New member looking at 2 GS850 to buy. Advice? Gotcha?

[jdvorchak]

Hello!
I've been gone from this forum for years as I haven't had any Suzuki's in a few years. I am a very experienced mechanic. Cars, trucks but my passion is motorcycles. Especially 70's and 80's metric but I work on anything from ancient to modern. I do this as a hobby but have contracted out to do work on local bikes. Mainly for young folks just getting into riding. I buy old bikes and get them safe to ride then flip them. Take that money and buy more. Enough of my rambling.

Tomorrow I'm going to go look at 2 (80 and 81) GS850's a guy has for sale. It is too good of a deal to pass. Supposedly complete bikes with clean titles. No pics to show as he doesn't know how to post pics or even send them to me via email! But I talked to him on the phone and feel confident that the deal is legit.

Now I know to check for locked brakes and frozen engines and general condition. I won't be able to test the charging circuits but frankly they are cheap enough that if I had to put new stator and regulator it wouldn't hurt the deal. I know I'll need new tires. He said they both have "Windjammer" fairings but one has the headlight bucket as well.

Any other gotcha's I should look for?
Thanks in advance,
John

 

[Guest]

Gas tanks for rust or holes as they can be a bit hard or pricey to replace, sometimes. The exhausts are the most expensive and hardest thing to get.

 

[Brendan W]

A simple meter will do to check the charging system. 12.6 volts cold is fully charged, 13 ish at idle and levelling out at 14.4 ish at 5000 rpm. If you don't have a meter , he might and if neither the headlight should brighten increasing speed from idle and then cut off.
R/R and stator can add hundreds to the cost so a good talking point if the machine is not charging.

 

[jdvorchak]

thank you for the replies.
Brendan, I have a Fluke meter and used to repair aircraft Avionics so I'm familiar with it's use. But in this case I already said I can't check charging as neither will run right now. I can perform static resistance checks but I don't know if these are like the Honda's I'm familiar with. Like resistance checks between the yellow 3 phase wires and Then to ground.

I'm talking about what if I see oil seeping from the head to cylinder or cylinder base gasket. Are these prone to leak like on a CB750? shift shaft seals?

Generally what is the feeling or thinking of the GS 850 models? Good bike or poor performer?

 

[jdvorchak]

I'm thinking at worst case I have to replace stator and regulator. Clean carbs and put new tires on them. Flush brake fluids and rebuild or at least clean MC front and rear. But the asking price is $400 for both! I'm pretty sure they are worth more than that if I just part out one and build one to run. Possibly get both running and safe to ride would even be better. I have all winter as nothing is selling right now.

 

[Grimly]

I'm talking about what if I see oil seeping from the head to cylinder or cylinder base gasket. Are these prone to leak like on a CB750? shift shaft seals?

Base gasket leaks from the O-ring at the front left are common. Nearly every GS850 does it, eventually.

Generally what is the feeling or thinking of the GS 850 models? Good bike or poor performer?

Bulletproof engines and transmissions. Basically, if one of these gets broken, the owner has been a klutz. Don't ask me how I know :-#

 

[Brendan W]

thank you for the replies.
Brendan, I have a Fluke meter and used to repair aircraft Avionics so I'm familiar with it's use. But in this case I already said I can't check charging as neither will run right now. I can perform static resistance checks but I don't know if these are like the Honda's I'm familiar with. Like resistance checks between the yellow 3 phase wires and Then to ground.

I'm talking about what if I see oil seeping from the head to cylinder or cylinder base gasket. Are these prone to leak like on a CB750? shift shaft seals?

Generally what is the feeling or thinking of the GS 850 models? Good bike or poor performer?

Great bike. Does everything well, bulletproof and ride all day.
At their age you can expect to see leaks showing up in order of seriousness and frequency ( sort of)

Headgasket, generally under the inner exhaust ports.
Base as Grimly said.
Tacho drive
Chain tensioner
Clutch rod on top of side case
Half moon seals at the end of the cams
Cam cover gasket

Genuine haedgasket is over a hundred whatever your local currency is.

 

[jdvorchak]

thanks Bendan.

I got them both for $300 US. They are in better shape than I expected and more complete than expected. All in all I'm happy:

 

[jdvorchak]

Of course there is a story... The 80, black one, had partially locked rear brake. Trying to figure out which, front or rear, brake was dragging I tried to put it on the center stand. Pulled a calf muscle big time and can barely walk. Then both would not fit on the trailer so had to make two 50 mile round trips. Got two of my sons to help put the second on the trailer and take them off. So they are in the garage now but I can't walk and so I won't be able to work on them! Grrrr.

He had two batteries with them. One still in the box and not filled with acid. The other had enough life to spin both engines and they sounded like good compression and lights worked. He also gave me a Clymers service manual, owner manual (for at least one of them) and a few bits and odds and ends. No headlight bucket though so I'm a little disappointed. No obvious oil leaks and the inside of the 80 fuel tank looks brand new and shiny! 81 isn't too bad and I can work with it. They both need new tires but I expected that. They both need brake work and I also expected that. 81 has 29k miles and the 80 has only 18k miles.

 

[Grimly]

$300 each? Or 300 the pair?
If the first, good deal; if the second you have jam on your doughnuts.

 

[jdvorchak]

$300 each? Or 300 the pair?
If the first, good deal; if the second you have jam on your doughnuts.

That was $300 total for both. Jam on my doughnuts......

Or as we say here " I stole them"

 

[80GS850GBob]

That was $300 total for both. Jam on my doughnuts......

Or as we say here " I stole them"

If your going to part out the G left us {me-lol} know...would be worth the drive from here {besides, I could also visit my aunt over in Breeze}.

 

[Nessism]

In case you haven't been provided the link, here is Bascliff's website. http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

Chocked full of useful info.

Please check the Newbie Mistakes thread linked in my signature so you know what to look out for.

I strongly advise that you rebuild the carbs using the tutorial also linked in my signature, and adjust the valves. Not adjusting the valves is one of the primary reasons GS bikes die. Don't let it happen to your bikes. 29k is nothing for a GS850. You can expect 100k miles or more with proper maintenance.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[Guest]

Score indeed congrats. The L model and the other bike being a Good model are very different in riding stance so at least you'll be able to see which you like best. Most people here prefer the G by far. Those 850 bikes are real work horses, great bikes and super dependable once the maintenance is done.

 

[WolfworksCustoms]

I got them both for $300 US

I need more dogs in my neighborhood so I can step in the same sheit !,,,,lol....and both are titled????....if so....youve doubled yer money already....a titled frame alone is a good $2-300....a buddy of mine built a volkswagon turbo trike and registered just using a Yamaha neck piece.....that things worth 5k easy right now.....

 

[jdvorchak]

Wow I'm overwhelmed with the responses. Thank you all.
Where to start. First of all I've done dozens of, I won't call it rebuilds, I call it re-vitalized bikes over the years. Mostly Honda and Kawaski but my first was a GS650 that I found for $250 that hadn't run in a number of years. I had to clean the carbs and put in a new R/R and Stator. It ran great and the guy I sold it to enjoyed many years riding it. That was in 2005. Well I sold it for $1500 and decided that this would be a fun way of making some extra money and I really enjoyed bringing one of these old bikes back to life. It also woke up my urge to ride again. I hadn't ridden a motorcycle since about 1981 (CB350) when I got married and started raising children. One of the biggest thrills I've had was when me and my 3 sons would go for a ride on bikes I've gotten running. Talk about gas station conversations where ever we went. At that time I relied on the GSResources web site for info and guidance. But not having owned a Suzuki for 10 years I quit checking in here until yesterday.

FYI basscliff's website is where I downloaded the service manual prior to buying these bikes. Before I buy a bike I want to know I can get a FSM. And I've used the carb rebuild tutorial noted. Suzuki isn't the only one to use CV carbs and consider myself pretty good with CV carb either Kiehn or Mikuni even TK (just can't spell them). Tons of really good advice on this site.

Yes I have a clean Missouri title for each of them. The guy had them licensed and titled and then just lost interest in riding. Wanted his garage cleaned out.

It's too early to say if I'm going to get them both running or have to part one out or even just sell one as it sits. I've never parted out an entire motorcycle and don't really want to start now. The problem I have is that I have 6 motorcycles now and need to get rid of some! It's getting pretty crowded in my garage...


As for rebuilding the carbs, the purchase included dozens of brand new O-Rings and float bowl gaskets. I'm sure enough to rebuild at least one rack of carbs. Plus the intake O-rings and new SS allen head intake bolts for the 850L model. He had lots of good intentions but I guess didn't have the time or skills to pull it off.

As I start evaluating and working on them I'm sure I'll have lots of questions which I will post under the appropriate "tech" forum heading. First thing I normally do with a new to me bike is see if it will run on starting fluid. After checking to see if t here is oil in the crankcase of course. If I hear all 4 cylinders run I know that at least I have a running bike and can start bringing them back to life. Then onto the compression/leak down tests and valve clearance checks/adjustments. Deal with the mechanicals first then fuel then brakes and suspension. When I'm done with a bike it will be safe enough for my kids to ride or I won't sell it.

Once again thank you all!

 

[jdvorchak]

going through the boxes of stuff I got with them and found the fairing lowers for the L. Also found new SS allen bolts for the carbs plus all the O-rings I would need to rebuild both sets of carbs. He also had 16 bowl gaskets! I guess he didn't want to run out.

 

[Charlie G]

Great find!

cg

 

[jdvorchak]

Well I sold the 850L to a nice young man in St. Louis. His first bike! Did all of the below to the L before I sold it. I won't sell a bike that is not safe enough for my kids to ride.
Now I have the 850G just about ready to start road testing.
what I've done so far:
1, new tires front and rear
2. Carbs rebuil and synced
3. New plug caps and spark plugs
4. Fresh oil and filter change
5. Brakes, front and rear, rebuilt MC and calipers.
6. Lubed clutch cable and adjusted
7. Lubed throttle cables and adjusted.
8. Valve adjusted (one 2 out of spec)... I expected with 28k miles to have them all out.
9. Sub trans and read gear oil change (Thank you Bikecliff)

Actually thank everyone on this site. Made the job a lot easier with your suggestions.