Silver engine paint for a 1982 1100EZ

[yhprum]

Hi Steve here, new guy!
I have a 82 GS1100EZ that I have had since 1984:-D.
It has the silver engine and champagne bodywork. Mostly original except a dynojet kit back in 86.
Anyhow, I would like to know if anyone has any suggestions for a silver paint that would be a close match to the original, I's a bit beat up on the front lower side.Thanks I want to keep her for another 20 years.
Steve

[Dave8338]

Sounds like you have a great bike there. Welcome to the fourm. If you lurked for long...you'll know that Basscliff will be along shortly to give you the official welcome. As I've not repainted a Suzuki engine yet, I can only suggest options, though there are those here (Bruce aka. Renobruce, Keith, Cheff, and others) who have done show-class rebuilds that will have the exact products you need and where you can get them.

Good luck and welcome to the best fourm on the net...if it has to do with a GS, there is more collective knowledge here than the factory had. \\/

[BassCliff]

Hey howdy hey!

Mr. yhprum,

(As predicted by Mr. Dave8338...)

I can tell by your post count that you are a new member. Therefore you are entitled to my totally humongous, totally ginormous, totally verbose, terminally hip and tragically cool mega-welcome! \\/

Let it be known that on this day you are cordially and formally welcomed to the GSR Forum as a Junior Member in good standing with all the rights and privileges thereof. Further let it be known that your good standing can be improved with pictures (not you, your bike)!

Perhaps you've already seen these, but I like to remind all the new members. In addition to the carb rebuild series, I recommend visiting the garage section via the GSR Homepage and check out the Stator Papers. There's also a lot of great information in the Old Q&A section. I have some documentation on my little BikeCliff website to help get you familiar with doing routine maintenance tasks (note that it is 850G-specific but many tasks are common to all GS bikes). Other "user contributed" informational sites include those of Mr. bwringer, Mr. tfb and Mr. robertbarr.

And here are some edited quotes from one of our dear beloved gurus, Mr. bwringer, with ideas on basic needs (depending on initial condition), parts, and accessories.

***********Quoted from Mr. bwringer************
Carburetor maintenance:

Replace the intake boot o-rings, and possibly the intake boots. Here's the procedure:

http://bwringer.com/gs/intakeorings.html

Here's an overview of what happens with this particular problem:

http://cycleorings.com/intake.html

You'll also want to examine the boots between the carbs and the airbox. There's a good chance these are OK, but check them over.

And finally, if things still aren't exactly right, you'll want to order a set of o-rings for BS carbs from the GS owner's best friend, Robert Barr:
http://cycleorings.com

Once you receive these rare rings of delight, then you'll want to thoroughly clean and rebuild your carburetors. Here are step-by-step instructions that make this simple:

http://thegsresources.com/gs_carbrebuild.htm

***********************************
Every GS850 has (or had) a set of well-known issues that MUST be addressed before you have a solid baseline for further troubleshooting. It's a vintage bike, and it's quite common (as in, every single GS850 I have had contact with) that there are multiple problems that have crept up and slowly gotten worse over the years. It's not like a newer vehicle, where there's generally one problem at a time.

These common issues are:

1. Intake O-rings (install NEW OEM or Viton only - common nitrile O-rings will quickly deteriorate from heat)
2. Intake Boots (install NEW -- these cannot be repaired)
3. Valve clearances (more important than most people think)
4. Carb/airbox boots
5. Airbox sealing
6. Air filter sealing
7. Petcock (install a NEW one)
8. On '79 models, install new points or Dyna electronic ignition (or at least verify that the old points are working correctly)
9. On all models, it's fairly common to have problems with the spark plug caps. These are $3 or $4 each, and often worth replacing if you're keeping the stock coils/wires.
10. Stock exhaust with NO leaks or holes -- good seals at the head and at the junctions underneath.
***************************************
OEM Parts/Online Fiches:

I would definitely double and triple the recommendations to use Cycle Recycle II and Z1 Enterprises as much as possible. These guys are priceless resources. Z1 tends to have slightly better prices, CRC2 has a wider range of goodies available. If you're near Indy and can bring in an old part to match, CRC2 has a vast inventory of used parts.

http://denniskirk.com - Put in your bike model and see what they have.
http://oldbikebarn.com - seems to be slowly regaining a decent reputation, but it's still caveat emptor. They don't have anything you can't get elsewhere at a better price anyway.
http://www.babbittsonline.com/ - Decent parts prices. Spendy shipping. Don't give you part numbers at all. Useful cross-reference if you obtain a part number elsewhere. Efficient service.
http://bikebandit.com - Fastest. Middlin' prices. Uses their own parts numbering system to obfuscate price comparisons -- can be very confusing for large orders. Cheapest shipping, so total cost usually isn't too bad.
http://flatoutmotorcycles.com - Slow. Cheapest parts prices, crazy shipping costs. Don't expect progress updates or much communication. Real Suzuki part numbers.
http://alpha-sports.com - Exorbitant parts prices. Different type of fiche interface that's quite useful at times, especially with superceded part numbers. Real parts numbers. Shipping cost and speed unknown due to insane, unholy pricing.

Stainless Bolts, Viton o-rings, metric taps, dies, assorted hard-to-find supplies and materials, etc:

http://mcmaster.com - Fast, cheap shipping, good prices. No order minimum, but many items like bolts come in packs of 25 or 50. Excellent resource.
http://motorcycleseatcovers.com - Great quality, perfect fit (on original seat foam), and available for pretty much every bike ever made. Avoid the textured vinyl -- it's perforated.
http://newenough.com - You DO have riding gear, don't you? Great clearances, always outstanding prices and impeccable service.
***************End Quote**********************
Here are some extra links:

The Rice Paddy (salvage/used)
http://www.ricepaddymotorcycles.com
Ron Ayers Motorsports
http://www.ronayers.com
MR Cycles
http://www.mrcycles.com
Lots of good info/pictures here:
http://www.suzukicycles.org

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed of your progress. There's lots of good folk with good experience here.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
(The unofficial GSR greeter)

[sharpy]

paint

I used VHT universal aluminium engine paint on mine and its that close its not funy. havent painted the tappet cover at all and matches pefectly. Coming up to 8 yrs now on the road and still perfect. But that was with a COMPLETE pull down and acid bath to clean evrything before painting. On GS and early GSX engines the lower cases are not painted as standard. Food for thought.

[Nessism]

Sorry if this sound argumentative but I used VHT aluminum engine paint on my 550 engine and it does not match the factory color. The paint Suzuki used has more gloss and is brighter silver. Not to say it doesn’t look good, just not stock. It might be worth a look to see if VHT makes a silver paint, instead of the aluminum color (small but significant distinction – gloss will still be off though).

[sharpy]

?

Dont know if any differance between universal aluminum and your aluminum paint but i know mine is a perfect match and has won trophys and people pick it to peices and can't fault the paint. Sorry to be a smarty and dont like fighting. LOL

Sorry if this sound argumentative but I used VHT aluminum engine paint on my 550 engine and it does not match the factory color. The paint Suzuki used has more gloss and is brighter silver. Not to say it doesn’t look good, just not stock. It might be worth a look to see if VHT makes a silver paint, instead of the aluminum color (small but significant distinction – gloss will still be off though).

[Nessism]

Dont know if any differance between universal aluminum and your aluminum paint but i know mine is a perfect match and has won trophys and people pick it to peices and can't fault the paint. Sorry to be a smarty and dont like fighting. LOL

Your bike looks great and any trophy you get is well deserved. Don't confuse this with paint that matches the factory though. Your bike is modified and is being judged accordingly.

All I'm saying is that VHT Aluminum Engine Paint does not match the factory Suzuki engine paint in terms of gloss (it's duller), nor in silver content. I've spent over 20 years in the OE automotive business (in quality), including participating many color studies, so I know a little about what I'm saying.

A photo of my engine, with VHT paint, below - note the lack of gloss. The photo doesn't show the difference really well but on things like the valve cover, and the back of the engine, the difference in paint is plainly evident, to me anyway.