Vintage bike ownership experience...

[aclaytonb]

Its part of the puzzle. Theres some easy thing in the mix that will be painfully obvious when you find it. Once you find it and feel a bit sheepish, you'll appreciate the bike all the more for your mental investment.

You'll get it. The biggest "aha" moment for me came from a cb750 forum when I was told that carb problems are 95% electrical in nature. After I quit cleaning the carbs and took my multimeter to the wiring - it all became easy.

 

[aclaytonb]

I have two ready to go... It's not that hard to get them running and keep them running. Break it down into four basic categories. Chassis, ignition, charging system, engine, fuel system. Sort out each category one at a time. Starting with the most needed. It also helps starting out with a decent motorcycle to begin with. I find talking to the motorcycle helps keep everyone happy too. ☺

Isnt that 5 basic categories? Good advice though. In my case, I would re-order those a bit. Engine (compression), charging, ignition, fuel system, chassis.

 

[eil]

I had a low-mileage GS750E that I would have ridden anywhere.

My L model is not good for long trips even when it's in the best of shape and right now it needs maintenance even as it sits.

 

[Guest]

My L model is not good for long trips even when it's in the best of shape and right now it needs maintenance even as it sits.

I have a great set of carb gauges you can borrow if you need to.

 

[eil]

I have a great set of carb gauges you can borrow if you need to.

Har har! .

 

[Gorminrider]

Simple is good, longterm.

Complicated Black Box is good too, if you happen to have the Reliable One, but how will you know until this year's highly-rated Wonders, all fail at the same odometer reading? (I've seen this a lot in reading about 80's Beemers...and of course, Suzuki charging...)

Paraphrased, if your points are in good shape when you leave, you're good to go. But your Transistor Controlled Ignition? Who knows?....need more baggage room for spares.

 

[BigD_83]

Isnt that 5 basic categories? Good advice though. In my case, I would re-order those a bit. Engine (compression), charging, ignition, fuel system, chassis.

That's part of the puzzle. There are 5 categories, but you can only work with 4 at any given time

 

[850 Combat]

The XJ900 remains one of my favorite UJMs of all time.

I've looked at a few of those. I've had several 650 Secas. They are a little busy for me at speed. I'm certain that I would enjoy an XJ 900. All the ones I've looked at to buy were too thrashed for me to buy. I'll also say that the 650 Seca is way better finished than a Suziki GS, and has some features that a GS doesn't. On the other hand, it had ball bearings in the steering head, not tapered rollers, so there were pluses and minus to each bike when new.

 

[hillsy]

On the other hand, it had ball bearings in the steering head, not tapered rollers, so there were pluses and minus to each bike when new.

Easily converted to tapered roller bearings through companies like All Balls Racing or Pyramid Parts when the ball and races wear out. Not a compelling minus IMO.

 

[GS1000S]

Hi All,

As some of you already know, I bought this 850G because it is the twin of one I bought brand new in 1981. Back then, the ownership experience was all positive; the bike was perfect, and remained that way for as long as I owned it. I don't remember ever having a single problem with it.

Now though, 36 years later, the experience is very different (yes, I know y'all are thinking "Well DUH!"). I've had the bike for seven months now, and it still isn't road worthy (though good progress has been made). So my question is: do any of you have a vintage bike that you can honestly say is "dead reliable", that you know you could hop on tomorrow and ride for 1000 miles and count on getting you back without any problems? I know that if I replace every single part on it with a new one, eventually it will become reliable, but that's not what I bought the bike for. I'm just wondering what I've gotten myself into.....

Three years ago I had a 1600 mile trip planned and realized a couple of days before departure that the rear tire on my ST1300 wasn't going to last the trip. I changed the oil in my 79' GS850 and took it. Other than using a pint of oil it ran perfect. It has 30k on it now and I'd take a similar trip tomorrow on it if I had to but I'd put in some new points and check the valve adjustment. The most major problems I've had with it were a bad condenser and leaking coils that would drop 2 cylinders when it got hot, and an internally disintegrating petcock rubber piece that would shave small rubber pieces and stick a float needle open. New black Dyna coils, wires and condensers from Z1 Enterprises and a new OEM petcock cured those problems. On a bike this old preventative maintenance is important. On a bike this old this includes: freshening up electrical connections and grounds, replacing worn and hardened rubber parts and hose in the fuel/induction system, probably rebuilding the master cylinder and calipers, inspecting and replacing/repacking steering head and swingarm bearings, also check out your wheel bearings, fork fluid and seals if necessary, inspect all cables for wear and lube yearly or replace as needed, rear shocks if necessary, lube clutch and brake lever pivots yearly. The factory maintenance charts in the owners/shop manual are a good place to start.

 

[Guest]

Hi. Thanks for that lengthy reply! Actually, since I initially posted this thread, I have replaced the spark plugs and plug boots with new NGK parts; what a difference! I had been placing all the blame on my carbs, since they were the first - and most glaring - problem. But I got to a point where I concluded that the carbs were as perfect as they were going to get and the bike still ran terrible, so I decided it must be something else. So I started digging around on the forum and saw several references to bad plug boots. I took the bike out yesterday evening for the longest ride since I bought it (about ten miles), then rode it to breakfast this morning; what a peach! It is really running nicely now.

This morning I traced a problem with my left, rear turn signal being always on to the +12V connection being swapped with the tail light (DOH!).

 

[aclaytonb]

Carb problems are almost always electrical...