BanditRE's GS850

[BanditRE]

Hi All,

I joined this forum about a week ago and late last week purchased a 1979 Suzuki GS850GN that had been sitting in a garage for 12 years unattended. No working brakes, cables stuck, the motor did turn over, chrome and paint had light rust pitting throughout, dusty, grungy, neglected and mine..........for $450. The photos really make it look a lot better than it looked in person. I trailered it home on Sunday, gave it a good cleaning to see what was under all that grime and starting taking it apart. Here's a few pictures....





The shiney bits cleaned up a lot better than I had feared







Looks like I'll need headlight if I don't use the Windjammer again





Max is really helping me out



Fair amount of work to do to get it running again and stopping again but the cosmetics weren't as bad as they looked at the PO's house.

 

[Dogma]

We've seen far, far worse clean up just fine. That's going to be a nice bike.

Any idea what that throttle came from?

 

[BanditRE]

I hope it turns out nice. You lost me on the throttle....that's not stock?

 

[Steve]

I could barely see it, I don't know what he is asking about, either.

.

 

[rustybronco]

Your throttle cables and grips appear stock to me.

 

[JTGS850GL]

Ya, you'll need a few parts if you're going to replace the Windjammer. Headlight bucket and side mounting brackets to start along with the cosmetic cover that goes over the lower triple clamps to name a few. Too bad it didn't come with the side covers. Those can get a little pricey in good shape. Everything else should clean up pretty easily.

Looks like a good deal for $450.

 

[BanditRE]

Thanks guys. I think as I have the VM carbs with two throttle cables, maybe that threw him off? Don't the CV carb models have just one cable?

The side covers I have JT. I just took them off, cleaned them and hid them in the basement. They're in great shape as well with all the tabs in place. Honestly, the cosmetics are pretty darn good after I cleaned all the grime off. The parts needed to put back the headlight may have to wait. I did a quick search to figure out approximate costs and hassle in obtaining parts, and I have other things that are more important to me, so the Windjammer will likely go back on for some time at least. First I have to see if it will run and if it makes any bad noises.........

 

[twotimeGSr]

Nice bike! How many miles on it?

 

[BanditRE]

Thanks. Mileage is at 36,000

 

[rustybronco]

Thanks guys. I think as I have the VM carbs with two throttle cables, maybe that threw him off? Don't the CV carb models have just one cable?

The CV's use one cable and VM's use two.

 

[growler]

Nice buy. I picked up my 82 GS850 for the same price. I'm along for the ride as you make it your own.

 

[Dogma]

The CV's use one cable and VM's use two.

Ah, that's what got me. Didn't know that.

 

[eil]

Cleaned up nice!

 

[BanditRE]

A bit more progress. Got the air box off and cleaned it all up. I wish I had more time to do this stuff but work really gets in the way.......


Air box in place


Covers off, bolts removed, filter removed and something doesn't look quite right.


A rather singed looking filter. No sign of foam filter but some crusty looking burnt pieces. FIRE IN THE HOLE!!



A little less burnt on this side


Dirty, grimey, slimey and sooty


Now I've never owned a GS before and I've never seen inlet hoses for this particular airbox before but I'm pretty sure they're not supposed to look like this.....


All taken apart, soaked in Simple Green, drowned in carb cleaner, and rinsed with soap and water. Ready for some new hoses and I'm thinking a new filter as well while I'm at it. What would we do without previous owners? Next up - carb removal and cleaning.

 

[growler]

what happened to your pictures?

 

[BanditRE]

They're not showing up? I can see them. I wonder if I goofed up somewhere.

 

[eil]

The top four pictures are showing as deleted for me.

Wow, wonder what happened to those boots! Haven't seen that before. Do you have the filter cage and rubber... er, gasket thingies on each side? Those can be hard to find in isolation on eBay.

 

[BanditRE]

Try the pictures again..........

Filter cage is ok, the filter seems ok but is very dark and dirty. The rubber boots within the airbox side covers and are intact as well, but pretty old and misshapen, so I'm not sure they'll be working again or not.

I'm guessing in an attempt to start the bike, someone has sprayed starting fluid in there to get the engine moving, overdid it, backfired and suddenly you're on fire. I'm guessing an oil soaked foam filter would probably burn quite nicely.

 

[eil]

I bought a K&N filter for mine. It works well and will probably outlast the rest of the bike.

Proper application of closed-cell weather stripping should seal things up okay on those end caps.

Good theory on what caused the fire, I can see that happening. (Almost would have liked to be there to watch!)

 

[BanditRE]

I was reading through old posts on filters and I think I've settled on a K&N filter too. I've had them in the past, my Enfield has one and they've worked well. I read on the forum that no re-jetting was required with the K&N filter which is nice.

Do you think I need weatherstripping if I still have the rubber seals? I cleaned up the ones that came with the bike and they're in surprisingly good shape and still supple. Covers came up nice as well with some effort.


While I was looking through the air box I checked the crankcase breather tube passages. I read an older post earlier this week where someone had mentioned that his was blocked with rust and crud and he had to clean it with a piece of wire. So I checked mine and it was totally blocked, couldn't blow through the breather fitting at all. An hour later, after scraping, filing, compressed air, carb cleaner and anything else I could think of, its now clean. I couldn't believe how much junk came out. I need to look up that post and thank the guy for mentioning it!