I couldn't decide if I should post here or in general discussion. Anyway, Here's the story. I am the very proud owner of an 81 GS110EX. Some of you may recognize my name from previous posts as I've been a member for a while. I love this site and have gotten addicted to it and old Suzukis in general- just can't get enough! All summer long my ride has been in sick bay with a good friend at the helm. I have no garage, live in an apartment building, and just don't have a place to rip apart the bike and give it the royal treatment. This guy said he would do whatever I wanted for $15 / hr., so I took him up on it. It has about 34k miles on it and was given to me by my best friend. He bought it with around 20k on the clock, never really did any maintenence on it, and then gave it to me when he bought a brand new bike (about 6k miles after he got it). He and I both thought the Suzuki would crap out soon, but it never did. This is why I never did any work on it. Every springtime I would simply drop the battery back in and she would fire right up. I became more and more fond of this bike every time I went for a ride. This year I discovered this web site and the rest is history. I am now in the middle of a very badly needed facelift. Here is what I have done so far:
1. The head was getting very noisy- Dan (my repair guy- I trust him, we go drinking together) pulled it apart and said it was trashed. I put the word in on this site and the next day Terry Conant had a nice replacement in the mail. Dan mounted it up. Got a gasket kit from a member- oh yeah, the head leaked like a sieve.
2. The bike hadn't had a carb cleaning in years and was loseing power. Dan pulled 'em apart and de-funkified them.
3. Clutch was slipping- repalced it.
4. Bike had been layed down once by my drunk best friend. Aint he a peach? God love him. Stator cover had hole in it that was filled with high temp epoxy. Another member here sold me a nice new one.
5. Oil drain plug stripped (from aforementioned drunk buddy). Helicoiled it.
6. Replaced sprockets ft and rear, and am waiting for a chain (can you believe it? all this and now it's the chain the parts store can't get? Well, it's all the best stuff).
I have bought the entire body from a guy I found off e-bay. All extremely good condition and in my original color. Even the seat, and it's like new. much better than my rotted old duct tape seat. I've taken the pan from that old piece of trash and mounted a sweet double bucket Travelcade cover on it for when the wife wants to come along. When the chain comes in (should be in the next day or two) I will take the bike back from Dan, and mount the body myself. That will be the fun part, because these parts are so new, and the ones are compleate junk! It will look like a new bike.
Finally the question! As you can see (those of you who would read such a long post) I have invested quite a sum into this bike. I love that machine! The tally so far will be around $1200.00 and I am not afraid to go further if I have to. Does anyone have suggestions as to what else I should do to ensure I am riding this bike for years to come?
1. The head was getting very noisy- Dan (my repair guy- I trust him, we go drinking together) pulled it apart and said it was trashed. I put the word in on this site and the next day Terry Conant had a nice replacement in the mail. Dan mounted it up. Got a gasket kit from a member- oh yeah, the head leaked like a sieve.
2. The bike hadn't had a carb cleaning in years and was loseing power. Dan pulled 'em apart and de-funkified them.
3. Clutch was slipping- repalced it.
4. Bike had been layed down once by my drunk best friend. Aint he a peach? God love him. Stator cover had hole in it that was filled with high temp epoxy. Another member here sold me a nice new one.
5. Oil drain plug stripped (from aforementioned drunk buddy). Helicoiled it.
6. Replaced sprockets ft and rear, and am waiting for a chain (can you believe it? all this and now it's the chain the parts store can't get? Well, it's all the best stuff).
I have bought the entire body from a guy I found off e-bay. All extremely good condition and in my original color. Even the seat, and it's like new. much better than my rotted old duct tape seat. I've taken the pan from that old piece of trash and mounted a sweet double bucket Travelcade cover on it for when the wife wants to come along. When the chain comes in (should be in the next day or two) I will take the bike back from Dan, and mount the body myself. That will be the fun part, because these parts are so new, and the ones are compleate junk! It will look like a new bike.
Finally the question! As you can see (those of you who would read such a long post) I have invested quite a sum into this bike. I love that machine! The tally so far will be around $1200.00 and I am not afraid to go further if I have to. Does anyone have suggestions as to what else I should do to ensure I am riding this bike for years to come?