Progress!!! 1978 GS1000E Restoration/Performance Rebuild

[ShadowFocus603]

Quick question. What controls did you get? I might have missed it sorry. I like how clean they are and not bulky.

 

[philosopheriam]

Quick question. What controls did you get? I might have missed it sorry. I like how clean they are and not bulky.

They are made by K&S technologies - check out this link:

http://www.kandstech.com/index.php?page=switchescontrols

I have the 12-0041B and the 12-0203

 

[philosopheriam]

Progress over the past 2 to 3 weeks...

There haven't been any weekly updates because most of what I have been doing is fiddly farting around with cables - my buddy has all of the parts to fabricate custom cables, but because I am unable to bring the bike to his shop to fit each cable, there is some guesswork involved. Four trips back and forth from the suburbs to Chicago :-/

Long story short, the throttle cables are a push/pull setup originally intended for a Honda - each cable had to be shortened, and it took us a few tries to get the length of the pull housing/cable correct. Because of the lower handlebars, I had to route the cables under the triple clamp.

The clutch cable has the upper portion (90 degree bend) from an EX500 cable and the lower portion is completely fabricated. I reused the spring, bellows, and rubber boot from the original clutch cable. And adjuster was installed at the same location as the original.

 

[philosopheriam]

Progress over the past 2 to 3 weeks (continued:

When I went to clean and reassemble my old ignition switch, removing 38yrs of grime revealed a crack in the switch body. This, combined with the fact that the lock mechanism itself was in sorry shape convinced me to track a down a decent used one off of eBay. Success! I found one that was in excellent shape that I was able to move most of the wafers around to fit my original key - I only had to file 2 wafers a tiny bit to make it work smoothly. I soda blasted the body of the switch to get it ready for paint.


I filed/sanded some gouges out of my levers and polished them



I built a small angled bracket to mount the crankcase breather - This bracket mounts to an existing frame bracket (for the original air cleaner)

 

[philosopheriam]

Progress over the past 2 to 3 weeks (continued):

Last week, I installed the remainder of the ignition system components (minus the ignition wires) and statically timed the engine to around 35 degrees BTDC. I eliminated the Dyna's molex connector near the timing plate and used a 4-pin Amphenol ATM that is weatherproof.

 

[Guest]

Beautiful work. You might want to run the clutch cable in front of the gauge cluster instead of on the outside, if you have the length.

 

[philosopheriam]

Beautiful work. You might want to run the clutch cable in front of the gauge cluster instead of on the outside, if you have the length.

Not possible - take a look at this photo and you'll see why


With the bars I am running, a straight clutch cable (no 90 at the end) bangs into the side of the gauge cluster. Even if it cleared, the bend radius required for the cable to go in front of the cluster is too small, which in turn, causes the cable to kink and eventually bind.

In the arrangement currently on the bike, the cable has a nice gentle bend down to the frame and then through the 1 and 2 carbs down to the clutch arm.

 

[philosopheriam]

Finished the ignition switch today.

Drilled out the barrel and housing with a 3/32" drill bit so I could install new, slightly larger roll pins. The pins I had were 1/2" long, so, once they were installed I cut off the excess with a dremel.

Two coats of self-etching primer and 3 light coats of semi gloss black.

 

[philosopheriam]

Update, 5/14:

Installed the refurbished ignition switch.
Installed the crankcase vent hose and clamps.
Cut the ignition wires to size and crimped the connectors on the ends.
Installed the battery and tested the ignition system for functionality - tweaked the static timing a smidge.
Removed the plugs, regapped to .028, and reinstalled.
Removed the carbs, checked the float height, and set the pilot air screws to 1/2 turn out.
Oiled the pod filters.

I have some fuel line and clamps to pick up this week from McMaster Carr, other than that, THE ENGINE WILL BE READY TO START NEXT WEEK!!!!! Stay tuned

 

[philosopheriam]

PS: If anyone has any first startup suggestions/tips/advice, I am all ears.

Engine has already been spun over to fill the oil galleries. The current plan is to have a box fan blowing on the motor and to not let it run below 1500 to 2000 rpm (cam break in). I will recheck the manual cam chain tensioner before startup.

 

[80GS850GBob]

When I looked at the schematic for the original harness, I was blown away by how much unnecessary crap was in there - I quickly came to the conclusion that it would be far easier to build a new harness around my use of relays and new fuse panel rather than try to modify the old one. Once I redraw the schematic on a new sheet of paper I will post it here so anyone can re-create it.

I think some of us will try to hold you to that last one....{chuckle}. Checking out mine today for obvious hacks by the Po....ugh...probably just better to start over with better wire and connectors especially since I plan on retro fitting an '83 fuse box in {I rather dislike barrel fuses}.

 

[Big T]

PS: If anyone has any first startup suggestions/tips/advice, I am all ears.

Engine has already been spun over to fill the oil galleries. The current plan is to have a box fan blowing on the motor and to not let it run below 1500 to 2000 rpm (cam break in). I will recheck the manual cam chain tensioner before startup.

I don't remember which carbs you put on, but 1/2 turn out doesn't sound like enough. Stock carbs would be 7/8 to 1 turn out of fuel, 2 on air

The cam really doesn't need break in. But, let it run 2-3 minutes at 2500-3000 rpm, 2 or 3 times. once you get it finished, run it up to 6,000, varying the speed for 200 miles.

When you sync the carbs, don't let it run too long

 

[limeex2]

PS: If anyone has any first startup suggestions/tips/advice, I am all ears.

Engine has already been spun over to fill the oil galleries. The current plan is to have a box fan blowing on the motor and to not let it run below 1500 to 2000 rpm (cam break in). I will recheck the manual cam chain tensioner before startup.

Assuming the new motor was assembled with assembly lubes in all the right places, just start her up. Keep a finger near a kill switch in case it takes off like a bat outa hell. Check for leaks while its idling. Couple minutes of idling? It will be just fine. This bike is so nice, its paining me just to see how beautiful they can be in the right hands.

 

[Big T]

Oh, and your clutch arm needs to go a notch counterclockwise

 

[SVSooke]

I don't remember which carbs you put on, but 1/2 turn out doesn't sound like enough. Stock carbs would be 7/8 to 1 turn out of fuel, 2 on air

The cam really doesn't need break in. But, let it run 2-3 minutes at 2500-3000 rpm, 2 or 3 times. once you get it finished, run it up to 6,000, varying the speed for 200 miles.

When you sync the carbs, don't let it run too long

In the second or third post:34mm Mikuni RS carbs.

 

[philosopheriam]

I think some of us will try to hold you to that last one....{chuckle}. Checking out mine today for obvious hacks by the Po....ugh...probably just better to start over with better wire and connectors especially since I plan on retro fitting an '83 fuse box in {I rather dislike barrel fuses}.

Ask and ye shall receive I decided to be fancy and draw this with TinyCAD. If you find any errors or have any questions, just holler!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4xpev6r9w5gcmfl/Wiring schematic, 78 GS1000 with Relays.pdf?dl=0

 

[philosopheriam]

Oh, and your clutch arm needs to go a notch counterclockwise

Sure about that - ? In the relaxed state the clutch arm is parallel with the clutch cover, giving it an angle of less than 90 degrees in relation to the clutch cable. When the clutch is pulled, the cable and arm are at a 90 degree angle. When the arm is rotated one more notch counterclockwise, it sticks out obtrusively beyond the clutch cover and its angle in relation to the clutch cable is very narrow.

 

[philosopheriam]

I don't remember which carbs you put on, but 1/2 turn out doesn't sound like enough. Stock carbs would be 7/8 to 1 turn out of fuel, 2 on air

The cam really doesn't need break in. But, let it run 2-3 minutes at 2500-3000 rpm, 2 or 3 times. once you get it finished, run it up to 6,000, varying the speed for 200 miles.

When you sync the carbs, don't let it run too long

I'm running 34mm RS's - according to the documentation, the pilot air screw is typically set 1/4 to 1/2 turn.

 

[rudeman]

Oh, and your clutch arm needs to go a notch counterclockwise

Sure about that - ? In the relaxed state the clutch arm is parallel with the clutch cover, giving it an angle of less than 90 degrees in relation to the clutch cable. When the clutch is pulled, the cable and arm are at a 90 degree angle. When the arm is rotated one more notch counterclockwise, it sticks out obtrusively beyond the clutch cover and its angle in relation to the clutch cable is very narrow.

I agree with Big T. You may experience some creep when your clutch doesn't fully disengage; especially if you're using aftermarket components. Just looking at the photos, you're actually under-rotated a bit if you compare pivot center to pin center.

Excellent work, BTW...

 

[80GS850GBob]

Ask and ye shall receive I decided to be fancy and draw this with TinyCAD. If you find any errors or have any questions, just holler!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4xpev6r9w5gcmfl/Wiring schematic, 78 GS1000 with Relays.pdf?dl=0

Ooh, gauge call outs too! Excellent....Thank You.