New member and GS owner

[Guest]

Hi, my name is Danie in South Africa and currently I own 3 Suzuki GS bikes. My daily runner is a 1981 GS1000G, registered, on the road, and has done gazillion kilometers. Not complete as it still lacks side covers but I am confident that I will find some.

My second bike is a work in progress also a 1981 GS1000G and basically complete. The tank still has to be re-lined and the carbs need to be properly balanced. This has been my pet project over the last year and a half and will be registered as a built up from parts bike as it did not have any paperwork when I bought it. (Actually it was supposed to be a donor bike)

My third bike is a 1987 GS850G which is in pristine condition and ha only done abut 16000 km. Although Suzuki discontinued the GS850G in 1986, Suzuki South Africa supplied some brand new bikes to the S.A. Defence force in 1987 and they were therefor registered as 1987 bikes. These bikes were used by the Military Police. As far as I can determine there are only two of these bikes left in S.A. so maybe this is an opportunity for other owners to come forward so we can know how many of these bikes still exist.

 

[2BRacing]

Hi Danie, welcome to the GSR from one of the few fellow South African's left on this site! You will find loads of technical information on this fine site and very knowledgeable members are always willing to help.

I am very curious about your 1987 ex-SANDF bike and would love to see some photos of it. I know that the traffic department also used some GS850G's around that time - there was one here in Wellington's traffic dept.

I bought my 850 new in 1981 and recently bought my oldest brother's 1981 1000G as well. The middle brother had a 650 "baby Katana" that my son has now taken over, so we are also a Suzuki family!

 

[dorkburger]

Welcome Danie. Great looking bike .

 

[Redman]

Welcome danie, welcome to the Gsr.

look at that!! In less than 2 hours you have meet 2BR Ben (also from SA).

thanks for introduction, complete wit pics.
We could easily tolerate more pics.
(The paint scheme

you guys get is interesting.)

do do tell us more of your adventures .

 

[Baatfam]

do do tell us more of your adventures .

And the airplanes...tell us about the airplanes...

 

[Guest]

Glad to find some local folks. Woud have posted more photos but I get the message that only one photo is allowed. Guess I am just not techno savvy enough Anyways, here is a pic of the 850

 

[2BRacing]

That is a very interesting bike. If you create an account on a photo-hosting site like imgur or flickr you can upload your photos there and then copy the BB Code and paste it into your post. You can then have up to 10 reasonably sized photos in one post.

Would like to see more!

 

[Guest]

Just completed my first "real" restoration project. Not 100% complete as there are still some rear crash bars that need to be chromed and installed and minor tweaks here and there. Engine redone, new tires, all parts that can be polished done by hand. Original pipes the best I can get (and afford)

 

[Steve]

I see a few things on that 1000 that make me go :-k

I see a chrome fender. Not found on the US 1000G, but was found on the 1000E before 1980.
I see a black engine. Not found on US bikes until 1983, but I have painted all of our '80 and '82 GSes. (see links in sig for pictures)
I see engine covers with a bit more polish thann stock.
I see a seat that <looks> rather stock, but has a few more curves, might be a bit more comfortable.
I see something round, under the seat, just behind the top of the shock.

Care to fill in some of the details?

 

[Guest]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for your comment. Most of what you see is what I got when I bought the bike as a project. It had the chrome fender, the seat looked as in the picture but was badly torn so I had it re-upholstered. The engine covers had ugly streaks on them so I hand polished them to look better. The round thingy under the seat is our local standard licence holder and must be displayed at all times. I chose that position as it keeps the darn thing dry. The engine was painted black when I received it and it did not require a strip down so instead of taking it apart for vapor cleaning, I just touched up the paint on the engine again.

This was a "minimal spend" project and I wanted to keep cost as low as possible but still have a reasonably decent looking bike. Parts for a full restore here in South Africa is extremely scarce and although one can source on e-bay etc. the cost of shipping here is exorbitant to say the least. Buying OEM from Suzuki is crazy due to their high pricing structure. Their price for a set of rings for one piston on a GS650G for instance is 50USD. The price for a single inlet manifold for the same bike is also 50USD.

 

[2BRacing]

Just completed my first "real" restoration project. Not 100% complete as there are still some rear crash bars that need to be chromed and installed and minor tweaks here and there. Engine redone, new tires, all parts that can be polished done by hand. Original pipes the best I can get (and afford)

Well done Danie, your bike looks good!

Good score on those original exhausts - where did you find those?

 

[2BRacing]

I see a few things on that 1000 that make me go :-k

I see a chrome fender. Not found on the US 1000G, but was found on the 1000E before 1980...???

Steve, most of the 850G's and 1000G's I have seen here in South Africa had the chrome front fenders, as per my bikes below. However, I have seen two painted fenders - one on member Matchless's bike and one on the late Flyboy's bike. Not sure if they were original or if those members painted them?

 

[Guest]

2B, I actually bought a complete "Donor" bike purely to get my hands on the pipes. It was a chance that paid off as the rest of the bike was quickly pawned off to another chap that needed an engine and some other parts.

 

[Guest]

Here is an 850 shaft that has a painted front mudguard. I understand that manufacture of the GS850G was stopped in 1986 (I could be wrong so educate me) but this particular bike was first registered on the NATIS system in 1987.

I bought it from a gent on a farm in the Northern Cape who in turn bought it on Auction directly from the Defence Force. He used the bike very seldom due to the dirt farm roads and finally decided to get a "dual" bike that is better suited for farm use.

The bike has now done just over 16000 Km, is "untouched", and still as it was supplied by Suzuki S.A. to the S.A. Defence force. There are a few nicks and dents that gives the bike character and I am not going to do any "restoration" work on this bike. It is a bit of South African Military History and will remain as is while in my possession.

I did have to do some "work" on the bike to get it roadworthy and running properly again. The bike stood in a Military store for 22 years and the badly cracked tires was replaced. I had to take off the carbs to clean them properly and it is currently running with "glued" intake manifolds while I am waiting for a set of new manifolds from Suzuki. The front fork seals also needed replacement due to the long period of inactivity. The engine ticks over very nicely and it has a lot of power for such an old machine. Pity it is so heavy though.

 

[Guest]

Another view

 

[2BRacing]

Thanks for the photo Danie. That truly is a fantastic piece of SA History! Despite the fact that it stood in a store for 22 years, the chrome parts and exhausts seem to be in excellent condition.

I wish I could find a set of good exhausts for the 1000G I recently bought from my brother, as the insides have rusted away (the outsides are still OK). I would like to keep the two silencer setup instead of going to a 4 into 1.

I am not too clued up on the chrome/painted fender situation on South African bikes, so I cannot give a definite answer on that. We also seem to have received bikes with different colour schemes to other world markets.

 

[Grimly]

I believe production was more-or-less finished in Japan by 1986, but for a year or two more, the European market was supplied by bikes built from warehouse spares, such was the demand for the bike, especially from German and Dutch riders.
I've noticed a few similarities between the Euro GS850s and the SA ones. Chrome front mudguard, possibly the paint schemes, etc.
During the years of production it might well be that the SA importers decided their market would prefer the Euro look with an option for the higher bars, or possibly it was just a bit of a mix'nmatch anyway.
The answer is lost in the mists of time, and dusty piles of dealers' notes.

 

[ddaniels]

Very nice looking bikes. Doesn't matter to me if things are stock as long as they look nice and I like them. Welcome aboard.