what did you wrench on today??

[gtem]

Got my '81 GS650G fired up for the first time this weekend and finally gave it a good degreasing/bath/polish. 6500 miles the engine is absolutely purring. On my last revival of the GS750E I had done the brakes and tires before starting it up so I could go for a test ride as soon as I started it. This time I decided to get the engine running first. The downside of this approach is of course I now have a sweet running bike with no brakes and 30 year old tires that I'm frantically trying to fix up so I can take this beauty for a ride!

[alke46]

Yes it is a very good looking bike. 30 year old tires, yikes and I thought I I had it bad because the bike I just picked up has 16 year old tires.

You and I should get our bikes running, then take them out on some Twisties and see who goes down first.

[gtem]

I guess they're actually 40(!) years old lol. The original factory Bridgestone "Mag Mopus." I threw my spare '83 front wheel on with a 16 year old Avon Venom just to take it around the block once my brakes are done (the rear tire at least still holds air).

[gtem]

Well, I took the 650G out for its maiden voyage around the neighborhood under somewhat dicey circumstances: in the dark, in flip flops, with the original 41 year old rear tire, rear brake in-op (rear master cylinder not pumping fluid after the rebuild... might have a passage plugged up with grease). She seems to run and ride just fine as you would expect a 6500 mile motorcycle. Seems a bit cold blooded but I suppose that's how they came from the factory. The plan is to get that rear brake sorted and take it out on the street for a few miles to give it a fair shot to come up to temperature and really run a bit of gas through the cleaned out carburetors, etc. I promise I'll atleast be wearing some boots

[Grimly]

Careful, it seems that any tyre over three years old will bust wide open leading you to a fiery fate.

[steve murdoch]

Well, I took the 650G out for its maiden voyage around the neighborhood under somewhat dicey circumstances: in the dark, in flip flops, with the original 41 year old rear tire, rear brake in-op (rear master cylinder not pumping fluid after the rebuild... might have a passage plugged up with grease). She seems to run and ride just fine as you would expect a 6500 mile motorcycle. Seems a bit cold blooded but I suppose that's how they came from the factory. The plan is to get that rear brake sorted and take it out on the street for a few miles to give it a fair shot to come up to temperature and really run a bit of gas through the cleaned out carburetors, etc. I promise I'll atleast be wearing some boots

[gtem]

An update on the 650G, well I sorted out the rear brake and rolled out for a quick ride (wearing boots! and a helmet!). Something is definitely off about how it's running. Can't tell if one of the cylinders isn't full contributing, just seems to fall on its face under load. It sounds fine idling and revving up tho so it's not a super obvious rough running condition. Suspected cylinder 3 as it didn't seem to cause any audible RPM drop at idle when I pulled the plug, but checking for spark on Blogs it's definitely there and healthy, then I threw on the Gunson colortune and it's definitely getting combustion in there (tho it looks lean, which is concerning). I'm left suspecting my carburetors I guess. Will be checking the other three cylinders with the Colortune to see how they compare, and will probably hook up my carb sync gauges as well to look for clues. One thing of note is that the plug boots have been replaced with NGKs, and cyl #4's basically twisted off in my hand when I barely touched it (screwed it back in). Might be a clue(?) though I do still suspect the carbs I just cleaned.

[Burque73]

The GS is in pretty good shape so it was time to show the FJR some love. Just tear down, clean and lube. Yamaha is just a skimpy on the lube as Suzuki. Some critical spots didn't have a smidge of grease! All better now though...

20220723_182237 by Roger, on Flickr

[alke46]

An update on the 650G, well I sorted out the rear brake and rolled out for a quick ride (wearing boots! and a helmet!). Something is definitely off about how it's running. Can't tell if one of the cylinders isn't full contributing, just seems to fall on its face under load. It sounds fine idling and revving up tho so it's not a super obvious rough running condition. Suspected cylinder 3 as it didn't seem to cause any audible RPM drop at idle when I pulled the plug, but checking for spark on Blogs it's definitely there and healthy, then I threw on the Gunson colortune and it's definitely getting combustion in there (tho it looks lean, which is concerning). I'm left suspecting my carburetors I guess. Will be checking the other three cylinders with the Colortune to see how they compare, and will probably hook up my carb sync gauges as well to look for clues. One thing of note is that the plug boots have been replaced with NGKs, and cyl #4's basically twisted off in my hand when I barely touched it (screwed it back in). Might be a clue(?) though I do still suspect the carbs I just cleaned.

Did you trim a bit off the plug wires to get to some better, cleaner wire to screw the plug cap back onto? That's a common practice to improve spark.

[gtem]

Did you trim a bit off the plug wires to get to some better, cleaner wire to screw the plug cap back onto? That's a common practice to improve spark.

Not yet for the moment I screwed it right back on. I'm convinced it's some kind of lean carb condition, though a dodgy spark plug wire that starts acting up under load(?) could perhaps give the same symptoms. Blogs not contributing at idle seems to be the most obvious thing to go off of at the moment, I'll be using the ColorTune to at least see how the other three compare and confirm whether Blogs is indeed doing something odd/different. Currently at idle I can pull Blogs and how the bike runs doesn't change at at all. When I pull one of the others there is a noticeable drop in rpm/rougher running.

[markn]

Drained the carbs and cleaned the chain.

[1978GS750E]

Changed the oil and spark plugs in the Tracer today!

Sure make me appreciate the simplicity of the 3 GS's in the garage!

[Baatfam]

Changed the oil and spark plugs in the Tracer today!

Sure make me appreciate the simplicity of the 3 GS's in the garage!

Really? How many miles do you already have on that bike, Ron?

[1978GS750E]

11,815 miles right now. I've put 10K on it in 12 months.

I had to get the 12K service done before heading to Farmington next Tuesday! Missouri sweepers await!

[Baatfam]

11,815 miles right now. I've put 10K on it in 12 months.

I had to get the 12K service done before heading to Farmington next Tuesday! Missouri sweepers await!

Cool! Good miles on the new bike...Enjoy Farmington...