What mods would you do to a GS850/1000GX?

[DonL]

Hi all,

Been reading the threads and posts and enjoying them.
My question is this:
If you had a 1981 GS850 or GS1000 GX, what mechanical or electrical improvements or modifications would you make to the bike, keeping in mind that it should look basically stock?

I'm looking to enhance reliability and longevity.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and opinions!

 

[SqDancerLynn1]

"I'm looking to enhance reliability and longevity."

Just keep it stock, do your maintance & keep it clean

 

[Nessism]

Number one mod is to make a dedicated ground from your R/R to the battery. Replacing the R/R with a better unit is also recommended. Other than that I'd recommend you do all the maintaince - including some things that that may not be malfunctioning right now. Replacing the carb O-rings, carb boots w/O-rings, etc. will ward off future problems since these rubber parts get old and harden with age. Replacing brake lines, fuel lines, also can't hurt.

Good luck.

 

[mark]

If your suspension is original equipement and you have a few miles on the bike, progressive suspension springs on the front and rear would be a big improvement.

 

[DonL]

It has 19,500 miles on it.
So far the list is:
1. Make a dedicated ground from your R/R to the battery (Nessism)
What guage wire is required?
Is that in the stator papers?

2. Replacing the R/R with a better unit (Nessism)
Is the one from Electrosport.com the preferred?

3. Replacing the carb O-rings, carb boots w/O-rings (Nessism)
I just purchased 4 "carb kits" off ebay. They seemed
to be complete, needles and seats, o rings, gaskets, jets, etc
no diaphrams though.

4. Progressive suspension springs on the front and rear (Mark)
I was looking at the springs and the 416 air shocks for the rear.


Is there a need to find one of the Telefix fork braces? I noticed Superbrace doesn't have one to fit.

How about an oil cooler? I have a "donor" bike (really ratted out) that has a Lockhart unit on it.

 

[Fare]

orings for the manifold and the carbs can be found here Gaskets here

R/R can be electrosport or an old honda cx500 r/r(if your junk yard has em cheap, go this route).

Most people are going to also suggest replacing manifold boots and airbox boots.

coils and stator are more on a need-to-have basis....

I'm sure theres more =p

 

[DonL]

Thanks for the info!
I'll start with these suggestions!

 

[Steve]

1. Make a dedicated ground from your R/R to the battery
What guage wire is required?

The existing ground wire for the r/r is probably a 16- or 14-gauge wire, so use the same or larger. You can remove the wire from its present ground point and extend it to the battery or just add a second wire from the present ground point to the battery. Either way, make sure the connections are clean and tight. In some cases, the wire is "grounded" to the battery case, which is rubber-insulated, making it a not very good grounding point.

2. Replacing the R/R with a better unit
Is the one from Electrosport.com the preferred?

If you are looking for a new unit with a warranty, Electrosport is a decent choice. If you want to save some money (and take a small chance), just about any Honda r/r found on eBay will do the job. Look for units from bikes that are 500cc and up.

3. Replacing the carb O-rings, carb boots w/O-rings
I just purchased 4 "carb kits" off ebay. They seemed to be complete, needles and seats, o rings, gaskets, jets, etc no diaphrams though.

The only parts from those kits that you should really use would be the o-rings and gaskets. Some of the kits have inferior-quality jets that may affect proper operation of your carbs. Better to strip down the carbs and clean all of your stock jets thoroughly and re-use them. You will typically NOT find diphragms included in a rebuild kit. Too bad you have already bought your kits. A better (and cheaper) solution is to replace all the o-rings that are available at cycleorings.com. He can also provide the o-rings for the intake boots.

4. Progressive suspension springs on the front and rear
I was looking at the springs and the 416 air shocks for the rear.

The 416s are nice, if you have air available to adjust the ride height. They work very well on my GoldWing and on my previous Kawasaki Voyager both bikes have on-board compressors). If you don't have air available, a better choice would be the 412-series. I did a quick search on specs. The 416 air shocks have a spring rate of 80/120, then use air to fine-tune. The 412-4211C has a rate of 90/130 and the 412-4212 has a rate of 105/150. Which one you choose would depend on your size and whether you ride with a passenger. Best to call Progressive and get their recommendation.

R/R can be electrosport or an old honda cx500 r/r(if your junk yard has em cheap, go this route).

See my comments above, this does not have to be specifically from a CX500, it can come from just about any Honda, 500cc and up. Also look for about 1980 and later, as some earlier bikes had sparate rectifiers and regulators.


.

 

[Grandpa]

A K & N air filter unit, the one that fits on the stock air cleaner frame, is nice to have. It's durable, serviceable, and made of stronger material than the stock foam unit. I'm not talking "pods", but strictly stock. No jetting mods necessary.

I also recommend a sealed battery, to "enhance reliability and longevity". More expensive, but in the long run it's worth it, especially if you ride a lot. No need to check electrolyte level any more.

I have an extra set of wheels, on which are installed brand-new tires, ready to be installed on the motorcycle. The wheels are off a GS850 I used to own. As I write this, sitting in my garage I have a 16-in rear tire installed on the stock 16-in GK rear wheel; installed on my GK right now is the 17-in rear wheel off the 850. They interchange with no problem. Spacing is different, but it all works out. Same with the front.

Advantages of this setup:
1. Replacing tires is a one-step operation -- off with the old, on with the new. This change is done by me, at my convenience. No need to take the wheel somewhere to have a new tire installed, while the bike sits in the garage with just one wheel on.

2. Each wheel has its own discs installed. Discs will wear, and therefore, I'm spreading disc wear among four wheels instead of two. My GK has 121,000 miles, all but 25,000 mine. Never had to worry about disc wear.

3. Each rear wheel has the old-style driven wheel spline set in it. Even the old-style wheel spline sets will wear. I spread out the wear among two different wheels.

You said you value longevity, and so do I. Convenience is also of value to me.

Always have in your garage a set of front and rear brake pads. Get them well ahead of time, and install them at your convenience to coincide with wheel replacement. I buy my pads on eBay; you should be patient and not need them right away. Planning ahead is the key. I replace the brake fluid, front and rear, once a year, to keep things clean -- longevity is the key here, and meticulous maintenance is the way to longevity.

I also have 7 new oil filters in my garage. Got a great deal on 5 of them on eBay. Convenience is the key.

Ever since my Moto Guzzi days (79-86) I've been using Grand Touring brand hand grips. They're of larger diameter than the stock ones and quite comfortable on long rides. I replace them every 3 years (they do wear out).
I get them from my local Yamaha dealer, whom I like to visit once in a while and buy little stuff from him.

I have a custom seat made by Diamond Custom Seats, out of Florida. Not cheap, but well worth it for someone who rides a lot. The more comfortable you are (seat and handlebar grips), the more you'll ride your bike, which contributes to reliability and longevity. Investigate ways to make the sagging seat, (surely it isn't what it used to be, after all these years), more comfortable, with thigh support, spread of weight, and firmness.

I agree with the mods the others have mentioned. I also have the r/r ground wire on the GK, new rubber boots, etc. Good suggestions.

Oil cooler? Not necessary. Some will disagree with me on this one. I say concentrate on all these items before deciding on an oil cooler. If it were necessary for longevity, I would have had one long ago. I've had four GS850's, and now my GK, for 22 riding seasons and well over a quarter million miles on GS bikes, whose longevity and reliability have been quite good without oil coolers. Just my opinion.

 

[RobGS850L]

One other small suggestion. Clean all the electrical connections. You could find yourself on a twisty with no headlight or power to the ignition in the middle of the night. Been there and done that. Go to Radio Shack and get some electrical contact cleaner. Works great and will also help out the R/R situation. Bad connections at the R/R area will kill the stator. My R/R was scalding hot until I cleaned up the connectors now it runs cool. Stock unit from 1980 with 36k miles. Some guys have actually soldered the R/R connections. I did on my 1100E when I switched out to the Honda R/R. I ride alot and continue to ride in the winter and found that in humid weather the connectors do get a bit corroded. Even in storage I would think to check them anyhow. Just my 2 bits worth.

 

[bwringer]

Solder the stator connectors, and bypass the detour that one leg of the stator takes through the headlight shell.

Premium tires -- probably Pirelli Sport Demons or Avon RoadRiders if you have a G model with a 17" rear wheel. If you have a 16" rear wheel, the Dunlop Elite III is an excellent longer-wearing choice. Cheng Shin (HiMax), Michelin (Macadam), Metzeler, and Bridgestone (BT45) also make excellent tires in the correct sizes. It's hard to go wrong these days, but I'd avoid the extremely short-lived Dunlop 404. Learn to change your own tires, too.

Dittos on upgrading the suspension. Progressive is a great choice, but there are a few others -- Hagon, Works, IKON, or even Ohlins if you're rich...

Do all the other upgrades before worrying about a fork brace. The Telefix is about $180 these days through Wild Hair Accessories. Rather spendy, IMHO, for a minimal benefit.

I'd also say Dyna coils (green) and the spark plug wires of your choice are also a good upgrade. If your stock coils and wires are in excellent shape, at least replace the spark plug boots. (Use only NGK B8-ES spark plugs, by the way.) The Dyna electronic ignition is also worth considering, although the OEM ignition system seems to be extremely reliable.

I'd also echo the advice to scare up an early-style spline unit ASAP, and keep it well-lubed with the Honda 60% moly spline lube.

 

[DonL]

Solder the stator connectors, and bypass the detour that one leg of the stator takes through the headlight shell.

I will have to get in the wiring diagram to find that one out.
I have a strange stator that has an extra yellow and extra white wire, so there seems to be 5 wires coming out of it.

I'd also say Dyna coils (green) and the spark plug wires of your choice are also a good upgrade. If your stock coils and wires are in excellent shape, at least replace the spark plug boots. (Use only NGK B8-ES spark plugs, by the way.) The Dyna electronic ignition is also worth considering, although the OEM ignition system seems to be extremely reliable.

Yes, NGK B8ES plugs make it run really good. It doesn't like the ND plugs.
Use NGK plug boots also?
It seems to have electronic ignition as there are no points under the points cover.

I'd also echo the advice to scare up an early-style spline unit ASAP, and keep it well-lubed with the Honda 60% moly spline lube.

I have two other rear drive units. One is on my 80 parts donor bike (left out in a field for over a year)
Do the drive shaft splines wear out that quickly?
Which end? The motor end or drive unit end?

 

[Grandpa]

Do the drive shaft splines wear out that quickly?
Which end? The motor end or drive unit end?

What wears is the spline set that is pressed into the wheel, the driven splines. You have to remove the rear wheel, pry the spline set out, and inspect it. Inspecting it without getting the whole thing out is useless, because wear won't show.

The wheel splines, in turn, will wear out the drive splines on the rear end unit. If your bike is a GS1000G, then the old black driven spline set is most probably what you have in the rear wheel. This is good, as these wear out very slowly.

Use NGK boots. Just replace them ASAP. The stock ones will wear out and corrode. Then the bike will start missing and cutting out and acting weird, driving you nuts. Guess how I know. Simple replacement, simple solution.