Just bought an 1100E, Can you help with some simple setup questions?

[wirelessguy]

I'll keep this brief.

I purchased a 1982 GS1100E which was not used this season. After battery replacement she starts right up, however she cuts out when I remove choke and throttle her. Carbs need cleaning - I'm aware. I've read many threads here.

I'd like to get the bike running enough to hopefully get down to the nearby shop rather than trailer if possible - and let them do the carb cleaning.

My first questions are...
A.
I have no manual. Does this guy take regular or High test gas?

B.
Can I dump the existing gas and refill with adding some sort of fuel stabilizer (assuming any automotive version is good) and is there a carb cleaner that can go in the gas tank? I'll also happliy take brand suggestions for products that help gummed up situations like this.

I intend on also trying to replace the fuel filter (if it even has one now).

C.
I'd like to dump the oil while I'm at it.
What kind of oil does the bike take and how many quarts to fill her up?

I'll look around the web for oil filter info which I assume will be easy enough to find.


Secondary question....

The only other issue I see on the bike today is that the main headlight does not work. I'm unsure if the lamp is dead or if it's perhaps electrical in nature. All other lights on the bike seem to work.

Are there any easy tests I can do without dismantling everything?


Thanks for checking out my post.

- WG

 

[old_chopper]

You can try some "seafoam" in the gas to help the carbs, small chance it'll help. Sounds like the idle circuit is plugged. I'd recommend reading the carb rebuild info and doing it yourself. It sounds scarier than it really is, plus you'll know it was done correctly.
Good clean gas from the corner store is fine in these bikes. I do buy the 91 octane but I'm sure it doesn't require it. I suggest you do a search on the engine oil, PLENTY of discussion covering it.
Good luck and enjoy!

 

[chuckycheese]

Great bike

Great bike

A. Regular is just fine and specified; anything more expensive is a waste of money.
B. If you think the gas is old and stale, dump it and put in some new gas. I'd skip the stabilizer, for the time being.
C. If you did a search here on the forum, you could spend days reading all the recommendations. I use Rotella-T 15-40 and I know lots of the other guys do, as well. It's a heavy duty oil and it works great..(available at Wal-mart).

As "old chopper" suggests, you really should rebuild the carbs yourself. It's not a difficult job and you can get great help here on the forum. If you pay a shop to do it, they won't do nearly as good of a job as you will and you'll be shocked at the price.

Good luck and let us know how we can help!

 

[cowboyup3371]

+1 on doing the work yourself as it's not as hard as it sounds. Congratulations on getting the bike and welcome to the forum.

 

[wirelessguy]

C. If you did a search here on the forum, you could spend days reading all the recommendations. I use Rotella-T 15-40 and I know lots of the other guys do, as well. It's a heavy duty oil and it works great..(available at Wal-mart).

Yep, just did that and my head is still trying to take it all in. It seems this is a very 'heart-felt' subject to many but I wanted to ask an opinion.

I saw some posts that said using synthetics like M1 on occasion caused leaking through the seals. Has anyone experienced that? My guess is that those who use synthetics are more likely doing it for better/heat cooling in this situation than for lubrication itself.

Thanks.

Ps - I'm still not 100% on dismantling the carb myself (why ruin a perfectly good 'starting' bike, lol - but I'll give it a shot. Anyone careto pass me the suggested URL to get me going?

Thanks.

 

[cowboyup3371]

Basscliff will be along later for the official welcome but here's the link to his site where you'll find many days of blissful reading.

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

 

[chuckycheese]

I saw some posts that said using synthetics like M1 on occasion caused leaking through the seals. Has anyone experienced that? My guess is that those who use synthetics are more likely doing it for better/heat cooling in this situation than for lubrication itself.

Thanks.

Ps - I'm still not 100% on dismantling the carb myself (why ruin a perfectly good 'starting' bike, lol - but I'll give it a shot. Anyone careto pass me the suggested URL to get me going?

Thanks.

The main thing you want to avoid is the 'energy conservation' oils, which tend to be extra slippery and can cause your clutch to slip. I used to use good ol' Pennzoil 10-40 (which is fine) but both of my GS's shifted (I sold my 750) very noticeably better with the Rotella-T. It really is good stuff and it's not expensive.

You'll get lots of satisfaction out of rebuilding your own carbs and save a bundle of money in the process. You'll also be really pleased with how well it will run...even if you think it runs fairly good now.:-\\\

When Cliff comes along (and he most certainly will), he'll provide you with a hearty welcome along with some very good information that will help you use the website efficiently. The search feature works well because most questions have been asked and answered zillions of times but you'll find lots of help and advice if you need it.

Oh, and be sure to put the year and model of your bike on your signature line so people will know what you're riding (and working on).

 

[wirelessguy]

Chucky, thanks for the tips.

I've added in my model info to the sig as suggested.

The link cowboy provided was great - all the manuals I hadn't been able to locate on the web. There is a GS1100E owners manual floating around but pages weren't copied completely. This one was much better.

There were two carb rebuild guides on BikeCliff's site one said CV and other was VM. I'm not sure what the difference is or which unit I actually have. (I'm still not really familiar with all the engine parts so the VM guide by Paul Musser looks a bit more straight forward, step-by-step to me).

While the prior owner did say something about having modified the setup some I had not inquired if carbs or jets were replaced. My assumption is that it's the stock Mikuni's on there and not some sort of fancier mikuni set. The only noticable component to my untrained eye is the 4-1 V&H pipe.

Overthe next few days perhaps I'll start a thread somewhere on my bike with some images. At present it was completely spray painted something of a dull black (which I'm not highly fond of). I did see a photo online of a very nice looking gloss black1100E and should it not be cost prohibitive I may end up trying to copy that.

 

[chuckycheese]

You bet!

You bet!

You're very welcome! Your carbs are the CV type (constant velocity) and they're easy as pie to rebuild/clean, as needed. I think most all of us have at least one of the shop manuals. I use both the official Suzuki shop manual and also the Clymer's manual. You can do quite well with the information you can garner on the web but having a copy in front of you is helpful...at least for me.

Do a thorough job cleaning your carbs and you'll get very satisfying results. Oh, and make sure your air filter is nice and clean....that's important!! I'd suggest you buy a set of Robert Barr's "O" rings for your carb job; they're inexpensive and worth every penny. Do a search and you'll find the particulars. Since you're running aftermarket pipes, you'll have to find the right jet sizes without regard to the stock sizes. Hopefully, that won't be too tough but a bunch of the guys have similar set-ups and will give you lots of help. Maybe the ones you're running now are just right; who knows?

Have fun and ride safe!

 

[madjack57754]

As far as oil filters, I use wix. The local pronto auto parts gets them for me, and has even started stocking them for me, because I buy about 6 every year.

 

[crag antler]

Welcome and what is your location??
If you are in an area populated by fellow GSers, and most are, you may be in luck.
If you are on ebay, there are manuals all the time coming across or see if there is a source on-line for basic areas you are looking for.

 

[wirelessguy]

Crag,

Keep making the requests and I'll keep adding the data to my signature.

Being that I live just north west if NYC I assume there likely are GSers in my neck of the woods.

Interesting story -
I called many auto shops and even bike dealers looking for a battery for the GS1100E. I kept inquiring about the sensor and people seemed to think I was mad.

Them happened to come across a local mechanic here in Spring Valley NY who knew a lot about my bike. (even had the battery on hand and filled/charged for me).
Turns out that he tells me he harvested hundreds of engines from 1100E's back in the mid 90s for drag bikes. Hanging from his rafters (minus the engine) was his own drag bike which placed 3rd at the AMA races back in the day (hired a pro rider - 200+ in 6 sec I believe).

While I assume he's an expert on the engine I don't know what he knew about the other components other than what he could get rid of them for. All in all, I'm happy to make use of his services when required but since I'm a hands on guy when it comes to technology I wouldn't mind learning as much as I can.

 

[Nessism]

Don't forget to adjust the valves and properly service the brake system before you try to put that 28 year old motorcycle on the road. Paying a mechanic to perform basic maintenance like this will cost a LOT of money so doing your own wrenching is highly recommended.

 

[wirelessguy]

My air filter - you think I should replace it???

My air filter - you think I should replace it???

I finally got around to taking some photos of my bike. I'll start off with the air filter this guy had in there.

I'm guessing someone will suggest I replace it.

Two questions -

If he had the jets changed when he had the last rebuild (5K miles ago - unsure if it was just carbs or full engine rebuild) would there be a poss he needed more air flow than a standard air filter?

If I replace the air filter are there differences between brands or just get anything that fits?

I'll also note that I've electrical taped over the battery terminals b/c I don't like having this metal air filter directly over the battery terminals even if the rubber gasket on the filter keeps it snug and away.

As far as the last post here... The bike has not really sat much. It was used actively until the last owners health deteriorated.

Bike seems to be idling fine right now but I need to run out for a replacement headlamp bulb (power to the socket looks fine).

** Just aded in a new thread I started with lots of photos of the bike in it's current state. Feel free to have a look: http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?p=1295889#post1295889

 

[Turtleface]

Lets see if I can get a quick list off the top of my head, things that outta be done to your motorscooter:

Replace oil
Replace oil filter
Clean and inspect brake system hard components (calipers, levers, etc)
Flush brake fluid
Replace brake lines (OEM rubbers need to be replace every 2 years!)
Inspect and clean chain/sprockets, replace if needed (530 conversion is easy and cheaper, and chains and sprockets will be easier to source)
Tires, don't go by tread left, or "looks", run those date codes! Look at all the mods in my sig, the most effective one so far has been the tires!
Clean and lube cables.
Adjust valves
Rebuild carbs
Test/replace battery
Go through The Stator Papers, cleaning, testing, and replacing as per the outlined procedures.

That should get you to a pretty good baseline. None of those things are terribly difficult, but they are very important. I replaced EVERY rubber piece (short of internal engine pieces) on my 82 as well, but that's mostly because I live in the middle of a desert, and rubber gets beat on real bad out here in the summer.

 

[wirelessguy]

I'll have a look at the tires and see what the date codes are like. All in all, I do think that the bike was serviced fairly recently.

It has taken me some getting used to but I think that other than the dead battery everything does seem to be in order. The air filter was likely just missing the outer insert, I've ordered a new one which should be in next week. I've ordered some Oil filters as well but I'm willing to bet that once I drain the old oil I find out that the bike hadn't really been ridden much since it's last servicing (just a hunch).

I do have a laundry list of modifications I'd like to make but I'm thinking that most will take place over the winter months in preparation for some fun next year. All in all, I'm attempting NOT to dump hundreds of dollars into this bike, so I don't feel like I should have just bought something better/newer which wouldn't have needed all the upgrades. I'm OK with safety mods but I don't need this bike to be a top performer at a drag strip (now I'll wait for someone here to tell the the dyna mod is a MUST, lol.).

If it needs tires I'll replace them for this coming season. I'm also looking into the stainless braid brake cables but if I start with modifications like that and the Dyna stuff it's going to start setting me back a ways.

I also don't know how I could tell what sprockets I currently have on. The 530 conversion sounds like it makes sense but I don't know if that entails removing the rear whell and main sprocket of taking apart half of the engine to get to the front sprocket (or both). Any more details there for me ???

Thanks.

 

[gearhead13]

It looks like you are missing the rear half of your airfilter box.

 

[blowerbike]

Crag,

Keep making the requests and I'll keep adding the data to my signature.

Being that I live just north west if NYC I assume there likely are GSers in my neck of the woods.

Interesting story -
I called many auto shops and even bike dealers looking for a battery for the GS1100E. I kept inquiring about the sensor and people seemed to think I was mad.

Them happened to come across a local mechanic here in Spring Valley NY who knew a lot about my bike. (even had the battery on hand and filled/charged for me).
Turns out that he tells me he harvested hundreds of engines from 1100E's back in the mid 90s for drag bikes. Hanging from his rafters (minus the engine) was his own drag bike which placed 3rd at the AMA races back in the day (hired a pro rider - 200+ in 6 sec I believe).

While I assume he's an expert on the engine I don't know what he knew about the other components other than what he could get rid of them for. All in all, I'm happy to make use of his services when required but since I'm a hands on guy when it comes to technology I wouldn't mind learning as much as I can.

could we get a name of the guy and or his shop.
just wondering .... its always nice to hear about people that raced back in the day or at least back when i was doing the prostar thing.