New owner of a BIG project!

[catdaddyrachel]

Hi all,

I seem to have stumbled upon a old GS1100G. The story is as follows:

I have a friend who is notorious for buying motorcycles with the intention of fixing them or turning them into custom bikes. The problem is; he has no mechanical talent thus, he has a collection of broken, half finished motorcycles. Here?s where things get slightly complicated.

My friend purchased a half finished bobber/cafe about 5 years ago. Allegedly, about 5 years before that, the bike was running but when my friend bought it, it was torn apart with half the bike in boxes.

To make a long story short, I?m now to proud owner of a half finished GS1100G missing half its parts with unknown miles and leaking every possible fluid a motorcycle can leak.

I managed to get the bike running but it?s clearly in need of a lot of TLC. As you can see by the pictures it still needs A LOT of parts. My plan is it finish it and turn it into a brat style bike, something I can use as a daily driver.

 

[catdaddyrachel]

Another picture of my new pride and joy.

 

[steve murdoch]

Hey, where's the rest of it?
BIG project is right. You are likely to hear it from a number of people but get the mechanical stuff, carbs, brakes, electrics, engine before tackling the cosmetics.

Welcome to the site.

 

[Baatfam]

And there it is......................Probably gonna need some better/bigger photos...

 

[timebombprod]

what year gs is it, u should put ur year/make/model in ur signature

if u need a fuel tank buy one off of ebay with not critical rust and buy the tank cleaner and sealer kit off of kbs coatings. id go for the large kit but dont use all the sealant just enough to seal properly use evrything sparingly to do multiple cleanings at a time.

what do you know how to do? these bikes need valve adjustments, but if ur leaking oil depending on where u might wanna also get to the headgasket. find where ur leaking oil.

how good does the bike run? what does the exhaust tone sound like is it evened out or does it change, if u want to do a full carb clean and are willing to im sure somebody will give you thhe link unfortunately i dont have it

for good measure u could replace ur exhaust and intake gaskets/o-rings and clean/replace ur air filter depending on its condition

is it airpods or an airbox, and is it a stock exhaust/ aftermarket. if you're saying you want a daily driver then u should use a airbox for it but u can add an exhaust, you just have to find what size jetting youll need. do u still have your baffles lol


https://www.partsoutlaw.com/oemparts/l/suz/50d40430f8700230d8b4ece7/1982-gs1100g-parts

valve adjust

http://www.factorypro.com/tech_tuning_procedures/tuning_carbtune,CV,high_rpm_engines.html

 

[rphillips]

There's got to be a bigger, better, word for this project than just "BIG" project. It looks way bigger than "BIG" maybe "ASTRONOMICAL PROJECT", Doable but gheeees. Possibly more there than shown in pictures.

 

[Guest]

what year gs is it, u should put ur year/make/doel in ur signature

I'm still looking, but SOMEWHERE there has to be a translator from "whatever that was" to English.

 

[Grimly]

Might be a trick of the light, but those look fatter than normal forks, so might be GK. That's a good starting point.

 

[catdaddyrachel]

And there it is......................Probably gonna need some better/bigger photos...

Yup! My mistake for trying to use my phone.

 

[catdaddyrachel]

what year gs is it, u should put ur year/make/doel in ur signature

if u need a fuel tank buy one off of ebay with not critical rust and buy the tank cleaner and sealer kit off of kbs coatings. id go for the large kit but dont use all the sealant just enough to seal properly use evrything sparingly to do multiple cleanings at a time.

what do you know how to do? these bikes need valve adjustments, but if ur leaking oil depending on where u might wanna also get to the headgasket. find where ur leaking oil.

how good does the bike run? what does the exhaust tone sound like is it evened out or does it change, if u want to do a full carb clean and are willing to im sure somebody will give you thhe link unfortunately i dont have it

for good measure u could replace ur exhaust and intake gaskets/o-rings and clean/replace ur air filter depending on its condition

is it airpods or an airbox, and is it a stock exhaust/ aftermarket. if you're saying you want a daily driver then u should use a airbox for it but u can add an exhaust, you just have to find what size jetting youll need. do u still have your baffles lol


https://www.partsoutlaw.com/oemparts/l/suz/50d40430f8700230d8b4ece7/1982-gs1100g-parts

valve adjust

http://www.factorypro.com/tech_tuning_procedures/tuning_carbtune,CV,high_rpm_engines.html

Looking at the head stock. It says its a 82 GS1100GK.

My friend has a 1992 Zephyr 550 tank in his garage that he's willing to give me. I'm going to see if I can make it fit. Seeing as how someone has already started hacking up the frame, I don't feel too bad turning this bike into a bit of a Frankenstein bike. Seems a bit fitting to keep the "free" theme of this bike going.

I can build a motorcycle from the frame up. I've built a few race bikes (SV650, supermotos, etc) so this isn't a huge problem. The oil leak was coming from the oil filter gasket. Easy fix so that's a win. The carbs were leaking through the passage ways between carbs 1&2 and 3&4. I replaced the O-rings since the ones in the bike were likely the originals. Once again I'm lucky.

The bike came with a Vance & Hines system but I suspect it was a Chinese knock off. The bike ran but only with the choke on. Jetting seems way off. Only cylinders 1 and 3 a firing regularly, 2 and 4 don't seem to be getting enough fuel. I'll order a jet kit and an exhaust next week when I get back in town. All the cylinders have good compression and all the spark plugs fire so I'm pretty convinced the carbs are just gummed up and jetted incorrectly. I can check the valves too.

I replaced the carb intake boots with new ones and i'll replace the exhaust gaskets with new ones when the new exhaust gets in. spark plugs are new and those K&N filters were new in the box of parts that came with the bike.

I had a ZRX1200 with pods that was a daily driver so i'm not concerned with the drive-ability of pods. I live in southern California so we get about 350 riding days a year.

 

[catdaddyrachel]

Unfortunately no, that's pretty much it. It's actually not that bad. Getting it running was the first big hurdle so we can check that one off. Getting a "complete" motorcycle together will be the next big hurdle. I'd like to strip the entire bike down and repaint/powder coat all the parts once I have a fully assembled motorcycle. That'll also give me an opportunity to go through all the wiring and clean things up.

I enjoy a good project. Unfortunately, this is a G model and from what i've read, the E models are the ones that you can make some serious power on. Either way, I'm looking forward to getting this thing on the road. I think this is the first bike that i've owned that actually older than I am.

 

[Rob S.]

...from what i've read, the E models are the ones that you can make some serious power on.

You read correctly. The Es have 4 valves and twin swirl combustion chambers. And there's that heavy shaft slowing you down.

 

[catdaddyrachel]

You read correctly. The Es have 4 valves and twin swirl combustion chambers. And there's that heavy shaft slowing you down.

ya, that?s ok. I?ve got a 1290 super duke that makes all the power I could ever want...for the moment. Regardless, I?d still like to give this bike a bit of a kick in the seat. There?s few things more amusing than watching a 40 year old bike walk a modern bike.

 

[catdaddyrachel]

Does anyone happen to know if a 16 valve head will fit on an 8 valve motor? Essentially will an E model head fit on a G model motor. I figure if I?m going to do something silly, I might as well do it while the bike is half way stripped apart.

 

[Steve]

Nope.

No way.

No how.

.

 

[catdaddyrachel]

Nope.

No way.

No how.

.

Understood. I just read a thread regarding the same topic. Head studs are in another location. No problem. I had a lead on a 16V head and was just wondering if it was possible.

 

[steve murdoch]

ya, that’s ok. I’ve got a 1290 super duke that makes all the power I could ever want...for the moment. Regardless, I’d still like to give this bike a bit of a kick in the seat. There’s few things more amusing than watching a 40 year old bike walk a modern bike.

"for the moment" .....Yikes!
Twice i have been lucky enough to ride a 1290 R and i can't imagine it needing any more power. It was a blast.
A buddy has a 1290 GT and even that one has power for days.

 

[timebombprod]

The bike ran but only with the choke on. Jetting seems way off. Only cylinders 1 and 3 a firing regularly, 2 and 4 don't seem to be getting enough fuel. I'll order a jet kit and an exhaust next week when I get back in town. All the cylinders have good compression and all the spark plugs fire so I'm pretty convinced the carbs are just gummed up and jetted incorrectly. I can check the valves too.

i would recommend checking the valves i dont know how much miles yours takes before you need to adjust them, but mine is every 3500-4000 miles so every 2 oil changes, it is VERY important to check your valve clearances on this bike, because if its not in spec, you will seriously damage your engine, there is very minimal space they can move out of spec. really they cant move out of it at all.


as for the carbs again theres a full carb clean tutorial on here somewhere taking them apart piece by piece off the rail and everything, if you are going to clean your carbs, you will have to take them completely apart to do it right and have them run.

the link i gave you for carb tuning will very much help you get your bike its best powerband and output. if you get an aftermarket exhaust call and ask them for the jetting recommendation and start from there, but stock works very well, you will find out much people on here believe leaving these stock is the best thing to do, and i believe they are for the most part right, other than me being young and wanting a sweet sounding exhaust.



i cant stress howmuch i wish i had the carb clean tutorial

 

[catdaddyrachel]

i would recommend checking the valves i dont know how much miles yours takes before you need to adjust them, but mine is every 3500-4000 miles so every 2 oil changes, it is VERY important to check your valve clearances on this bike, because if its not in spec, you will seriously damage your engine, there is very minimal space they can move out of spec. really they cant move out of it at all.


as for the carbs again theres a full carb clean tutorial on here somewhere taking them apart piece by piece off the rail and everything, if you are going to clean your carbs, you will have to take them completely apart to do it right and have them run.

the link i gave you for carb tuning will very much help you get your bike its best powerband and output. if you get an aftermarket exhaust call and ask them for the jetting recommendation and start from there, but stock works very well, you will find out much people on here believe leaving these stock is the best thing to do, and i believe they are for the most part right, other than me being young and wanting a sweet sounding exhaust.



i cant stress howmuch i wish i had the carb clean tutorial

Thanks,

I checked the valves tonight. two were within spec, two were in spec but right on the edge, and 4 were out of spec. I'll have to order a shim kit and the removal tool to my running list of parts.

Unfortunately, the bike didn't come with the stock exhaust or stock airbox so i'll have to go aftermarket.

I'm quite familiar with carb cleaning and tuning. My ZRX was also not running when I purchased it so I have more experience than I'd like with carbs.

 

[steve murdoch]

Z1Enterprises is a good place to order shims.
https://www.z1enterprises.com/
Another option would be to contact Ghost about the GS Shim Club.
https://www.thegsresources.com/_for...94-GS-Valve-Shim-Club&highlight=shim+and+club