New 1978 GS1000 owner and new to the forum

[Gordon B]

Proud owner of a 1978 GS1000 (52,000 km). Just wanted to thank the forum members for this great resource as it helped me make a few decisions prior to buying. This is a project bike for me and the extensive information avail here convinced me to find one and get started. I have been a rider all my life but not a gear head. Smart guy, good with tools and mechanically competent. Seeing the support available here I decided to seek out a GS1000 and tear it apart as a cafe project. It was important for me to keep the majority of the stock lines of the bike with the exception of low bars, some instrumentation shifts and a modified seat. I guess I am looking for that home garage cafe feel as opposed to custom or professional shop build. It will be as nice as time, money and reasonable resources can make it. Most importantly I wanted to do it all myself. I have owned many bikes over the years and I currently have a 1986 GSX-R 1100 (99% stock with 27k original KM).
Happy to post my progress, guaranteed to require options, opinions and outright help.

Gordon

 

[steve murdoch]

Welcome to the site, Gordon.
Just curious, did you get this bike at the vintage swap meet in Paris last week?
Feel free to post some pics of the Gixxer. We like all cool bikes.

 

[chuck hahn]

Looks like 79 body work to me.

 

[Guest]

Welcome to the site, nice looking platform for a build. I sure hope you offer up any parts to the site before you start hacking and bashing though. That looks to be a Bassini exhaust, what does the label at the back say? and I'm not sure if you bike is a 78' or a 79', body work indicates 79

 

[ddaniels]

Welcome to the madness!

 

[Gordon B]

Steve, nope not in Paris. Picked it up in a private sale from a guy North of Belleville. $1800. Runs but requires a crack of choke or it stalls. GSX-R photo as requested.

G

 

[Gordon B]

azr, no hacking..some bashing. Believe it or not the exhaust is a custom piece of junk the guy built himself. Story goes that he worked at Bombardier (thus the Bombardier serial plate attached). He cut the frame to make it fit and hacked the front mounts. Thankfully I was able to remove it all without any apparent damage. I have been taking pictures and tagging everything as I pull it apart. **seems my photos are too big. I had some better views of the frankenstein job this guy put together.

 

[Big T]

Gordon,

No, your pictures are too small. Go to the basscliff site and learn how to post big pictures

The 78/79/80 1000's are 99% interchangable for parts, so it's a great platform for a personalized bike

Start a thread in Projects and let's see what you do

 

[Gordon B]

Big T, I assumed it was that fact that the picture was over 3mb and it would not let me upload. I will check out the basscliff site. I will start a thread in projects. I have a ton of questions for people and I am in need of some advice. Not sure why the bodywork looks 79 but I have no doubt someone will enlighten me. Thanks

 

[chuck hahn]

Your body work doesnt have the signature indentation on the tank and tail cowl that is unique to the 78 year only. This is why we say its 79 body work. Here are pics of my bodywork that our member Nvr2old painted for me some 5 or 6 years ago.

Black and white ( SKUNK) is the 78 E model and the Maroon is the 78 C model.

http://meticulousmotorcyclepainting.com/full_gallery.php?gallery=18&count=15

http://meticulousmotorcyclepainting.com/full_gallery.php?gallery=19&count=5

 

[Gordon B]

chuck, I was curious as to why there were early tank differences. The ownership indicates 78 and I suppose I made an assumption that the spoke rims were original to the bike. I did read a fair amount on the GS1000 model years (not on this site) and it seems there are variations it what was sent to different countries. I imagine I can validate the VIN/serial numbers (I know there is a reference list out there) to settle it. I will pull the bike owner history (easy enough to get in Canada) and see if that sheds any light on the subject. Appreciate the info.

 

[chuck hahn]

78 E has mag rims and the C has spokes. Read the date of manufacture on the VIN tag if its still there. Tell us what month and year it says...thats whats gonna tell the truth.

 

[Big T]

Big T, I assumed it was that fact that the picture was over 3mb and it would not let me upload. I will check out the basscliff site. I will start a thread in projects. I have a ton of questions for people and I am in need of some advice. Not sure why the bodywork looks 79 but I have no doubt someone will enlighten me. Thanks

Beyond the body work, the square passenger pegs and, I assume, the choke up on the triple clamp are 79 rather than 78. No worries, your paperwork may just be typoed. None of the minor differences between the 2 years are anything to worry about

The spoke rim model is what I bought new (Chuck incorrectly refers to that as a C, C is the year designation for all 78 Suzuki bikes, not a model) and was only made in 78 and 79. The cast wheel E version was made in 78,79 and 80.

Carry on

 

[chuck hahn]

T..then why do I have an E model and a C model??? The C designations (models ) have spokes. And there are 2 E desigantions as well ....EC and EN. So no I am not wrong. The E and C are submodel designations of the 1000cc bikes.

 

[dantodd]

T..then why do I have an E model and a C model??? The C designations (models ) have spokes. And there are 2 E desigantions as well ....EC and EN. So no I am not wrong. The E and C are submodel designations of the 1000cc bikes.

GS1000 is the model.
N,C,X etc. Are year designations
E , G, GL, etcs aee Sub-model designations

 

[Big T]

T..then why do I have an E model and a C model??? The C designations (models ) have spokes. And there are 2 E desigantions as well ....EC and EN. So no I am not wrong. The E and C are submodel designations of the 1000cc bikes.

Chuck

C = 78 model year
N= 79 model year

A 79 spoke wheel 1000 is not a C model, it's not a N model, It's a N year 1000

Plus , there are 3 E model years with the 1980

Look in any 1979 parts fiche and show me a C model

I have brought this up a number of times before, but gave up, because the misinformation is strong here. I believe I have a bit of knowledge here, having bought a 78 spoke wheel brand new

The same thing applies to 750s and 550s

 

[Gordon B]

T, engine reads GS1000-102186, frame reads GS1000 102192 same as paperwork. MFD IN 1/78 (right off the frame). Yes square rear pegs, choke is directly on the carbs left side.

 

[SVSooke]

Well that would make it a mid run 78 Gordon,just one that though time has gotten a 79 tank and tail.It's sort of like my 78 1000"C" coming with the star alloy wheels,you wonder why some PO did it then carry on.I'll give my take on the E and C designation,While BigT and dantod are right the spoke wheel single disc are just GS1000 I think using the C or N model year as sort of a shorthand to say which year it is.So did the factory so in that sense Chuck to is correct.

 

[Gordon B]

Well that would make it a mid run 78 Gordon,just one that though time has gotten a 79 tank and tail.It's sort of like my 78 1000"C" coming with the star alloy wheels,you wonder why some PO did it then carry on.I'll give my take on the E and C designation,While BigT and dantod are right the spoke wheel single disc are just GS1000 I think using the C or N model year as sort of a shorthand to say which year it is.So did the factory so in that sense Chuck to is correct.

SV, thank you. Well this gives me more to consider as I am now concerned why a new tank and tail were required (accident). If nothing else it has made it more interesting. I will start a thread in projects with all the photos and breakdown thus far. The bike is now 50% stripped and the engine is out. The frame is cosmetically beat up but now I will take a serious look at the welds and the alignment. Thanks to all for the input.

G

 

[chuck hahn]

I dont have a tail cowl but I do have a 78 indented tank I would trade even up for your 79 tank if thats a direction you wish to go. I would like to get the 79 tank and do a set of red Cooley parts at some point. Get tired of my blue set and swap them out and ride red for a while. My tank is gonna need repainted though.