Place to get my gs650e restored?

[Macdiggity]

Hey guys! I'm debating turning my 1981 gs 650e into a full on caf? racer. I've attached a pic of where it's at right now. It hasn't ran it roughly 2 years, and needs to be restored...at least mechanically. It doesn't hold a charge, it needs the carbs cleaned (or new ones?), brakes, forks, clutch(and trans?), chain, and I believe the engine could use a rebuild. The choke was also wicked sticky and all the cables probably need to be replaced. Along with an oil change, chain, and any other basic maintenance stuff. It did run when it was parked but it was definitely smoking and struggling to stay on without throttle, it wouldn't stay on because it wouldn't hold a charge, and it was smoking from what I believe were leaking gaskets. I was wondering if anybody knew a place that did restorations on the east coast? Preferably near Philadelphia. I would try to do it myself because it seems information is plentiful and I could get parts pretty easily. But watching the videos and reading the manuals has brought me to the conclusion I shouldn't start. I'd either really mess something up or never finish. TIA!

 

[Steve]

Wow, it would be a shame to cut up something that nice into a "cafe racer" style bike.

Looking for a place that does "restorations"? Hopefully you have a LOT of money. Seriously. Any shop that does "restorations" is not going to be cheap. Besides paying for all the parts, you will likely be paying them at least $100 per hour. Depending on your engine smoking issue, you are looking at at least 10-20 hours of solid work there, meaning that by the time you include the parts, you will have over $2500 dollars in expenses.

Looking at the items you have listed:
- doesn't hold a charge. Stator: 40. R/R: 60. Battery: 50.
- carbs cleaned: <50 if you buy all the parts and chemicals, at least 150 if you have one of us do them
- brakes. about 60 to replace all pads. about 60 to rebuild master cylinders. about 75 to rebuild calipers.
- forks. about 30 for seals. about 90 for new springs
- clutch. likely just new springs, about 20.
- chain. would have to guess here, but probably at least 100 for chain and both sprockets.
- engine rebuild. a gasket kit will be at least 170 to get all the parts you need. Might only need gasket replacement, including valve seals. If machining is necessary, add at least 100.
- cables. probably about 50 for clutch, throttle and "choke" cables.

As you can see, you are approaching $1000, just for the parts. One thing not addressed is tires. Depending on your choice of tire, add at least 135. You are now at about $1100, just for parts. If you have a shop do the work, add in the $2000-2500 previously mentioned, you will be into that machine for well over $3000. Add in your purchase price? Then consider that the bike might possibly be worth about $1200-1500. If it is "restored" to absolutely pristine showroom condition (at greater expense), it <might> be worth about $2000.

Probably the most-fiddly items on the list are the carb rebuild and the gasket replacement. Other than that, it's all pretty straight forward.

Oh, forgot to mention, most motorcycle shops have a 10-year limit. Anything older than 10 years old is not allowed through the door. Your bike is just past that limit (by a couple of decades).

I don't know if any forum members are close enough to you and are able to offer their services, but most of us do this as a hobby, not as a business. We wrench on our bikes because we like to keep them going.

If you can't find anyone locally, I'm only 550 miles west of you. I don't do this as a business, I do my shop projects after work and on the weekends, so it will be more than a couple of weeks in the process.

.

 

[cowboyup3371]

Agreed with Steve, you really should do this yourself or enlist a forum member to assist as it's really not that difficult. Follow the guides we have put on Basscliff's site (http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff) and various posts here plus ask lots of questions. As long as you attempt to work with the advice given you'll be running again in no time.

 

[tom203]

Unless you are emotionally attached to this bike, I'd look for another project.. As Steve said, you can drop mucho money. Here's an example from my area. You can buy 4 gs's- that sorta run- for that money

https://maine.craigslist.org/mcy/d/westbrook-1978-suzuki-gs750-custom-cafe/6857100037.html

 

[Nessism]

35+ year old vehicles are best owned by guys that do their own wrenching or are rich enough to pay someone a lot of money to do it for them. Paying someone to work on the bike will cost more than the bike is worth too. It's just not worth it most of the time.

 

[scratch]

That is a nifty little 650e, if you decide to pass on it as a project I'm sure someone would love to take it off your hands.

 

[dorkburger]

Going to agree with the consensus here.... but will add that it's easy to watch videos, etc and start to feel overwhelmed with the process.
By breaking things down into small tasks, good documentation (photos, notes, tagging of parts and such), and a helpful site such as this, you could likely complete the work yourself and learn a bit. If that's your garage in the picture you already have a big hurdle of living in / near Philly covered .

 

[Macdiggity]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I know it's not worth to do it financially, but the way I see it is I'll have to spend $5000 at least for another bike. And no matter what bike I buy it will no longer be worth what I paid for it originally. I bought the bike for like $1500 or $2000 after taxes or something before knowing how to ride (bought it for looks, though he rode it 1.5 hours to my house so I didn't have to, going 80/90mph, was a good runner) and discovered most of these problems as I learned to ride and had it sitting for a few days at a time over the first year of ownership. Right now I can get about $400 for it lol, I've already lost my money. So if I spend another $3 or $4000 to get this bike in mechanically mint condition, I'd be happy. It'd make my total investment around (hopefully under) $7000 for a bike that's practically brand new. After I take care of that process I can probably handle the maintenance, but I don't think I'm capable of opening up an engine, or even taking it of the frame lol. I've looked at basscliffs stuff multiple times, and even printed out the entire service manual he has for my bike, but if I were to miss something I wouldn't know what I did wrong. If I brake something I may not even know what the piece I broke is called, hell I may not even know I broke it lol. There's just too much going on there and I don't want to have this bike sitting for 2/3 more years in 100 pieces or possibly end up taking it to a junk yard. I am emotionally attached to this bike and I have yet to find a bike I was as comfortable riding as this one. The only bike I was debating getting was a triumph but I'd be saving a couple thousand by just getting the gs going again.

 

[Big T]

Well, since you've written off the bike's value, spend $1,000* on tools and fix it yourself
The worst that could happen is that you'd have $1,000 in tools

*value stated is for reference purposes only

Smoking is rarely a sign of a worn out motor. These motors can go 100k miles with decent maintenance. Oil leaks are generally easy to fix

 

[cowboyup3371]

Or better yet - you sell it for $400 which you put away in the savings account and buy a new bike you won't have to worry about again because the dealer will do it all for much cheaper until it gets too old. Trust us when we say you are better off working on it by yourself. That $3000 to fix it is only the beginning - what are you going to do to maintain it over the rest of its life? I have over 38,000 miles on 550T that is still going strong though I have to maintain it consistently. My 2007 Bandit has over 84,000 (I'm the second owner) and isn't even hiccuping yet

 

[Nessism]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I know it's not worth to do it financially, but the way I see it is I'll have to spend $5000 at least for another bike. And no matter what bike I buy it will no longer be worth what I paid for it originally. I bought the bike for like $1500 or $2000 after taxes or something before knowing how to ride (bought it for looks, though he rode it 1.5 hours to my house so I didn't have to, going 80/90mph, was a good runner) and discovered most of these problems as I learned to ride and had it sitting for a few days at a time over the first year of ownership. Right now I can get about $400 for it lol, I've already lost my money. So if I spend another $3 or $4000 to get this bike in mechanically mint condition, I'd be happy. It'd make my total investment around (hopefully under) $7000 for a bike that's practically brand new. After I take care of that process I can probably handle the maintenance, but I don't think I'm capable of opening up an engine, or even taking it of the frame lol. I've looked at basscliffs stuff multiple times, and even printed out the entire service manual he has for my bike, but if I were to miss something I wouldn't know what I did wrong. If I brake something I may not even know what the piece I broke is called, hell I may not even know I broke it lol. There's just too much going on there and I don't want to have this bike sitting for 2/3 more years in 100 pieces or possibly end up taking it to a junk yard. I am emotionally attached to this bike and I have yet to find a bike I was as comfortable riding as this one. The only bike I was debating getting was a triumph but I'd be saving a couple thousand by just getting the gs going again.

Some bad math here.

You can pick up a really nice newer bike out in my (very expensive) area for about $4000 that will only require a minimum of maintenance for years to come. Unless you want to learn to wrench I'd cut bait and go that way. You will have a newer bike to ride that requires much less maintenance going forward. Old bikes are like wooden boats. Something always needs doing. It's not just a matter of spending some money up front and then riding off into the sunset.

 

[Macdiggity]

It's more that I don't want to attempt an entire mechanical restoration. I'm sure I can handle a carb rebuild, brake change, oil change etc on their own. I just think taking the engine off the bike and opening it up is beyond my ability at this point. I'd rather figure out one problem at a time as they go wrong then have to pretty much rebuild the entire thing as a starting point. I knew going in when I bought the bike that maintenance wouldn't be cheap, and that I'd probably have to do some myself, I just didn't realize it was as bad as it was. And I can probably find a bike for under 4k here, but unfortunately all those bikes have over 20k miles and in some cases are pushing 20 years old...or they're 250's and 300's. My gs only has like 16k on it and has a ton of life left in it. I don't consider a 10 or 15 year old bike with 30k miles a good deal if it's for $4000 and was 7500 new. I'd buy new at this point, and all the bikes I'm looking at brand new are roughly 7k-8k. The triumph and BMW's are pushing 10-12k. I'm only putting maybe 500 miles a year on the gs and it'll be a garage queen. It may need some stuff after the initial work, but I'll at least be able to ride it and diagnose it. My riding window is only from mid April to late October or early September, so I'd imagine that it'll need work every winter. I didn't expect this motorcycle to be a honda civic...I was expecting an Alfa Romeo.

 

[Nessism]

Philly has tons of great bike deals. I wish I lived in your area...

https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/mcy/d/columbia-2014-triumph-thruxton-900-3k/6878630387.html

https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/mcy/d/bensalem-2008-kawasaki-ninja-zx600/6874061917.html

https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/mcy/d/colts-neck-2003-ducati-monster-620-low/6877867157.html

 

[Nessism]

Or...just learn to do your own maintenance. Carbs are easy (or send them to Steve), and adjusting the valves is easy too. Catch up the maintenance and you would most likely have a decently reliable bike that will last for years to come.

 

[Steve]

And ... riding only 500 miles a year, your greatest expense will be stabilizing the gas in the tank, so it does not go bad. Valves only need to be checked every 3-4000 miles, or every 6-8 years, in your case. The "economy" tires that we recommend (that also happen to be rather decent tires) are good for at least 6,000 miles, or 10-12 years in your case. They would need replacement due to age, rather than being worn out.

Once your bike is squared away, it won't take much to keep it going, especially to maintain "garage queen" status.

.

 

[Macdiggity]

Those aren't the deals you think they are. The Triumph is nice but it's 3 hours away...and will cost 6500 by the time I get it because of the registration fess and taxes in both states and transportation costs. That's an option...but that's the price range I've been stating...the Ninja 600 is nice but I don't want a sport bike, and it needs paint (my gs looks nicer imho), and the Ducati does look pretty nice, and it's cheap...but it's not actually a good motorcycle...it'll break down more than my gs...and will cost much more to maintain than my GS. The 620 had a ton of electrical problems...none of which I'd be able to repair, whether I had the tools or not. The only high end motorcycle I'd consider would be Triumph and BMW.

 

[Macdiggity]

Yea that's kind of what I was thinking..and if it's any consolation I wasn't going to chop it up lol. Not at least what you think. I was just going to change the seat, handlebars, and tail. I wasn't actually going to shorten it because I want 2 seats. But I do think a frame hoop still needs to be welded there to put the seat and new lights but I could be wrong. Like this https://i.pinimg.com/originals/fe/e7/b1/fee7b131fdf6cd14caba9da471358330.jpg

 

[Guest]

Your just not a guy cut out to be messing around with an old vintage bike. Good advise has already been given. I wonder why you are fighting so hard to get an old bike going?

Never heard of someone being concerned about a bike having over 20K before, thats borderline ridiculous. There are probably plenty guys here doing between 5k and 10k a year riding

Buy a late model anything, ride it 10 times at 50 miles a pop (or 50 times at 10 miles a trip) and then stabilize the gas every winter, done.

 

[dorkburger]

I understand emotional attachment. I'm going on 20 years with my GS....
It would seem to have made up your mind, but just a couple of comments to add... If it was ridden that distance and at that speed without problems to your place, it would seem that the basic package is solid and the engine likely does need to be opened up. It really sounds like gummed up cards, charging problems, and oil leaks. Depending on the source of the leak it could be fairly simple or not.

Regarding shops - be aware that many shops won't touch our old bikes, and despite their simplicity, the ones that will seem to often botch up the job. There are many stories of the latter here, as recent as this week.
If you're going to play in the old bike realm its inevitable that you will sooner or later need to do your own work, or at least know what the shop is up to.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Rich82GS750TZ]

The Triumph that Nessism posted above is a stunner.
https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/mcy/d/columbia-2014-triumph-thruxton-900-3k/6878630387.html