what did you wrench on today??

[Grimly]

Grimly, I too have a Suzi (81-850g) dripping with Vetter stuff the latest addition being a pair of Hippo Hands.
The reason I replied to your post is your observation of the fairing being offset to the tank.
My fairing has the same issue being maybe, 1/4 to 3/8s inch to the right.
I thought the same thing maybe bumped at some point, but if anything the fairing should probably be a little left as it has a little road rash on its right side. I think the jig the mount was welded in was the problem.
You need the BIG UGLY Vetter trunk next,,, lol
Fred

I think you're probably right. I had a good look at the bracket and can't see any sign of damage or kinking of the support tubes. This isn't the first time that the possibility of jig misaligment has been brought up, and I wonder if the dealerships have any recollection of badly-made brackets and fairings being difficult to fit because of them. Certainly, as a new owner, having just shelled out many dollars for a new bike and new fairing, I'd be quite pee'd off if it didn't sit right and left a large gap to the tank on one side.
It might be that some of the brackets on the used market now are the rejects that got returned, or thrown to the back of the dealers' shelves, 40 years ago. Their history would have been long forgotten by now.

 

[Gorminrider]

Re: Vetter fairing mount- I have the same thing going on with a bracket made for a Honda Silverwing! I thought it was just me...And, it's got VETTER stamped on it, so I'm assuming it's the "real thing". Exact same fairing as yours,Grimly.
But there is no bad effect noticed from it at 120kmh- quite the opposite versus this bike naked.. I think I would notice too, because I've swapped naked->faired in the same day....curious, eh wot?

 

[Buffalo Bill]

Been stuck on carb tuning for the last 2 weeks, I hate it.

 

[lurch12_2000]

Been stuck on carb tuning for the last 2 weeks, I hate it.

Get a used fuel injected SV650 and do a lot more riding. It may not look as cool as the old vintage GSes, but it's more reliable, quicker on the streets, handles better, is lighter and costs less factoring all the work($) for the old stuff. Press the starter and no matter how cold it fires right up and ready to take off in a few seconds without the sputtering. Then you can ride more, later come home and tinker, and tell everyone you still like the old stuff and show off pics of the vintage bikes that mostly sits in the garage.

 

[WolfworksCustoms]

Just modded my Russian SKS to cleanly accept a 30 rd mag.....and yes, its fully legal....grandfathered under "historic"....a lil welding, a lil Dremel....smooth as silk now.....almost as nice as my .303 Brit....
I should get an FFL....be easy enough for me....

I also made my own sidestand for my GS700ES today.....that was cake....I cut off the kickdown part from a Vulcan centerstand. Piece of steel inside, and weld her up. Too cold to paint it today though.

 

[WolfworksCustoms]

and tell everyone you still like the old stuff and show off pics of the vintage bikes

Aint that the cats azz ?....'cept all my vintage stuff runs, almost daily !....
I got 20 yr olds coming to me askin me to show em how to do blacksmithing (I have a forge and anvil....I make knives from RR spikes)....I love it....I love sharing what I know....many dont, and die with pearls of wisdom....not Wolfie....someone wants to learn, I'll teach.....

Heh...i had a buddy here this past summer (kid, late 20s ?), bought 2 new tires for his bike....I showed him how to do it with tire irons...cursed the heck outta me when I told him my buddy 2 houses down had a tire machine, lol.....but hay....he LEARNED something that Im willin to bet many dont even know....he may never need to do it again, but if he does.....and I made him sweat !....if he ever has kids that are into bikes, i hope he passes it on to them.

 

[loud et]

Been working on a one off seat for my 850 brat project.
Made the pan,layered foam, self sewn cover.....
Second attempt going better than the first (which looked like a warped piece of plywood covered in tar paper) lol
Seats are easy to make but HARD to make look good!
The first cover was out of an old leather coat....the one I'm doing now is out of a suitable vinyl material.
Then I go through all that work and I don't love how it looks......may keep it, may go for round three.

 

[Guest]

Finished my motor swap and electrical short issue. Now I need a decent seat.

 

[Guest]

Pic 2 if the bike.

 

[Guest]

Another try for a decent right side up full size pic.

 

[steve murdoch]

Well done, Jonn.
And just to give you another headache....now we need a video of your hot rod running through the gears.

 

[uk gs nut]

I`ve not posted for a while, don't mean i`ve not been busy. Its the winter and time for maintenance, had a slight oil leak on 1000 it was from shift shaft oil seal. So I changed that, also my volts have been a little low so I swapped out the stator, it was original so not bad for close on 90k miles. Dropped the sump/oil pan to clean pickup screen, found drain plug was suspect so fitted another sump from my spares. Also on another subject Brakes, or lack of! on my 750. Getting from one bike with fireblade discs/rotors back onto standard Suzuki brakes was a wake up. So I fitted a set to the 750, should be good now View attachment 43119

 

[trippivot]

nightmare on suzuki street

nightmare on suzuki street

So have you ever seen this?

http://


Meow - a hot rod GS - bought site unseen - not running - not mine -- but I am the one who is bringing it back to life.

Well , I like to open the clutch case and drop the oil pan to check for debris in the sump canister before getting in a hurry to hear it run .. and for good reason.

 

[uk gs nut]

Strange one that, there shouldn't be a heavy load on the two pegs it only drives the oil pump. What,s the back of the clutch basket like ?, have the pegs been located right. Time to fit some high volume drive gears.

 

[trippivot]

this IS a 38T high volume oil pump gear. the clutch basket is very nice. any other ideas? Because I know the how and why, which is why I check a few basics before making an engine run.

 

[Buffalo Bill]

#2 cylinder only shows 145psi, the others all show 170-180psi.
Engine was tested right after running so it was still warm and wet.

 

[WolfworksCustoms]

the clutch basket is very nice

Have you tried drilling the basket ?...wet clutches love the molasass...the more you can perforate you clutch basket, the wetter your clutch plates will be.....also NB....wet clutches dont seem to like the synthetic oils too much....Ive always stuck with Castrol GTX ever since the 70s....never failed me....

 

[Grimly]

Yesterday...

Bit of an unexpected result, but nice to have my hunch proved right.
The Raydyot 7" Fireballs (UK market driving lamp) with the older deep-dish metal body, have a factory H4 socket in the back of the bowl, this is fitted with an H3 converter. The lens is more of a distance thrower though, so I doubt it'd be a good performer on dip. No matter, as the deep dish means the Hellas can go straight in there with no mods required.
The later, slimmer Fireballs have the same diameter, so will happily take a Hella unit, but need the back hole-cut to allow the rear of the bulb and connector to poke out. I'll make a rear housing and epoxy that on.

 

[Guest]

Will epoxy handle the heat? Better use high temp stuff.

 

[Grimly]

Yesterday:
Slapped some paint on the rear tail-light housing and the second coat on the sidepanels today. Nothing special, just brush-on black, to at least give it a fleeting appearance of tidiness for a while. I may do the fairing black, but I rather like it in its burgundy semi-metallic, so will devise a simple colour scheme to split the tank and tops of of the panels to match it in.

Tomorrow (today):
Well, ready to go out on the road with it, weather permitting for its first run out.
There are several things done, all at the same workshop time
1, New fork legs from a GS1000, with a mix and match of 1000 stanchions, 850 lowers, 1000 HD springs, and air suspension too.
2, The fairing - at the moment there's nothing in or on the fairing, so I'll get a feel of what that's like unladen. 3, I'll resist adding extra weight to the fairing - Cycle Sounds, etc, are more suited to long straight roads after I've got the feel of it. Apart from that, the XJ9 will be the bike I intend to use for longer distance trips, and on-board sounds / intercoms / satnavs, etc, can go on the Pantera II fairing that will be fitted on that, and it's more more amenable to having gadgets fitted. Whereas sounds and instruments were afterthought add-ons for the Vetter, the Pantera had the places for them already moulded in, just waiting to be filled.