nelson's 1985 Suzuki GS300L Project

[nelson]

Hello!

I just picked up a 1985 Suzuki GS300L and plan to convert it into a brat-style beach cruiser of some sorts, and will document the project here as it progresses. There appears to be minimal information and limited resources on this particular model as it was relatively unknown. Hopefully this project will shed some light on this rare gem, and I will share what I learn along the way.

The guy that I bought it from only had it for less than 2 weeks while he was waiting for the title in the mail, and he didn't really know much about the bike. He got it in a trade for parts for a different bike, and didn't have the time to put into this one, so now it's in my hands. Here are photos of the bike before and after a previous owner decided painting everything flat black with spray paint would be a great idea.

And this is how it sits today

Without any history behind the bike, I did a complete inspection to see what we were working with. And what I found is that this is such an incredibly simple machine that I should have it back on the road and going for fun cruises in no time!

It starts, but runs miserably, so first thing to do was pull the carbs out for a thorough cleaning.

I'm waiting for new o-rings before rebuilding the carbs back together, but with everything soaking a couple days in the dip and with some fresh spark plugs, I trust the bike will start and purr by this weekend. I also have some new jets on the way to start tuning to compensate for the air filter pods that the bike came with.

That's all for now!

 

[Gold01ca]

Good pics, keep us posted on your progress!
Nice to see a somewhat obscure model getting some attention.

 

[nelson]

Carbs cleaned out and it fires right up

http://youtu.be/i944rPJJjWs

 

[Gold01ca]

excellent!
sounded pretty good too.

 

[nelson]

The rattle can job on the tank lasted about 2 weeks before rubbing off and chipping away, so I just stripped it back down to bare metal.

Should I repaint it? Or let it rust naturally? :-k (I live by the ocean, so it wouldn't take long)

 

[tkent02]

Paint can look really good if done right. Rust look like rust.

 

[hjacobmiller]

Cheers for the good words on my thread!

Let me know if you have any questions with this bike. Isn't too much I haven't done with mine.

I say put a polishing wheel in a drill, get some compound and shine that bare metal up! Then put some clear coat on it to keep it from rusting.

 

[Guest]

Tuning in Nelson, I'm a bit of a fan of the GS twins so keen to see how you go... and yes I would paint the tank!

 

[nelson]

I flipped a coin and moved forward with the dirty and rusted look. First, I cleaned and lined the tank with Red-Kote. Then I sprayed the bottom of the tank flat black. I let the tank develop surface rust by simply parking it outside my oceanside house uncovered for 2 weeks, then dripped some used motor oil here and there to give it additional color and character, let it all completely dry out, and finally sprayed some matte clearcoat over it to seal the deal.

I like it.

 

[JTGS850GL]

Sorry to let you know this but that tank will not stay looking like that for long. Once rust forms, painting clear over it will just allow the rust to continue under it. The paint will begin to bubble soon. There are other ways to get that old distressed patina look.

 

[nelson]

Welp, I ended up selling the bike yesterday afternoon...

Didn't take too much work to get her running and roadworthy, and the "dirty" look was the way to go cosmetically. Ad posted on craigslist looking for feelers resulted in a local cash sale for $1,500 within 24 hours!

I'll be looking for another GS project bike in the future, so I'll stick around...