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1983 GS1100E has been dormant for about 3 yrs.

  • Thread starter Thread starter afweinie
  • Start date Start date
A

afweinie

Guest
I am planning to purchase this bike from a friend of mine and I had a few Questions to run by those here that know more about bikes than I do, especially Ole GS's.

Let me see if I can give a little background on the bike:
I'll be the third owner. The first was a resident of the Dakotas or therabouts and kept it garaged its first 10 years of life where he only accumulated 3000 miles:shock: My friend bought it around 1993 and over the next 10 years or so he racked up about another 14,000 on it so it's sitting somewhere around 17k right now. The thing is that he quit riding it about 3 years ago because he got tired of dealing with the bad drivers on the crowded streets around me. It is stock as far as I know. The bike seems to reflect that it has been garage kept with the previous owners as it seems to be pretty nice shape now and would look a lot better after a bath. My buddy has actually kept the bike inside the house (air conditioned). It has not seen any exposure to the weather, salt, excessive sun, and probably very little critters taking up residence. The battery will need replaced, as will the fluids and filters. I have not looked in the tank, but I don't expect any corrosion there, although I could be wrong. Where I figure my main problem will be is the carbs getting plugged up from the old fuel evaporating to a varnish. I plan on either cleaning them myself or having it done professionally, and probably a tune-up while I'm at it. He has also bought the 530 chain and sprockets to do the conversion. I know that is covered elsewhere in here.

That is where my question comes in. What else am I not thinking of??? Everything else looks pretty damn good considering. The only corrosion was pretty much confined to the discs and some minor hardware. The tires showed no signs of cracking. The seat had a rip up near the front where they tend to tear.

I am really looking foreward to getting this puppy back in good working order so I can hit the road\\:D/. I just am trying to come up with a realistic list of what it will need and how much I may have to spend. Oh yeah, it is going to cost me $1000 for the bike including the chain and sprockets, and whatever else he don't want:-D

Thanks for your time and help, I'm liking this place.
 
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After carbs and chain...Fork seals, fork oil, front springs, tires, brake pads, brake hoses, new fuel line. Maybe rear shocks if you have any $$$ left. Cracked or not, I'd still replace the tires. When the @#$% hits the fan, their all thats keeping you out of ICU.
 
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When I did mine (and she was in awful shape) I did just the basics to get her roadworthy. Then, I tackled one system at a time, finally she's all done and has become my pride and joy.
 
8trackmind,
I figured the suspension would probably need some work once parts start moving again. I have not seen what the tire sizes are to price relacements, but I'll look it up. I saw fork seals, brakes, and Progressive Suspension makes springs for the front and shocks & springs for the rear. The brake pads also crossed my mind but I was leaning toward replacing them after the surface rust came off the discs unless they are excessively worn. Good idea on the brake lines and fuel lines. I had thought to change brake fluid out. I guess fuel varnish in the lines could cause some problems though.

cberkley,
My goal is to get her roadworthy(ICU free), and then work on getting her in top mechanical shape.
 
Another thing to take a look at are the brake calipers and the master cyls. Sounds like a great find. Enjoy!
 
CArb boots

They are supposed to be soft, but harden (and leak air) with age

Easy to do when you have the carbs off and makes it easier to put the carbs back on
 
dlancer & Big T

dlancer & Big T

I will look at the brake systems closely before putting it on the road.

I have not seen the boots in my parts research yet, but I'm suspecting they are probably a very common part and possibly somewhat universal. I really want to perform maintainance on the bike, but I'm apprehensive to tackle the carbs myself so they will likely go to the shop.
 
Next question... tires

Next question... tires

According to the conversion charts the metric size is front: 100/90-19 and rear: 120/90-17. I want either an H or a V rating to better fit the performance of the bike.

The options for the fronts seems pretty good, but the rears are pretty limited. What I want to know is if a 130/90-17 will fit on my bike (still running 630 chain).

On the plus side, it has well under 15k miles (actual).

I know there has been plenty of opinion expressed on which tire is the best, but I'm curious if I can expand my options this way or not.

Any other tire options you guys have used successfully are welcome as well.
 
According to the conversion charts the metric size is front: 100/90-19 and rear: 120/90-17. I want either an H or a V rating to better fit the performance of the bike.

The options for the fronts seems pretty good, but the rears are pretty limited. What I want to know is if a 130/90-17 will fit on my bike (still running 630 chain).

On the plus side, it has well under 15k miles (actual).

I know there has been plenty of opinion expressed on which tire is the best, but I'm curious if I can expand my options this way or not.

Any other tire options you guys have used successfully are welcome as well.

130/90/17 will fit fine, that's what I have on my 83 GS1100E!!!!
 
Sounds good there Tornado

Sounds good there Tornado

BTW that is a sharp looking GS. It looks a lot nicer than mine, but I don't think the blue ones are quite as fast though:-D

It will give me many different options for the back tire. What treads do you have on yours?
 
BTW that is a sharp looking GS. It looks a lot nicer than mine, but I don't think the blue ones are quite as fast though:-D

It will give me many different options for the back tire. What treads do you have on yours?

Ouch. he's a junior member and already giving grief:shock: \\:D/ \\:D/
Way to go.
 
I go up one size in the front and one in the back. 110/90/19 on the front, 130/70/17 on the rear.

The blue ones are fine with an H rated tire, but you better get a V... :razz:
 
crag, I try to be a fast learner, plus I may be somewhat new here, buut I have been around other forums (mostly gun-related :shock: ).

jethro, I noticed you also went 20mm lower in sidewall height, right? No problems there as far as handling? I would think that would be good for straight-line acceleration, but does it not affect cornering capability?
 
Yup, I run a 130/90/17 on mine too. Battery, carbs (recommend carb dip for the carbs) & boots, fuel tank drain and treat with phosphoric acid or standard tank treatment stuff. Chain, brake fluid, pads, fork oil and fork seals, engine oil and filter. Clean petcock as well.

You might want to consider disassembling the carbs and even seperating the carb bodies from one another and replace all the o rings that seal up the fuel tube which connects all the carbs. And when done, and ready for reassembly, use compressed air to blow out all the little passages in the carb bodies. Even the smallest particle can make the bike run like poop!

Good luck!!!
 
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