1979 G frame with a 1980+ GS850G front end. I think I have what I need now. I'll look for some G model forks and put these GL's up for sale!

bwringer, yep these are the 1979 calipers with round pads. I've been thinking about upgrading but I already bought fresh rubber seals and boots to rebuild. I'll have to think about this.


Thanks all for the help!
 
Last edited:
Yup, you got a 1980 model 850L. Looks like someone put forks from a '79 non-L model bike.

The later calipers are better as mentioned. You need new calipers with L model caliper hangers. Be careful of this point when purchasing. if you get regular G calipers the hangers will be wrong.
 
This gets weirder and weirder the more I look...

Look behind the seat at how the frame members are visible projecting way out past the seat, and the turn signals are even mounted on them. The fender is mounted with hardware store bolts. So I think it's definitely not a GL frame.

At a guess, it's possible you have a 1979 GS850G frame with a bunch of 1980+ GL parts added. Look how the seat, rear fender, sidecovers, and airbox are sort of ill-fitting. The tank seems to sit further back than normal, and the usual GL plastic covers on the frame neck are not there. The 6.5" chrome headlight appears to be a GL part, (the G models had a black plastic 7" headlight shell) but the forks are from a G (so the forks match the frame, anyway).

The engine, carbs, airbox, and wheels are 1980 or later -- note the CV carbs and the slotted rotors front and rear.

I'm still not sure about the brake calipers. Photos are too fuzzy.

Is the rear wheel 16" or 17"?

Do you have points or electronic ignition?



What's interesting is that even with all this mix-n-match stuff you can still end up with safe motorcycle that handles and works great. But you do have to keep close track of what's what.
 
Last edited:
bwringer said:
This gets weirder and weirder the more I look...

Look behind the seat at how the frame members are visible projecting way out past the seat, and the turn signals are even mounted on them. The fender is mounted with hardware store bolts. So I think it's definitely not a GL frame.

At a guess, it's possible you have a 1979 GS850G frame with a bunch of 1980+ GL parts added. Look how the seat, rear fender, sidecovers, and airbox are sort of ill-fitting. The tank seems to sit further back than normal, and the usual GL plastic covers on the frame neck are not there. The 6.5" chrome headlight appears to be a GL part, (the G models had a black plastic 7" headlight shell) but the forks are from a G (so the forks match the frame, anyway).

The engine, carbs, airbox, and wheels are 1980 or later -- note the CV carbs and the slotted rotors front and rear.

I'm still not sure about the brake calipers. Photos are too fuzzy.

Is the rear wheel 16" or 17"?

Do you have points or electronic ignition?



What's interesting is that even with all this mix-n-match stuff you can still end up with safe motorcycle that handles and works great. But you do have to keep close track of what's what.
Click to expand...


Here's a better photo of the caliper:
IMG_0001.jpg

Rear wheel is 17"

I honestly don't know about the ignition system.
 
Why do you want to change the forks?

The issue with the old calipers and new fork is the caliper hangers are wrong. You could possibly look for some caliper hangers off a 1000L, but not sure they would be a proper match either.
 
Yep, that's definitely a 1979 caliper. It's not going to work with those GL forks.

So a set of 1980+ calipers would be something of an upgrade, and you could get them with the correct brackets for the GL fork (or a G fork).

However, if that's a 1979 G frame, then all in all I'd stick with the G forks so the geometry is correct.

The 1979 G and the 1980 G and GL all had 17" rear wheels. The GL models switched to a 16" rear wheel in 1981. Since your bike has the 1980+ slotted rotor, I'm thinking that's the 1980 GL rear wheel.


Crikey, you're going to have to make a spreadsheet to keep track of all this...
 
Last edited:
Brendan W said:
Looks like a 79 master cylinder as well but no kick start ?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure we've established that the engine, airbox, sidecovers, seat, headlight, rotors, rear fender, tank, and carbs are 1980 GL. The frame, forks, calipers and MC are probably 1979 G. Wheels are probably 1980 GL, could be 79 G with 80 rotors.

Not sure about the instruments.
 
Last edited:
Nessism said:
Why do you want to change the forks?

The issue with the old calipers and new fork is the caliper hangers are wrong. You could possibly look for some caliper hangers off a 1000L, but not sure they would be a proper match either.
Click to expand...

The right fork seal leaks. The last time I changed it I noticed some kind of wear in the lower tube seal surface. It sounds to me though I shouldnt use these newer GL forks if I have a G frame.
 
It looks to me like a 1980 GS850GL with 1979 GS850G forks. If the PO swapped the forks but not the triple-tree, the handling will be weird.
 
eil said:
It looks to me like a 1980 GS850GL with 1979 GS850G forks. If the PO swapped the forks but not the triple-tree, the handling will be weird.
Click to expand...

Read through the other posts: that's not a GL frame.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top