I'm back! '82 GS1100E, champagne silver

[shwaz]

Picked up my new-to-me bike last week, August 23. She's in pretty great shape cosmetically, minor scuffs and scratches in spots but definitely adequate for my purposes which is to RIDE THE DARN BIKE!

A little under 25k miles on the clock. Most of the bike is original.

Changes from stock + recent maintenance include:
Supertrapp 4-1 pipes, chrome silver, tunable
Aftermarket oil cooler
SS braided line in front
Newish brake pads
Newish battery
Newish oil and filter
Lower bars, bar-end mirrors
Recovered seat (some imperfections)

Next steps:
Ordered new tires last night: Michelin Commander II front, Pilot Activ rear
Suspension will be next as it's pretty much shot currently. Weighing different options here and trying to figure out how crazy I want to go (how much I want to spend)
Smells a little bit rich so I'll start by replacing the air filter, probably opt for a K&N.

Once it's done those I'll probably try to leave it alone and just ride for awhile before adding/changing anything else.

 

[Spyder]

Welcome back to LIFE ! ! ! Damn fine looking machine you found there!

 

[shwaz]

New tires arrived today


View attachment 41747

 

[posplayr]

Niece bike.

champagne silver ; my second favorite color on an EZ/ED .

 

[shwaz]

Thanks!

I dig the link in your signature. I just started reading into gsxr conversions and might keep an eye open for a front end down the line. Think that will take longer than I'm willing to wait now though, just gonna bump up the suspension as is and make it behave decently.

 

[dorkburger]

Cool. I dig that you purchased it from another member. Looks great. Enjoy.

 

[shwaz]

Old air filter

Air box

Cleaned

Side by side, new K&N ready to go in

 

[Glyn]

Nice lookin' bike you've got there. Who would have left that crappy old air filter in there?:redface-new:

Careful of those GSXR suspension conversions. It could be a black hole of time & money!

 

[shwaz]

suspension

suspension

Nice lookin' bike you've got there. Who would have left that crappy old air filter in there?:redface-new:

Careful of those GSXR suspension conversions. It could be a black hole of time & money!

=P the K&N sure does look nice in comparison. Nice to let the bike breathe!

re: suspension i hear you on the black hole. i think if i do a GSXR mod that'll be a long term project for me... just sit back and wait for a great deal to show up, not really go out of my way looking for it (ideally full front end including forks, triples, calipers and wheel(s)

for now i'm going to just do a more reasonable upgrade. haven't made up my mind 100%, haven't ordered anything yet, but I'm thinking i'll just get a set of progressive springs for the front, new oil. re: shocks, i'm going back and forth between Hagons for $220 13", preload adjust only, , vs Ikons for $400, can order custom lengths (might go to 13.5), preload + 4click external rebound adjustment, rebuildable...

haven't been riding it much - i got my new tires but haven't spooned them on yet, i'm waiting for some balancing beads to arrive, should be here in a few days.

 

[Glyn]

IMHO, not worth the gsxr conversion, but I understand the earlier 750 front end from a SRAD was the way to go. I could be wrong, and good luck finding one that the front end hasn't been wrecked. I like your front end ideas, Progressives were always good to me, new oil is a cheap and worthwhile investment, might as well throw seals if you decide to go that far. Then you have a clean slate. They are 30+ year old seals.
I had Ikon ( koni ?) on my last one. I thought they were a little harsh. Might want to save a few bucks and try the Hagons. I guess someone that has had them both would be a better guide.

Balancing beads? Sorry, I don't agree with that one at all. I like the Luddite balance myself. ( Balancing shaft and weights) That's the way I do it. My new one has a slightly higher top speed than yours and that is the way it was done. YMMV.

I hope you have a LOT of fun with it. She's a strong runner, and that air filter alone should unleash 5-10 HP!

Gonna put in tubes, or try the tubeless route?

 

[Prairie]

I think you made a very good choice on the front Commander. I have a Commander I on the front of my 850 which already has over 15,000 miles and does not seem to show any wear (gulp)! The older Commander always bites in tight (greasy asphalt to concrete surface) corners and is very smooth and linear even on rain-grooved concrete. Quite frankly, I never made any attempt to balance it since new.

 

[1948man]

Niece bike.

champagne silver ; my second favorite color on an EZ/ED .

Hey, that's no chick bike. Niece??

 

[shwaz]

arghh... tubes.

arghh... tubes.

Well... went to change the tires and was surprised to find tubes in both the front and rear. The rims are NOT marked "Tubeless Tire Applicable" which surprised me as well. I remember my '79 had one tubed, one tubeless and I'd have thought an '82 would definitely have one, if not both, tubeless rims.

Looks like for whatever reason these 1100E were tubed, go figure. I understand that plenty of people run these rims without tubes, but I'll probably stick with tubes, at least maybe until i have my first flat :/

helpful link here from a previous discussion of the same... http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?165816-83-1100E-tube-or-tubeless

 

[bonanzadave]

I like your front end ideas, Progressives were always good to me, new oil is a cheap and worthwhile investment, might as well throw seals if you decide to go that far. Then you have a clean slate.

When you tear em down I would also recommend new fork bushings. Have you tried to loosen the damper rod allen screws ? Might want to add those two screws/bolts to the order.

that air filter alone should unleash 5-10 HP!

Dream on.....

Welcome to the EZBoyez club !!

 

[alke46]

=P the K&N sure does look nice in comparison. Nice to let the bike breathe!

re: suspension i hear you on the black hole. i think if i do a GSXR mod that'll be a long term project for me... just sit back and wait for a great deal to show up, not really go out of my way looking for it (ideally full front end including forks, triples, calipers and wheel(s)

for now i'm going to just do a more reasonable upgrade. haven't made up my mind 100%, haven't ordered anything yet, but I'm thinking i'll just get a set of progressive springs for the front, new oil. re: shocks, i'm going back and forth between Hagons for $220 13", preload adjust only, , vs Ikons for $400, can order custom lengths (might go to 13.5), preload + 4click external rebound adjustment, rebuildable...

haven't been riding it much - i got my new tires but haven't spooned them on yet, i'm waiting for some balancing beads to arrive, should be here in a few days.

I read another thread on here last week where the consensus was in favor of the sonic springs over the progressives. Just something to consider before placing your order. Check it out.

 

[shwaz]

I read another thread on here last week where the consensus was in favor of the sonic springs over the progressives. Just something to consider before placing your order. Check it out.

If you have a link to share I'll certainly check out the discussion, but I've gone back and forth to some extent on this and spoken to vendors of each kind, of course they each have reasons why their type is preferable.

I do know that I'll end up with a progressive spring on the rear shock, so at a certain point that seemed like a tick in favor of progressive fork springs, in terms of matching the front and rear.

I could go on but truth is I probably won't notice the difference with any set up... If I replace the fork springs and shocks basically I will win. My biggest question right now is how much to spend on shock, with options ranging from maybe around 100 for the cheap to 400 for ikon, there are more expensive options but ikon is my limit... We'll see.


. I'm still annoyed by the extra $40 for tubes since these rims aren't tubeless. But..

Kay Sarah Sarah...

 

[alke46]

Sorry, I'm not smart enough to provide a link but it was in the section of Tires/Suspension/Brakes. Started by LarryJ see post #5 and #6.

Agreed, any new replacement should be better than the originals. I will be doing the same to both of my bikes over the winter.

And by the way, that is an awesome bike you are working on. I want one of those some day.

Larry

 

[SVSooke]

Sorry, I'm not smart enough to provide a link but it was in the section of Tires/Suspension/Brakes. Started by LarryJ see post #5 and #6.

Agreed, any new replacement should be better than the originals. I will be doing the same to both of my bikes over the winter.

And by the way, that is an awesome bike you are working on. I want one of those some day.


Larry

Here's a link to Sonic's site http://www.sonicsprings.com/catalog/ ,Rich Desmond is the owner and a GSR member.

 

[alke46]

Here's a link to Sonic's site http://www.sonicsprings.com/catalog/ ,Rich Desmond is the owner and a GSR member.

That's who I will buy from. Excited to see the difference new springs will make. I remember the first time I had steering stem bearing replaced, I could not believe the difference that made.

 

[Glyn]

So, I'm digging around in the attic for Christmas lights, and what do I find? A Wes Cooley fairing for the 8" headlight, painted ( not perfectly) in Champagne silver. It has no mounts that I see. Any interest?

That is an early production date GS, the issues with tubes are to be expected.