1982 GS1100G rebuild

[jake12]

Ive never done any motorcycle restoration before, but i wanted to dive headfirst into a new hobby, so after a little research, i found my baby. The purpose of this thread is to both add a new line of information to anyone who might work on this in the future, and to help me get advice on whatever problem is current on my restoration. Thanks in advance!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/culhl8l9q03gy5u/IMAG0522.jpg?m
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z9tvrd3j25lhom5/IMAG0701.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/h4a8zpx1cdf6xau/IMAG1155.jpg

I bought her off of eBay for 300 bucks! Brought her home and began to diagnose what she needed.
- New seat/major seat repair due to rust and dry rotting(anybody know which, if any other model suzuki seats will fit?)
- New Tank/fixed tank due to large amounts of rust (turns out it has lots of pin holes on the underside... something i didnt think it had originally.) (Anybody know what other model suzuki tanks will fit?)
- Major carb cleaning/rebuild.
- Change all fluids, seals, and plugs. (its been sitting for 6 years)
- Lots of repainting/chroming
- Points cover had a hole bored into it from previous owner. (Any clue as to why he would do that?) so a new cover and whatever he managed to mess up from that
- Several parts replaced (signals are dangling, missing airbox covers, replace airbox with filters, handlebars, control switches, tires, etc.)
- And whatever else i discover along the way... :-\\\


Currently, i have...
- finished the carb rebuild (replaced all jets, needles, orings, gaskets, etc. and cleaned everything)
- Replaced fuel lines and filter
- changed the oil, oil filter, brake fluids, and secondary and final gear oil.
- replaced blown fuses
- replaced starter solenoid
- new spark plugs

I have a bad connection somewhere, as i cannot get the bike to turn over using the push button. (It turns over fine when i short the solenoid, but im not getting spark either, so no actual crank yet.) I think either the button has a bad connection, the killswitch is screwed up, or the clutch safety switch is bad. Any other thoughts?

Ill keep this forum updated along the way, and any loving words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

A few more pics...
https://www.dropbox.com/s/g5re17ivhoz5iu5/IMAG0863.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qbmiejboehs1ues/IMAG0685.jpg
Nice and clean! https://www.dropbox.com/s/s58wmd5ochipzlc/IMAG0926.jpg
Before... nasty! https://www.dropbox.com/s/j6uquq7cdww4vdd/IMAG0687.jpg

 

[Dogma]

$300 for an 1100G is a very good start. It would have to be a solid lump of rust to be worth less. Too bad your dropbox pics don't appear in the forum. The bike looks to be pretty solid after investigating the picture links.

The "points" cover (an '82 shouldn't have points) has a hole in the casting from the factory. If this hole is visible, then the badge on the cover is missing or damaged.

Don't discard the original carb parts unless they are damaged. They are higher quality than what's in rebuild kits. Your "nice and clean" carbs pic shows carbs that still look dirty on the outside, implying they haven't been dipped. This often results in small passages you can't reach with a spray can still being clogged. At least you got the jets out to replace them. A lot of noobs never even do that.

There should not have been a fuel filter to replace, but with a rusting tank, it may have been necessary. I hope you have a filter on there suitable for the gravity-fed system. I'm not sure of the interchange for the 1100G tank and seat. I think the 1100G and GK from '82 on should work, but I'm not 100% on that. I don't think there are many other options that don't require cutting and welding.

Have you figured out why the fuses you replaced were blown? Delving into this may uncover your starter problems. Go ahead and defeat the clutch safety switch, unless you want it. They're flaky. A very cheap design. Find the connectors behind the headlight and just connect the wires from the harness to each other. It may be a good idea to clean (DeoxIT D5) and protect (dielectric grease) the kill switch and starter button internals. You'll wan't those chemicals on hand when you fix your charging system too.

Once you get it starting, you may find that the pod filters make it run like crap. The carbs need to be re-jetted to work with pods, and they need to be quality pods, by most reports.

You didn't mention adjusting the valve clearances. This should be done sooner than later. Tight valves lead to hard starting and then loss of compression when they burn.

You have a good project there. If you make it through the project, you'll have a nice ride and a lot more know-how.

 

[Steve]

OK, I will just edit in my responses

I bought her off of eBay for 300 bucks! Brought her home and began to diagnose what she needed.
Good score.

- New seat/major seat repair due to rust and dry rotting(anybody know which, if any other model suzuki seats will fit?)
Look for '82 or '83 GS1100G or GS850G. Later years of 850 might be available from overseas, do NOT consider any GL seats, they won't fit.

- New Tank/fixed tank due to large amounts of rust (turns out it has lots of pin holes on the underside... something i didnt think it had originally.) (Anybody know what other model suzuki tanks will fit?)
Same as the seats.

- Major carb cleaning/rebuild.
By the picture, you just sprayed stuff off. Did you separate the carbs, dip them and replace ALL the o-rings, including the ones on the fuel transfer tubes?

- Change all fluids, seals, and plugs. (its been sitting for 6 years)
Did you include the forks and the secondary drive?

- Lots of repainting/chroming
Both can get expensive, especially the chroming.

- Points cover had a hole bored into it from previous owner. (Any clue as to why he would do that?) so a new cover and whatever he managed to mess up from that
No damage there, it is just missing a badge. Previous owner did NOT bore a hole.

- Several parts replaced (signals are dangling, missing airbox covers, replace airbox with filters, handlebars, control switches, tires, etc.)
Mostly good, except for the "filters". Lots of work to get the bike to run correctly with them. Any perceived gain may not be worth all the effort.

- And whatever else i discover along the way... :-\\\
Don't worry, there will be plenty.


Currently, i have...
- finished the carb rebuild (replaced all jets, needles, orings, gaskets, etc. and cleaned everything)
Again, did you separate the carbs and dip them? What did you use for new jets? If you used "carb rebuild kits", you wasted your money and time.

- Replaced fuel lines and filter
What did you use for fuel line? OEM 7mm line is best. There is no external filter in the stock system.

- changed the oil, oil filter, brake fluids, and secondary and final gear oil.
OK, that answered part of my previous question. How about the fork oil? And seals?

- replaced blown fuses
Did you discover why they were blown?

- replaced starter solenoid
Are you sure it didn't work? Might have just been the clutch switch.

- new spark plugs
Stock? B8ES?

I have a bad connection somewhere, as i cannot get the bike to turn over using the push button. (It turns over fine when i short the solenoid, but im not getting spark either, so no actual crank yet.) I think either the button has a bad connection, the killswitch is screwed up, or the clutch safety switch is bad. Any other thoughts?
A few minutes with a voltmeter or a test light will tell you what is wrong. My money is on the clutch switch, it is easy to bypass, if you wish.


Don't forget that a valve adjustment should be very high on your list of things to do.

.

 

[jake12]

- Major carb cleaning/rebuild.
By the picture, you just sprayed stuff off. Did you separate the carbs, dip them and replace ALL the o-rings, including the ones on the fuel transfer tubes?
- No, i didnt. Obviously i was hoping to not spend too much money on a bike that i am not even sure will run yet I do plan on going to that kind of detail before shes ever deemed road-worthy.

- Change all fluids, seals, and plugs. (its been sitting for 6 years)
Did you include the forks and the secondary drive?
- Not yet on the forks, and yes on the secondary

- Points cover had a hole bored into it from previous owner. (Any clue as to why he would do that?) so a new cover and whatever he managed to mess up from that
No damage there, it is just missing a badge. Previous owner did NOT bore a hole.
-Really? thats good to know. It seems like a large hole though

- Several parts replaced (signals are dangling, missing airbox covers, replace airbox with filters, handlebars, control switches, tires, etc.)
Mostly good, except for the "filters". Lots of work to get the bike to run correctly with them. Any perceived gain may not be worth all the effort.
-Good to know. I still have the airbox, so itll go back on if it is too much trouble

- replaced blown fuses
Did you discover why they were blown?
-Any ways to find that out? It was the main fuse

- replaced starter solenoid
Are you sure it didn't work? Might have just been the clutch switch.
-At this point im pretty sure it did work. I originally thought thats why i had nothing happening when i pushed the start button.

- new spark plugs
Stock? B8ES?
-Correct

I have a bad connection somewhere, as i cannot get the bike to turn over using the push button. (It turns over fine when i short the solenoid, but im not getting spark either, so no actual crank yet.) I think either the button has a bad connection, the killswitch is screwed up, or the clutch safety switch is bad. Any other thoughts?
A few minutes with a voltmeter or a test light will tell you what is wrong. My money is on the clutch switch, it is easy to bypass, if you wish.
- Itll be bypassed tomorrow then. I was beginning to lean toward that, and you gave me confidence


Don't forget that a valve adjustment should be very high on your list of things to do.
- It wasnt, but now it is!

 

[Steve]

OK, let's continue.

- Major carb cleaning/rebuild.
By the picture, you just sprayed stuff off. Did you separate the carbs, dip them and replace ALL the o-rings, including the ones on the fuel transfer tubes?
- No, i didnt. Obviously i was hoping to not spend too much money on a bike that i am not even sure will run yet I do plan on going to that kind of detail before shes ever deemed road-worthy.
A full set of o-rings for the carbs and intake boots, along with stainless bolts for the intake tubes is less than $25. Order them from cycleorings.com.

- Change all fluids, seals, and plugs. (its been sitting for 6 years)
Did you include the forks and the secondary drive?
- Not yet on the forks, and yes on the secondary
Just because the forks are not leaking does not mean the seals are good. There simply might not be any oil to leak out. :-\\\

- Points cover had a hole bored into it from previous owner. (Any clue as to why he would do that?) so a new cover and whatever he managed to mess up from that
No damage there, it is just missing a badge. Previous owner did NOT bore a hole.
-Really? thats good to know. It seems like a large hole though
Yes, it's a large hole, but it's there on all of them. Just can't see it from the outside because there is a badge covering it.

- Several parts replaced (signals are dangling, missing airbox covers, replace airbox with filters, handlebars, control switches, tires, etc.)
Mostly good, except for the "filters". Lots of work to get the bike to run correctly with them. Any perceived gain may not be worth all the effort.
-Good to know. I still have the airbox, so itll go back on if it is too much trouble
One nice thing about that bike is that you can install the airbox without removing anything else (except the tank).


- replaced blown fuses
Did you discover why they were blown?
-Any ways to find that out? It was the main fuse
Many things can blow the main fuse, one of the more-common items is a faulty R/R (rectifier/regulator). Some quick testing will determine if it is good or not.

- replaced starter solenoid
Are you sure it didn't work? Might have just been the clutch switch.
-At this point im pretty sure it did work. I originally thought thats why i had nothing happening when i pushed the start button.
Quite common with new guys that don't understand that there is a "safety" switch in the clutch.

- new spark plugs
Stock? B8ES?
-Correct
Good.

I have a bad connection somewhere, as i cannot get the bike to turn over using the push button. (It turns over fine when i short the solenoid, but im not getting spark either, so no actual crank yet.) I think either the button has a bad connection, the killswitch is screwed up, or the clutch safety switch is bad. Any other thoughts?
A few minutes with a voltmeter or a test light will tell you what is wrong. My money is on the clutch switch, it is easy to bypass, if you wish.
- Itll be bypassed tomorrow then. I was beginning to lean toward that, and you gave me confidence
Open the headlight, find the wires the come from the clutch switch (yellow with green stripe). Disconnect the clutch switch from the main harness, re-connect the two terminals on the main harness to each other. The terminals on the clutch switch don't matter, you can leave them as-is.


Don't forget that a valve adjustment should be very high on your list of things to do.
- It wasnt, but now it is!
Plenty of information in the manual, even more help on BassCliff's site,
and I have a spreadsheet available for tracking it all.

 

[jake12]

So, I got nothing when I bypassed the clutch safety switch. I rechecked all my fuses: good. I cleaned my fuse box plug, as well as a bunch of other various connections. I used contact cleaner on my copper button and kill switch connection points, and sanded them a bit as well so a good copper color came through. I swapped the cables on my solenoid terminals to see if maybe I had put the wrong cables on the wrong terminals (there are no markings to indicate which is the battery side and which is the starter side). Battery has a good charge...

Any other bright ideas?

 

[Dogma]

Do you have continuity through all that? How far does the 12V get from the battery through all that starter circuitry?

My 850 would occasionally refuse to start, though it would turn over. I later discovered the ignition wire under the tank had become brittle and was in the process of breaking completely. With the bike running, just pushing on the wiring bundle in this area would kill the bike. I had taken this bike to rallies in that state, not knowing because I never inspected it! Oh, and the 1000G had a broken clip in the fuse panel. I never would have found that unless I dug into it. That bike did fail me at a rally, because I hadn't yet taken control of the electricals.

What I'm trying to say is, if it's not the switches and connectors, it's the wires in between. Use a multi-meter to check for continuity and voltage drops in the circuit. Look for other signs of decaying wires (future problems) along the way: chafing on the frame, burnt-looking insulation, stiff wires, etc.

With the switches and connectors checked, there's nothing left to do but methodically test everything, starting at the battery and checking for 12V at every point along the way.

 

[jake12]

Alright, I got her fixed. Turns out it was the ignition switch! It wasnt making a connection in the far right position. I can now turn the bike over by pushing the start button instead if shorting out the solenoid. At this point, I am getting spark in all four plugs, but it hasn't decided to actually crank yet.

Any suggestions? I gapped the plugs, have fresh gas, a good battery (until I drained it trying to start it). I heard starter fluid is a bad idea, but is it so bad even in a tiny squirt? I'll not use that until its a last resort.

 

[Good Times]

If it's turning over and you've got spark then it has to be fuel.

You're choking it right?

Is it trying to start?
Sputter and die or just turn over?

Is your idle knob turned up enough for the bike to idle?

If you have fuel going in with spark in the cylinder it should start. Pretty simple system.

I actually started mine with three loose plugs and two untightened carbs yesterday. (unintentionally) Couldn't believe it!

 

[jake12]

No sputters, just turning over. Its choked, but i dont know exactly how the idle should be set, since this bike has been sitting for 6 years and i have never seen her run. I'll get some new gas and try that. The gas that I tried today is only a month or so old, but I guess it could be going bad. What octane do you suggest?

 

[Good Times]

Low octain is fine an I'm betting that it isn't the gas going bad. It's not getting to or through the carbs for some reason.

If you're choking it then the idle shouldn't be an issue until you take the choke off after it's started.

At least it's turning over. That's good.

If it were me I would:
1) Check the petcock to see if fuel is flowing from it.
2) Check to see if I hooked the fuel lines up right. Make sure that the vacuum and fuel lines are switched.
3) If they were ok then I would check to see if there were gas in the float bowls by taking one of the drain screws out.

Somewhere you got something keeping fuel from getting into the cylinders.

 

[jake12]

So, today I got the bike to crank for the first time since I've had it, and the first time in at least six years of the bikes life. It sounded like a dream! I got it to start by spraying gas into the carbs though... using a spray bottle. The bike wouldn't idle long though, only five seconds at best. And if I gave it throttle, it totally choked out. Does it look to you guys like the carbs are still not functioning right? I've got gas going to them from a bottle, fuel line, and inline filter. They are definitely getting gas, as all if them have full bowls when I take out the plugs. I played with the idle screw some, and it helped a bit. Could it just be that they need a good syncing?

 

[Good Times]

Try it without the filter.

 

[Steve]

Does it look to you guys like the carbs are still not functioning right?

That's an easy one. No, they are not functioning correctly.

My first clue? I have not seen where you posted "OK, so I finally cleaned the carbs properly and replaced the o-rings ..."

I've got gas going to them from a bottle, fuel line, and inline filter. They are definitely getting gas, as all if them have full bowls when I take out the plugs. I played with the idle screw some, and it helped a bit. Could it just be that they need a good syncing?

Yes, they will need a good sync, but that will come AFTER you clean them properly and replace all the o-rings.

Getting gas into the bowls is very easy and a very small problem. As you have found, it's not getting from the bowls into the engine. That is because all the tiny little passages INSIDE the carb bodies are plugged with gunk. The ONLY thing that is going to clean them up for you is to take the carbs apart, soak all the metallic parts in Berryman's (or Gunk) Carb Cleaner Dip overnight and replace all the o-rings with new ones from cycleorings.com when you put them together. THEN you can put them on the bike and do your carb sync.

We keep telling you what is most likely wrong. You keep guessing that it's everything else. We only have so much patience. :-\\\

.

 

[jake12]

OK, so heres the current situation.
Ive replaced ALL the o-rings, including the intake ones behind the intake boots. Ive dipped the carbs twice each, and made sure that every single passageway is flowing nicely. They are back on the bike, and with a little coaxing from a spray bottle of gasoline, they idle great once warmed up a bit.

Two questions.
1: the choke when all the way on makes the bike run at some crazy high rpms. but once warmed up and the choke off, the bike idles perfectly around 1000.
2: While idling around 1000, when i hit the throttle it chokes out and will cut off if i dont release the throttle.

Any thoughts?

by the way, the carbs are deliciously clean.