Rebuilding gs850 '85

[Dime]

Hello everyone.

First off all, big thx for this whole forum and its contributing members. I find this site very helping and informative.

Now short intro. My name is Jimmy and I'm from Macedonia (FYROM for some). I'm 29, work as a web programmer/designer and I love cars, bikes, tech, sports, movie, etc. I live with my girlfriend, my cat and since recently, with a gs850.

Its my first "big" bike. Always wanted one and I finally got one. Working and living in Macedonia is extremely difficult, very poor country and very low living standard. My budget was very limited anyway, so I decided to look for an older classic bike. Against all odds, I managed to find a half-working gs850 with legal papers ! I cannot explain how rare that is here. Lots of people drive cars and bikes with no registration or any documents at all, especially for older models.

Anyway, I payed around 900 eur for a bike that was ride-able, but very abused. Twisted forks, missing rings and screws, electric installation was a mess, rusted tank without floater, no seat, loose alternator, and what not... Former owner was a peasant that ride the bike in the countryside.

I decided to rebuilt the bike in a cafe-brat-style. I have many issues to overcome: My budget is limited, in this ****hole-of-a-country its almost impossible to find spare parts. The official Suzuki representative here offered some support but their prices are insane. My only choice is to buy online, although shipping rates are ridiculously high.

So I do a lot of reading, researching and shopping on the net. Mostly I use wemoto.com and ebay, and I ordered the carb rings from Rob.

I plan to post my journey here and share with you all the excitement, pain and pleasure of making a small dream come true.

 

[dorkburger]

Welcome. Sounds like a high level of dedication is required to build a bike in your area. Good luck.

 

[Guest]

Welcome to the forum.

Here is another link to some guys that have been very helpful to me in my rebuild. Not exactly cheap but lots of genuine parts in stock.

https://www.discountbikespares.co.uk/ourshop/cat_151824-Suzuki-Spares.html

Good luck.

 

[Dime]

Thx guys.

So here are some photos. This is the bike when I got it:



Seat is missing, everything else is there (fenders, covers, etc) but I stored it in boxes.

 

[Dime]

Current state:

- Body ram is up for cleaning and repainting
- Carburetors pending for a rebuild (im yet to buy new jets, I don't know the exact size to order ?! )
- Need new forks, found used for 150eur, will try to find something cheaper
- Various o-rings and seals are ariving
- new headlight, tail light, turn lights and turn-reley
- new tacho cable, tacho plug and tacho seal
- new tyres, Dunlop StreetSmart Arrowmax, front 100\90-19, rear 130\90-17
- need to buy exhaust pipe end, also, the pipes seem modified, 4in1 now:

 

[Dime]

modified 4in1 ?

 

[roeme]

You said the forks are twisted; on the foto, I see the front fender missing. Not sure if you rode it without it? From what I hear, running without the front fender makes the whole show unstable.

Regarding

My budget is limited, in this ****hole-of-a-country its almost impossible to find spare parts.

Well you ain't alone I'm living around 1200km North-East from you, and have to order online all the time as well. Such is the life with classic vehicles.

 

[roeme]

(im yet to buy new jets, I don't know the exact size to order ?! )

Before ordering new jets, you should determine wether you have the original jets, and in what condition they are. The jets should match your intake and exhaust system, and judging
from the hacked exhaust, I wouldn't surprised if the interior of the carbs has been unmolested.

I'm currently rebuilding carbs of a bike that was standing for 20 years, and so far, I have found the jets in good order, i.e. all they required is an (ultrasonic) cleaning. Though I'm doing this for the first time, so I could completely wrong and they're dead.

 

[Dime]

Im guessing u r from Romania or Ukraine even Sometimes its so frustrating to live here, I feel like packing my **** and moving somewhere abroad.

 

[Dime]

Some fresh rubbers, rdy to be mounted.

 

[Dime]

Fuel tanked ready for painting. When I got it, it was heavily rusted in the inside. I mean, huge chunks of rust, and the meter floater was gone ! I de-rusted the inside with a two-week-long electrolysis. The god damn iron rod almost melted entirely Finished it with some HCL acid and 96% alcohol. Removed a whole lot of nasty stuff. A minor layer of rust formed immediately on the surface, but its still a lot better than it was initially. I was thinking of using a fuel tank sealer as a last step (por-15 or similar), there are some mixed reviews, but since I cannot get my hands on one, I didn't do it.

 

[Retard]

Kontakiraj ovog iz linka. Mjesto Zagreb/HRV Ima jednog 850G u vrlo dobrom stanju. Mobitel je 385 91 7975097 Možeš i viber-om. Bliže tebi neznam.

http://www.tdm-oldmoto.com/