New member here from Canada, recent rider and owner of a 1983 GS400E

[Mat]

Hi dhatch,

nice to have fellow GS400 owners manifest themselves!

Do you run the original stator and regulator/rectifier unit?

What are the main break and fix jobs you had to do on it since you had it? What should I look for?

Mine hasn't been greatly maintained and I need an "history" of what should be done, specific to my model. I'd like to hear from you Kochic and Gorminrider on this too if you can :-)

Kochic if you could tell what went wrong with the two you have for parts that might be interresting too, I'm curious :-)

Winter is coming here in Quebec City, Have a nice day everybody!

[Gorminrider]

haha..
There's lots of little things that can go wrong but do not. I would be wary of fixing/replacing things as a precaution excepting Oil,filter and tires( if they are showing signs of age or are definitely beyond 8 years as a max but new tires are almost always good. except Maybe wait for spring when tires are restocked...)

Testing/setting/flushing brakes,(always cover your gas tank when working on the bike becuase you will put tools on it or hit it with one... Checking/Setting the valves...should be near the top your maintenance joblist....But sure, taking things apart to clean is not a bad practise if you don't make them worse.

as said, I haven't rebuilt my car at 50,000 km and I haven't found it neccesary on a bike-maintenance is really very similar except much more simple and fun on a bike,imo. (though, if $'s no object and you want to lavish, well, sparkplugs,spark plug caps,..time and attention span do not allow)

BUT there's lots of other things that will be useful before farkling
Buy a valvecover gasket (orDIY- some gasket paper) Buy an Inch/lb torque wrench (the short one), an impact driver , buy some JIS screwbits (JIS 8-piece Impact Bit Set https://www.gofastinnovations.com/ are great and fit your multi-driver and the impact driver with some socket adaptation...a "magnetic tray" is useful-you can also drag it round the floor to rediscover the tiny thing you dropped

Don't change anything without noting the original configuration and keeping the old parts.

[Mat]

Noting the original configuration, eh! very good advice!
I already have most of these tools but I certainly wish I had a better work space (picture me with the bike in the backyard, sitting on a bucket at 45F in the wind).
I was getting ready to check valve clearance this winter (never been done AFAIK). Ordered some feeler gauges for this ...Not sure anymore I will get into it...must admit my last episode with the stator gasket took much of the late riding season from me... I actually might be better to just focus on riding the motorcycle as I could make something worse. I agree with you that if it ain't broke...

I have some spark plugs on order (waiting for my spark plug tool to show up).
Got one valve cover gasket (currently some orange liquid gasket oozing there).
Was looking to replace carb orings too but I did not look into that one much yet and I'm clueless about parts on this one (when the bike is hot after a long ride it idles at 2000rpm instead of 1200, doesn't seem too bad for me but what do I know...)
Brake hoses aren't cracked at all but are 30 years old... (gotta find where to order these pre-made)

The main point for me is that this bike was my father's and I wish it be my son's eventually. It didn't cost a dime and I can spend some money on it to keep it in good shape.
I appreciate your input as this make sense when time and money matters

[kochic]

Both parts bikes were bought on marketplace, one was left behind when the guy moved out of an apartment without paying the last 3 months, it was complete and quite in good shape beside a faded paint. I have put the bodywork, exhaust, seat and gauges on mine.the other was 15 minutes from me and 100$, missing few part but the exhaust look like "new"
My 400 is original beside a Honda rectifier and a pit replica seat cover.
I use it mostly for commuting to work but take it for ride sometime too.
only downside is they are not cheap on gas for their size.

Marc

[Gorminrider]

Was looking to replace carb orings too but I did not look into that one much yet and I'm clueless about parts on this one (when the bike is hot after a long ride it idles at 2000rpm instead of 1200, doesn't seem too bad for me but what do I know...)

My first guess per your high idle would be that you are not allowing bike to warm up before taking choke/enricher off The second guess would be idle passage and jets..Do test for idle mix with warmed up bike and idle setting lower than you have it, then after noting where the adjusting screw are now, adjust them in and out and you SHOULD hear a difference in idle. (Two cylinder bikes are very simple in this way) If not, put a cleanout on your tasklist...I DID have to clean the "E"'s carbs intensively.In every old bike I've bought (9 out of 10) the idle jets are dirty with old gas. I only buy cheap bikes though.

Consumable Parts (filters, o-rings,petcocks,batteriesfork seals, clutch and gearshift seals, etc and sometimes gasket sets sometimes)are often available... otherwise, it's old parts from donor bikes ebay etc.) Personally, I've never replaced any carb parts or o-rings on these bikes and I have 2x81s running well- that's just to say, it's seldom an o-ring will stop the bike from running-but a drip, sure.
Anyways, greeting over. You'll have to move to the mechanical threads-search through first, ASK what you don't understand.

[Mat]

only downside is they are not cheap on gas for their size.

Marc

I averaged more than 5L/100km so I agree with you on that

My first guess per your high idle would be that you are not allowing bike to warm up before taking choke/enricher off The second guess would be idle passage and jets..Do test for idle mix with warmed up bike and idle setting lower than you have it, then after noting where the adjusting screw are now, adjust them in and out and you SHOULD hear a difference in idle. (Two cylinder bikes are very simple in this way) If not, put a cleanout on your tasklist...I DID have to clean the "E"'s carbs intensively.In every old bike I've bought (9 out of 10) the idle jets are dirty with old gas. I only buy cheap bikes though.

I don't know if I'm doing this right but here is how it goes when I start the bike on a cold morning:
1- Full choke, push start, motor starts instantly whatever the temperature (...I'm always impressed)
2- Wait for the motor to rev up (usually goes up to 3000rpm after 20-30 seconds or so) and then adjust back the choke a little so it idle around 1300 rpm
3- I wait until it revs up again and repeat the process (2 or 3 more times) until it idle without any choke. I think all that takes a good 8 minutes or more and feels forever to me.

Is it how it's done? I once did let the bike run on full choke at 3000rpm but my girl asked why I was cutting grass at 6 in the morning

[argonsagas]

A small hint for fuel system maintenance:

Pour a couple of ounces of fuel injection cleaner into the gas tank. .
Run the bike until fuel level is down to quarter-tank before refilling.

Apparently the chemical composition is different from other gas additives, and does not harm carburetor seals.
I have been using it in bikes and cars for years with no problems.

[Gorminrider]

Yes, injection cleaner is something my local pro mechanic offers people first, when they show up with indefinite running issues...he says it often works, and I can see where it might help...the higher cost brand name gasolines might have similar additives. I know the Chevron High octanes polish the plugs up so maybe they rinse the jets a little too.

Yes, Mat- very similar to my 400s...I turn mine down very soon after starting-the bike won't actually move well with full choke! -and take off in about 30 seconds even if I need nurse the throttle a little to the first stop sign a few hundred yards on. Some leave it partly on but I tend to forget..
.. because it's common a warmed up bike idles smoother and higher than a cold one. Even fuel-injection adjusts to temperature... Unless the tach is faulty (but they usually fail as reading too low) I judge yours is idling too fast because YOU think so-it's really intuitive whatever the tach says...

[Mat]

Hey I just wanted to finish this tread with a big thanks to you all, I got my bike running well to my taste for now (I fiddled again with the idle screw, simple as that), thanks to you all for sharing experiences.

Going to enjoy the few weeks left of riding with more confidence I can get this bike top-notch this winter.

I guess I'll be more active in the forums when I'll get into maintenance early next year, until then, happy riding!

P.S. I've been using sea foam in the gas tank when I first got the bike and on first oil change.