Hi Guys and Gals,
I'm Grant from Sydney and somehow at 44 years of age i have the GS bug?? I've been lurking around here since may 2017 with the odd post. Joined up to the site when my girl friends 16.5 year old son Daniel bought his first bike; a 1980 GSX 240ET, (not running for reasons unknown, and we are both new to bikes). So when looking around the net for info and help i found this place and it has been a savior, it truly has - so first up thanks to those that answered my posts and thanks to those who have shared their knowledge on the forums for all to see and use...and a big thanks to "Bass Cliff" for filing all the info on that great webpage of his!.... and thanks to the "advanced search" feature so i didn't have to clog the forums with newbie questions
With help from site members and reading the vast amounts of info here we had the bike running in two weeks. We have been working through the known issues list and the 15 tips for GS happiness whilst avoiding the top newbie mistakes (well, some of them anyway
). With the bike now running and stopping well it is almost ready for registration. So far we have reconditioned the starter, installed a new starter relay, performed the stator/charging check and sorted out some wiring, serviced the petcock, completed an oil and filter change, reset the cam chain tensioner, serviced the front shock, new oil and seals, installed new rear shocks, reconditioned the front brake master and caliper, we are just about to sort out a "blinker stays on when the brake is applied wiring bug" and do the valve clearances (yep i now know we should have done this first), then it's off to the mechanic to get the Blue slip/road worthy certificate required for registration . I'm really amazed, all these jobs done and pretty much without incident or drama, all from info gained from this website, we must have saved a bucked of cash in labour - my only prior mechanical experience was about 25 years ago trying to keen a Mazda rotary on the road for a couple of years.
Anyway so with the 250 near done i thought i should get myself a couple of bikes, a big one for later that i can restore and smaller one that i can (restore quickly) and legally ride on my learners licence :tickled_pink:.
some pics below -
OK that's about it -- i'm sorry this post has ended up a rather long winded, so thank you for your indulgence
Grant
PS I'm open to all and any advice you guys have on all things bikes
Daniel's 1980 GSX250ET as it was when purchased (or a photo of an identicle one ??) , who would have known so many hours of fun/work were hiding there
. He wants to cafe racer mod it over the next year or so.
this is my GS400C (1978 i think; judging by the spokes and single front disc?? -- any thoughts?
it is an ex Australian military police bike, has only only 14000km on it and never registered according to the Govt records, interestingly its' Australian compliance plate is Sept 1980 - it recently came out of barn in the outback of South Australia, you can see the red dust all over it in the photo before it got hosed down. i have just started to work on it, I'm told it went in the barn running perfectly albeit a long time ago, so i'll follow the procedures outlined here and hopefully be on the road by Christmas. This is of course staying original, well as original as it was when delivered to the Army. Q: Do i keep the exiting points or go electronic ignition??
a period photo from the seller it was his late fathers bike ( my guess is early '80s judging by the cars in the background)- here it has lights, and a siren or mega phone at the front right? the wires are still there but no hardware :-( still has what i think is a siren at the RHS rear will find out when my new battery arrives this week
after a wash, seat is near perfect and the saddlebags are just a little dry, i have a farrier mate who is getting me some saddle conditioner / saddle soap or something he says will bring the leather back to like new
on the way home is my 1978 GS1000EC 56000km ( has a sticker on the bars calling it the "Eliminator" !?!). It starts, but runs a little rough with 4 year old petrol, it needs the front fork seals done and the front brakes rebuilt ASAP ... and the seat frame has rusted at the front, but it will get the full treatment over the next year or so and hopefully end up a clean 'close to stock' bike when I'm done (it already has Dyna elec ignition and a 4-1 pipe which i think i will leave as is).
home (home is the garage at my girlfriends place 
... my boat had to go out on the street to accommodate it though)
I'm Grant from Sydney and somehow at 44 years of age i have the GS bug?? I've been lurking around here since may 2017 with the odd post. Joined up to the site when my girl friends 16.5 year old son Daniel bought his first bike; a 1980 GSX 240ET, (not running for reasons unknown, and we are both new to bikes). So when looking around the net for info and help i found this place and it has been a savior, it truly has - so first up thanks to those that answered my posts and thanks to those who have shared their knowledge on the forums for all to see and use...and a big thanks to "Bass Cliff" for filing all the info on that great webpage of his!.... and thanks to the "advanced search" feature so i didn't have to clog the forums with newbie questions
With help from site members and reading the vast amounts of info here we had the bike running in two weeks. We have been working through the known issues list and the 15 tips for GS happiness whilst avoiding the top newbie mistakes (well, some of them anyway
). With the bike now running and stopping well it is almost ready for registration. So far we have reconditioned the starter, installed a new starter relay, performed the stator/charging check and sorted out some wiring, serviced the petcock, completed an oil and filter change, reset the cam chain tensioner, serviced the front shock, new oil and seals, installed new rear shocks, reconditioned the front brake master and caliper, we are just about to sort out a "blinker stays on when the brake is applied wiring bug" and do the valve clearances (yep i now know we should have done this first), then it's off to the mechanic to get the Blue slip/road worthy certificate required for registration . I'm really amazed, all these jobs done and pretty much without incident or drama, all from info gained from this website, we must have saved a bucked of cash in labour - my only prior mechanical experience was about 25 years ago trying to keen a Mazda rotary on the road for a couple of years.Anyway so with the 250 near done i thought i should get myself a couple of bikes, a big one for later that i can restore and smaller one that i can (restore quickly) and legally ride on my learners licence :tickled_pink:.
some pics below -
OK that's about it -- i'm sorry this post has ended up a rather long winded, so thank you for your indulgence
Grant
PS I'm open to all and any advice you guys have on all things bikes
Daniel's 1980 GSX250ET as it was when purchased (or a photo of an identicle one ??) , who would have known so many hours of fun/work were hiding there
. He wants to cafe racer mod it over the next year or so.
this is my GS400C (1978 i think; judging by the spokes and single front disc?? -- any thoughts?
it is an ex Australian military police bike, has only only 14000km on it and never registered according to the Govt records, interestingly its' Australian compliance plate is Sept 1980 - it recently came out of barn in the outback of South Australia, you can see the red dust all over it in the photo before it got hosed down. i have just started to work on it, I'm told it went in the barn running perfectly albeit a long time ago, so i'll follow the procedures outlined here and hopefully be on the road by Christmas. This is of course staying original, well as original as it was when delivered to the Army. Q: Do i keep the exiting points or go electronic ignition??
a period photo from the seller it was his late fathers bike ( my guess is early '80s judging by the cars in the background)- here it has lights, and a siren or mega phone at the front right? the wires are still there but no hardware :-( still has what i think is a siren at the RHS rear will find out when my new battery arrives this week
after a wash, seat is near perfect and the saddlebags are just a little dry, i have a farrier mate who is getting me some saddle conditioner / saddle soap or something he says will bring the leather back to like new
on the way home is my 1978 GS1000EC 56000km ( has a sticker on the bars calling it the "Eliminator" !?!). It starts, but runs a little rough with 4 year old petrol, it needs the front fork seals done and the front brakes rebuilt ASAP ... and the seat frame has rusted at the front, but it will get the full treatment over the next year or so and hopefully end up a clean 'close to stock' bike when I'm done (it already has Dyna elec ignition and a 4-1 pipe which i think i will leave as is).
home (home is the garage at my girlfriends place ... my boat had to go out on the street to accommodate it though)
Last edited:
