New GS1100 G Restoration Project. Rebuilding my Dad's bike

[londonboards]

Day 22 (Restoration started in 18th August, 2012)

I am a newbie restorer and have just started my rebuild. Really enjoying it so far. But I bet they all say that eh? What's the odds on a completion? How many start and never finish? Hope I am not one of them!

(Added: December 2012): I am doing an original rebuild with some upgrades (brake lines, electrics). I am not a welder, fabricator or painter and I will not be building zinc plating tanks and soda blasting cabinets. I will stick with my skills in mechanics. I will be using the services of people to do the painting, blasting and chroming for me (I am in the UK). I will be sticking pretty much to the original factory design of the bike but I might play a little with colour. I am rebuilding this bike with an accent on doing it to a high standard (rechroming the forks for instance) which will probably mean breaking open the crankcases just so I can get them blasted, polished and possibly painted, nicely. I want the finished product to be good for another 30 years. I am not going for 100% original concours. I have to spread the cost of this out so I am planning for this to take 24 months. I am looking to ride out in the summer of 2014. God willing.

I have set up a blog to capture a photo of every part I remove/replace. This will be my reference for the rebuild. It contains 100s of high resolution pictures and descriptions of procedures I have performed and problems I have had.

Here is my blog: http://suzukigs1100.blogspot.co.uk/

I am posting on the GS Resources Forum here, extracts from the blog to show the progress of the rebuild. There will be enough information on this forum that you will not need to visit the blog unless you really want to delve deep or you are a complete geek like me!

Not sure how best to put pics up here like this:

It's a real drag having to put them up to Photobucket every time I update this site. It there any way of linking my blog? Does anyone know?

 

[Good Times]

Looks like you've got you're work cut out for you, but go for it!

Do you have all of the parts/pieces? Battery box, electronics panel, tank, frame covers, seat, coil, etc?

Can't wait to see it finished!

 

[londonboards]

I sure do. Some items (like the seat pan) are in a poor state but I don't think anything is totall unrecoverable except perhaps the brake cylinders and maybe there is too much rust pitting on the the forks for them to be serviceable.

Here is the first shot of the bike before breakdown started:

The bike was originally brown (see side panels and rear fairing) but at some stage the brown tank rusted out and I got a spare which just happened to be blue. I think I will respray the whole bike blue now although not it's original colour, I much prefer it.

 

[john82q]

linking

linking

londonboards,

Good luck with your project, youve lots of work to do, if you want some inspiration, there are plenty of examples on this forum that started out equally shabby or worse...

About Pics;
since it probably easier to to upload your pics to your blog, and your blog is publicly accessable, just copy the location from there.

thus
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pPoyH0nZXGU/UEn-liZfBBI/AAAAAAAAA1w/GXVptgMKmOE/s320/P1040271.JPG

if you wrap that in picture tags

[IMG][URL]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pPoyH0nZXGU/UEn-liZfBBI/AAAAAAAAA1w/GXVptgMKmOE/s320/P1040271.JPG[/URL][/IMG]

picture will appear here; I find it easier to write elsewhere like in notepad and cut n paste when posting

thus

Do show us your build, the gs1100g is a personal fabvourite, and a really good bike, please get it going and run it some before any thoughts of mods. (I'm betting you will love it stock and soon forget about those mods)


Cheers John

 

[londonboards]

John - that was really helpful. Thank you. I didn't realise I could post pictures like that. So I am doing 100s of photos as a memo of where everything goes which will go on the blog (http://suzukigs1100.blogspot.co.uk/) then I can just choose some iteresting ones for this forum.

One other thing you may be able to ask. Is it better to do a new posting each time or do a reply or a quick reply? Many of the threads on here seem quite disjointed. There are many parts to them which makes it really difficult to read in one go. If you see what I mean! And what is the convention about quoting the message in the reply? Some people seem to do it and others don't. Greeting. Richard

 

[john82q]

post replys it creates a thread

post replys it creates a thread

post replys it creates a consecutive thread, and keeps things in order.
use a descriptive or imagitaive title to identify each post.

quoting the message

Avoid quoting unless it makes a pertinent point, good idea is just to cut the most important point, like I did above... what gets on my goat is people the quote the entire previous post pictures and all

Cheers John

 

[londonboards]

I scanned the front page of the Clymer Service/Repair/Maintenance manual today (not done any work on the bike today!) to keep the blog fresh.

And the note my mother wrote on the inside cover:

 

[londonboards]

Day 25

OK I am cracking on now. Got the airbox and carbs off today and I am pleasantly suprised that they are salvagable. The are not pretty to look at but I believe we can sort that out with some ultra sonic cleaning. Here we go:

Don't know if these pictures are too big but I am putting them up on my blog (http://suzukigs1100.blogspot.co.uk/) and then copying the links here. I have literally 100s of photos on the blog as I am using it as my cataloging device.

Wow these photos are big!

 

[Tim Tom]

Wow this is a cool rebuild. You certainly have your work cut out for you, but this bike deserves it. I can tell by your mum's note how much joy this GS has brought your family, and it will again. Good on ya for giving the old gal some love and fixing her up nice.

I checked out your blog too. Some notes on your progress...
Those carbs will be good as new with a good solid cleaning and new rubber O-Rings. You'll probably need new intake manifolds too, as the rubber gets hard and cracks the bike runs poorly. Also there is an o-ring between the manifolds and the heads that must be replaced. Any air leaks between the carbs and head will negatively affect engine running.

You should look into basscliffs megawelcome and see what vendors stock the needed parts. Robert Barr's Cycle O-rings can supply you with new carb O-rings. Also you could try posting up here in the Parts wanted section. I'm sure someone has a box with those idle speed adjustors and drain plugs in them .

That bike will be running again soon. Cant wait to see how this turns out. Cheers mate.


PS those pictures are a big big compared to the norm here, but that is okay with me. They really show the details and grimy cobwebs your wading through!

 

[londonboards]

Hey cheers for that Tim Tom. Guitarist per chance? I'm the drummer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3BMrbxUnlk

Yes I thought they were a bit too too big but they sure show the detail! It would be a pain if I had to resize them everytime I posted.

Yes indeed I will need lots of new parts but nothing big I hope.

Thanks for your encouragement. Really appreciated.

 

[Tim Tom]

No complaints on pic size from me. If they are truly too big for someone they can always just zoom out on the browser .

I'm a guitarist yes, amateur at best, but I do enjoy making noise. Nice sounding band you've got! Liked the cover of 'Valerie' on youtube. Dug the funky guitar riffs. There are plenty of musicians here on GSR, interesting to see the cross over in hobbies.

Keep going on this build, GSes are built to run, and yours is far from gone yet!

 

[londonboards]

Day 26

Here's todays blog post. I have taken a few pics of the airbox and she looks in pretty good condition.

See the rest of the airbox pictures here:

http://suzukigs1100.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/airbox-examination.html

https://plus.google.com/photos/1086...ms/5778009062142666833?authkey=CPe7gdXTzOHPMQ

 

[londonboards]

Day 27

Speedometer lens.

Still testing the photos. I will get it right soon.

The speedo has it's own issues. Can the lens be replaced on its own:

Blog view: http://suzukigs1100.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/speedometer.html

 

[londonboards]

Day 42

Carburettor / Engine Manifolds / Boots

Got the first of these off today. Looks worse than I thought. Rubber is still pliable but the engine side has rusted. Can they be salvaged?

http://suzukigs1100.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/carburettor-engine-manifolds-day-42.html

Can't seem to find new boots available in the UK from Suzuki. Seen some on US Ebay but they are not cheap and no guarantee they are much better quality.

 

[hampshirehog]

Day 27

Speedometer lens.



The speedo has it's own issues. Can the lens be replaced on its own:

Yes it can. I think I might have one that will fit - I'll have a look for you. Can you measure the diameter just to be sure.

 

[hampshirehog]

Day 42

Carburettor / Engine Manifolds / Boots

Got the first of these off today. Looks worse than I thought. Rubber is still pliable but the engine side has rusted. Can they be salvaged?

http://suzukigs1100.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/carburettor-engine-manifolds-day-42.html

Can't seem to find new boots available in the UK from Suzuki. Seen some on US Ebay but they are not cheap and no guarantee they are much better quality.

?30 each at Robinsons - same parts (they are left and right fitting) as for the 1000G. However, they look re-useable, as long as the rubber hasn't lifted from the metal, even just the smallest amount. You'll need new O rings from Robert so get them along with the whole carb kit.

 

[londonboards]

No way. Robinsons is exactly 500 metres from my house. I just couldn't find them on their site. I need to go and visit for sure! Bought an Aprilia SR50 for my son from there last year.

 

[Good Times]

Do yourself a favor and replace the intake boots and orings. Even if they can be used they don't look like they have a lot of life left in them. The bike will not run right with bad boots.

 

[hampshirehog]

No way. Robinsons is exactly 500 metres from my house. I just couldn't find them on their site. I need to go and visit for sure! Bought an Aprilia SR50 for my son from there last year.

Get used to walking that 500 metres......

 

[londonboards]

Wow that would be cool.

I think this project has suddenly become somewhat daunting!

Do you know if I will need a speedo that has MPH on it to get an MOT here?

Greetings

Richard