New owner of a 81 GS650G

[mitchm114]

Hello!

I live in central/southeast Ohio and recently stumbled upon an 81 GS650G. I'm the second owner and it has 9000 miles on it.

Hasn't run since 99, but is in great condition outside of being dusty & dirty. It had a full tank of gas and surprisingly it fired up and idled with a jump.

I haven't had a chance to dive into the carbs or anything else yet, but I think the floats are stuck because I've got gas pouring out of the overflow tubes when it runs. It's also only firing on two cylinders at the moment, which I'm attributing to fuel flow issues.

The only downside (in my opinion) is that it came with a Windjammer on it and a sissy bar/luggage rack.

This is my fifth vintage bike, and I'm not a fan of add-ons and such. I just love the look/feel of the original bikes. Although I've never ridden with a windjammer on, so I'll reserve judgement

I'm excited to be here and to learn from yall. Most of my experience is with 70s Hondas, so I'm excited to get into Suzukis.

Mitch

 

[Nessism]

Welcome, Mitch. That bike looks great!

If you haven't done so already, you might want to turn on the feature "Show Signatures". In mine, there are several informative links which should help you with your rehab project.

 

[rphillips]

First, Welcome. Nice looking project. Just by looks, the regular stuff should have you good to go. A few min. to go through the links above ^^^^ can be a great help, even if a bike guy, something you may have not seen nor thought of before... Riding behind a fairing, nothing like riding without one, kind'f the same thing but totally different. Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[Grimly]

If you don't ride long distances or in the cold, you won't need a fairing.
Those who do, and have fairings, are glad they fitted them.
@RobS will be along in a minute, I'm sure...

 

[rphillips]

Yeah, Rob don't want anything on his bike that didn't come on it, Kind'f wondered if he actually put his butt on his.

 

[Redman]

Welcome Mitch

. . . . . . . .

 

[Redman]

Welcome Mitch.

I had a new 82 650G, had it for 20+ years. Never had a real problem with it.

Yah, that looks like nice stock.
Exhaust is impressive.
Origianl seat cover.
Seat still has the rear grab bar (usally taken off for any rack or backrest or side bags).
And the cover over swingarm pivot. Mine fell out, I replaced and glued in and still fell out.

You Can say that the fairing is "period correct' jammer.
That looks like it could be same model as what I had with an 80 850G, I think I still have electronic copy of the manaul (I could send you if you want).
I suppose you know if take off the fairing then will not have headlight nor front t/signals, so will need replacements if PO didnt have them yet to give you.
I would suggest you retain the fairing installed for a while.
Ride it on some cool/cold occassion, colder than might usally ride, then stand up on the pegs to see what you are missing.
Can ride lot further and in cooler weather with fairing. Just have to get used to comments about it being "an old mans bike". (like I did about 20 years ago).
.

Some comment about a GS: Learn about the charging system. Learn about the o-ring in the carb boots up against the heads.

SOme comment about an G (shaft drive): Learn about the "hub" in the rear wheel. Lube the splines (moly paste) with each time have rear wheel off. Learn how to inspect for wear. (is many postings)

Some comment about 650:
Is one of the GS model that taking off carbs is clumbersome without much room there for airbox and carbs and boots.

650s have somethings that are unique from most all the other GSes.
One thing is those caps on end of the cam cover, with the screws up-under-behind the caps. And some of the sensors and swtiches and body work.

DO update your progress. Looks like it should "clean up".

Oh, south-central Ohio (Dayton-to-Cinci area) has a handfull of active GSR members.

Oh, do look in other section of forum for the "Brown County" Rally in June in southern Indiania, (Bedford Indiania actaully).

Dave

>> Later Note: Opps, now I see Heath is east of Columbus.
Dayton & Cinci are more southwest Ohio.

 

[mitchm114]

Quick update!

Finally got her running and cleaned up a bit.

Completely disassembled and cleaned the carbs. Once I replaced intake boot o-rings and carb o-rings, she fired right up. I've put 45 miles on her so far and riding with a faring is certainly a different experience. Not as fun on side/back roads and lower speeds, but definitely notice the difference on the highway. Jury is out on it for me on it, but I'll give it some time on the highway to see if it's worth keeping.

Currently waiting on tires to come back from the shop, but otherwise runs very well. Might take it on a longer trip this weekend to see how it handles over some longer distances. My daily driver is a 74 Honda CB550, so this is a different experience for me altogether.

Only thing that's annoying me right now is the fact that after reassembling the choke, it doesn't stay put when I pull it out to warm it up. Did I possibly reassemble it wrong?

I'll tackle the stator issue next, I believe.

Mitch

 

[rphillips]

I think your choke comes up through the steering stem, there should be a black plastid knurled ring, right where the cable goes down in the stem. Tightening that ring puts more drag on the cable... If yours is on the left control on handlebar, tighten the screw, under the bottom that holds the little lever on.... Oh for the days the choke was on the carbs, always worked with no problems.

 

[Grimly]

Only thing that's annoying me right now is the fact that after reassembling the choke, it doesn't stay put when I pull it out to warm it up.

Stick one of these under it for a fast idle.

 

[tom203]

Yes, just tighten the black “ knurled nut” on cable stem to increase cable drag…avoid lubing this…add sand if needed.

 

[Joe Garfield]

Looking good, but, isn’t that a 650GK??
:lol:

 

[schneider]

That is great, I just received the title on a 79 850 i have has in my shed a long time and am about to start digging into it. south of Dayton here.

 

[salty_monk]

I like the 650's... welcome to the madhouse

BTW - that bike works with the twinpot brakes if you want something stronger on there. There is a link to the monster thread in my signature.