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I can't junk this bike

  • Thread starter Thread starter predator
  • Start date Start date
Reno,
I think you hit the nail on the head here. I'll get what I can off but it's still too cold to get into things to deep. I hate taking things apart and then leaving them sit around....I can get the carbs and stuff off now though. Thanks for the advice. I'll be back crying in the spring now may we all say a liitle prayer that winter ends soon.....and only cause this gas bill is killing me. :pray: :pray: :pray: :pray:
 
Well, you should be able to remove the carbs, drain them and take them inside to check them and clean them.

Get your can of dip and order up carb and intake boot O rings and go from there.

Once it warms up a bit you can start on the valve adjustment.

Post up pictures of what you find and never, ever be afraid to ask a question here.

We've all be thru the same stuff ourselves
 
Predator,

How many miles?

What do you know about the history of the bike?
 
These old classic bikes keep on going with a little attention. The engine is an easy fix for compression and won't cost the earth to do. At worst its a base gasket, head gasket, hone the bore, new rings, valve guide seals, 'lap' the valves back in and a rocker cover gasket. About 2 days work and she'll last for another 20 years!

The inlet rubbers and 'O' rings will be expensive and the philips may not want to let the old inlet rubber come off the head so it may be a strip anyway.

The over heating on one cylinder is probably the one thats leaking where its running lean.

Suzuki mad.
 
Well its been a while and it warmed up enough. I put a cap of seafoam in each cylder, let it set a few days and the bike fired up. I was getting ready to strip it down to adjust the valves and hit a problem that I haven't ever had to deal with on a bike. The previous owner changed the oil and stripped the freakin threads on the drain plug. It spins both ways but won't tighten or come out. The cooling fins got the plug inset so I can't get a pair of vice grips on and pull while i'm turning. Then i'd throw in a self tapping plug. I don't know if all the oil will drain out if I take the filter out so I don't have to mess with the plug right now. That way i can get all of that seafoam out of the oil (I previously dumped some in the oil to) and let it run a while on clean oil to help the rings and my compression problems. So basically, will taking the filter cover off drain the entire engine? Any ideas on getting this plug out? Oh yeah, the bike sat for a while in the garage and didn't even need the choke to start it up. It's gonna be a runnin machine when i'm done.
 
Try wedging a flat tip under the plug head to apply pressure on the threads while you try to unscrew. Otherwise you will have to pull the pan, which isn't a bad idea. You would be surprised what you find in the oil pan from these old bikes. It will be full of sludge you can count on it.
 
SOB, I was hoping I wasn't gonna have to pull the pan. The plug is inset into the fins pretty deep to get a screwdriver under it but i'll give it a try first thing tomorrow. I'll be up all night lying in bed taking that damn plug.......
Before I go through all the work of doing the pan what I was wondering is getting the valves done and make sure everything looks good and runs good before I start worrying about the plug. So, once again I was thinking if I pull the filter, will most of the oil drain out? Just so I can get some clean stuff in there while i'm doing the valves.
 
very little oil will drain from the filter. Do you have a stock exhaust system? Either way you can remove the pan with the system on it's just a little tricky with the system on. A box wrench is your friend, and you might need to remove the bolts by the passanger pegs that hang the exhaust to get a little more wiggle room but support it so it's not hanging just from the head. The oil pan gasket is about 12 bucks.
 
You could try useing a strong magnet to get a little tug on the plug when unscrewing it.

V
 
interesting story. I have an 850 that I have resurrected to nearly your condition, it will start, idle and run up to speed, but doesn't have pull at higher revs. I have thought it must be the airbox leaking, as I've heard that can really make it a bear to get anythign figured out.

I've been told that keeping the valves adjusted is extremely important, but I've also heard that the results are typically hard starting, since you say yours starts right up, I wonder if that's really the problem? also, if your buddy checked the compression on it after it had barely been run since sitting for years, and it was not warmed up, I would be careful not to spend too much time on the compression right off the bat?

I'd say get 'er running a bit and keep going thru the seafoam, new oil, etc. see how she feels after a couple months of daily running? seems like these old bikes like life better when they're being run.

good luck!!
 
predator said:
Before I go through all the work of doing the pan what I was wondering is getting the valves done and make sure everything looks good and runs good before I start worrying about the plug. So, once again I was thinking if I pull the filter, will most of the oil drain out? Just so I can get some clean stuff in there while i'm doing the valves.
Click to expand...

First, calm yourself down.

Changing the oil should be done first. Running with diluted oil is one of the few things that can rapidly damage your engine. Removing the oil pan, fixing the drain plug properly, and replacing the gasket, are all straight-forward jobs that must be done. So start with them. (Use the search function for dozens of threads on replacing stripped oil drain plugss, and on oil pan gaskets and changing oil.)

If by "valve job", you mean measuring clearances and exchanging shims to get clearances within spec, you need to do that soon. It is one of the first items in a complete tune-up. This is routine maintenance.

If, however, you mean to pull the head and regrind valves and seats and such, don't consider it at this time. Do that complete tune-up, and check compression. This is major work, and is only needed rarely.
 
OK,
Themess; adjusting the valve is what i'm looking at doing. supposedly the gs850 doesn't need shims, they're adjustable.
I pulled the filter and only a little oil came out. I won't run it til I get it completely changed.
Man is that concrete cold. I laid out there with everything I had and that plug just sits there and spins, won't loosen/won't tighten......you think the freakin thing would at least leak! I am baffled.
Snowbeard, I heard the same things about the hard starting & valves. My plan was to change the oil and filter and run it a while and see if I can feel the improvement before I did the valves. I was in no hurry to do any one particular thing on this bike, just keep it running for now. I was looking for an around town bike.
I haven't even looked into pulling the pan. The exhaust doesn't seem to be a real problem getting off, but I sure hate to start breaking studs and creating more problems and then something else and so on.
I have my Gold Wing waiting to come into this spot so I can do the steering stem bearings. A couple more days of tinkering and the GS is out the door and under a tarp til I get time to screw with it, I was close though.
 
predator said:
OK,
Themess; adjusting the valve is what i'm looking at doing. supposedly the gs850 doesn't need shims, they're adjustable.
A couple more days of tinkering and the GS is out the door and under a tarp til I get time to screw with it, I was close though.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but all of the 850s utilize shims for valves.
 
predator said:
OK,
Themess; adjusting the valve is what i'm looking at doing. supposedly the gs850 doesn't need shims, they're adjustable.
Click to expand...

No, the 850 DOES have shims.

Do you have a manual? You can download one for free from Basscliff's site. He also had a nice tutorial on his site for adjusting the valves. It's easy, and will only take you a few hours at most. Have a new cam cover gasket ready. Check with your local Suzuki dealership to see if they still do the shim swap. Both the dealerships in my area will trade you straight across for free.

If the oil drain bolt spins, you can easily take the pan off. It's a little tight own there, but you shouldn't need to remove the exhaust. Have a new gasket ready. You can get an oversize drain plug from NAPA for a few bucks. Tell them you need a 14mm x 1.25 thread pitch oversize drain bolt. Bring your old one with you if you want.
 
well the GS850 manual I downloaded shows shims.
I got this off of Bikecliffs 16 valve adjustment procedure. http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/images/16valve_adjustment.pdf

it shows an adjustment tool you make and a feeler gauge to adjust it to a spec that I don't have on hand. Turn the adjustor and lock it down. So who's right and where did I go wrong. Bikecliffs engine sure as hell looks like mine. GS850 dual overhead cam

Geez, I don't even know what bike I own i'm so confused. :eek:
 
The 850 is an 8 valve head, not a 16 valve.

So, go back to Bass Cliffs site and get the correct info, especially download the service manual for your bike and spend some time reading it.

Most of us get a valve bucket tool .some use the zip tie method to change the shims

Find Steve and email him for a valve adjustment shim chart

Adjust the valves, fix the oil pan and then start on the carbs, which you can do while the GS rests outside for a bit.

April is coming soon!
 
Last edited:
Thanks Big T, I see it all in the manual now....Come April, i'll be gone and the GS will be in the crusher. with the drain plug messed up and all the work, it's just not worth it, I can be working on my Wing. I thought if I could get it running decent with a little work cause I really liked the bike i'd keep it. The carbs have already been rebuilt and sync'd, I got a battery and re-wired the whole bike with a modern fuse block, about 200 bucks. That's about all the money i'm gonna dump into it. Too bad, it is a nice bike. I was gonna use it as a trade for a DL1000 V-Strom and the Honda shop didn't even want it. Thanks for all the tips though, it was interesting while it lasted.
 
predator said:
Thanks Big T, I see it all in the manual now....Come April, i'll be gone and the GS will be in the crusher. with the drain plug messed up and all the work, it's just not worth it, I can be working on my Wing. I thought if I could get it running decent with a little work cause I really liked the bike i'd keep it. The carbs have already been rebuilt and sync'd, I got a battery and re-wired the whole bike with a modern fuse block, about 200 bucks. That's about all the money i'm gonna dump into it. Too bad, it is a nice bike. I was gonna use it as a trade for a DL1000 V-Strom and the Honda shop didn't even want it. Thanks for all the tips though, it was interesting while it lasted.
Click to expand...

The oil plug replacement and valve adjustment will take you less than a day. Why would you give up now? Sounds like you are real close. You can't spare a day and the cost of two gaskets and a drain plug?
 
And if you're going to give up, don't scrap it, sell it, even if for parts.
 
Big T said:
Find Steve and email him for a valve adjustment shim chart
Click to expand...
Here, I'll make it easy to find me. :-\\\
Click on my name for the e-mail address.


predator said:
....Come April, i'll be gone and the GS will be in the crusher. with the drain plug messed up and all the work, it's just not worth it, I can be working on my Wing. ...
Click to expand...
Where do you live? I would be happy to take it to the crusher for you, as long as you don't mind me taking a detour along the way. Say, for a few years at my house? You aren't that far from having it running well. Be thankful you only have about $200 in it, some of us have put in a LOT more than that.

By the way, I need to change steering bearings in my Wing, too, but I have two sets of carbs, one 1100 engine re-assemble, some minor tweaking on my wife's bike, valve adjustment on my son's Yamaha Venture, re-install the rebuilt carbs on his bike, ... then I might get a chance to do my bearings. Of course, I will probably wait on the bearings until after I change the timing belts and tensioners, air filters and spark plugs.

.
 
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