1000 miles in a week

[Guest]

GS650GL small.jpg
Just bought a 83 GS650GL and am loving it. I was on my way to pay my internet bill and saw this sitting at one of my routine maintenance car mechanic's shop. After I paid my bill, I swung back by and then basically ran straight to the bank. $650 bucks and it really only has one problem, little oil leak from the shifter side. It did have a shattered tail light lens so I replaced it with one that I had sitting around, however...My spare taillight, from a CB750 café project, did not fir the stock light nor did the entire light fit the fender. So I installed the fender with the light and rewired it up. The fiberglass fender is unpainted white. I will be finding one that looks better on the stock metal fender at some point, but the chrome part will not be staying. Anyways...I have only taken one picture so far. As this title says, I have logged over 1000 miles since the 20th and am loving it. It has 17000ish miles and sounds great. Yesterday I just ran well over 200 miles on a tank of gas, so no complaints in that department. Everything I have read about this bike calls it a cruiser, but I don't get it
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it is missing the battery side cover, haven't been able to find one online yet, they look different from the one here. Even the one listed over at CMSNL looks different.

I went to the bar the other night and I had the oldest bike there, out of about 50. Almost all Harleys, of course, but there was a nice custom painted Rebel.

The rust is just some surface rust. The strap is not holding on the gas tank, it's from my tank bag. My neighbor said that, but I'm sure you guys would not think that. The headlight has some damage, not seen in this photo, but I do have a brand new 7 incher sitting in my shed. Front brake needs replaced, maybe the rotor as well, a little unevenness in light braking. I want to find luggage racks for a locking tail bag because I currently have to go to the store almost everyday and because I would like to get the quart of oil out of my cargo bungee. While I was working on the fender, I saw that the left side rear turn signal cover popped off. It was definitely there when I bought the bike. My spare turn signals have custom mounts that do not fit this frame. So I will be finding some decent sized ones with LED bulbs eventually. So many are so tiny you can't see them during the day.

I found an owner's manual from ClassicCycles.org that I printed out. and found out a couple cool things about the bike. It has a well written manual, I was a little surprised.

Enough about the bike....My name is Adam. I'm from Charlotte, currently living in Monroe, NC. I've been out of the Marine Corps for 12 years now, due to an injury, not by choice... In college for Family and Human Development. Married to a Thai girl for 2 1/2 years. She rides, but hasn't owned a bike since she has been in the States because she says the driver's are crazy and she hates helmets. In Thailand you have to wear a helmet, but she is crazy. She just Los Angeles and Berkeley for about a decade, so I didn't even need private transportation, so I had a car here and there for hauling stuff around. I am on my second BMW 318ti right now, that is in the picture above, not for sale.

I did buy a 72 CB750 that needed to be hot wired to be started and then it turned out the spokes were punching through the rims and piercing the tires, so that turned into a project. I have a lot of NOS and custom gear for it. I just lost the motivation, and funds, to finish the build. That bike has a nice story. Bought in Australia in 1972 by an American businessman. The guy liked it so much he shipped it back to California and sold it around 2004. I am the third owner.

Also, the Eclipse in the picture is for sale or trade. Also....My wife does not like green, but including the Cadillac that died on me, this is 4 green vehicles in a row.

Completely off topic....I stopped by my local dealer the other day to talk to them about the oil leak, they said they can't do anything with it because the service shop has a back log of over a month, but I did see this real rice looking GW250. Nice looking bike besides the front fender.

[Steve]

First of all,

[ATTACH=CONFIG]36166[/ATTACH]
Just bought a 83 GS650GL and am loving it.

Are you SURE it's an '83? The '83 bikes had black engines, yours is silver. Might have had some work done, might have an engine transplant.

Yesterday I just ran well over 200 miles on a tank of gas, so no complaints in that department.

Many of us would like to know your secret.

The bike only has a 3.5 gallon tank, which means that you have to be getting about 60 mpg.

The headlight has some damage, not seen in this photo, but I do have a brand new 7 incher sitting in my shed.

Nice that you have a 7" light, but be aware that you also need to change the mounting ears, as the offset is different for the two light sizes. Using the stock ears with the larger light will splay the turn signals back at an angle.

I stopped by my local dealer the other day to talk to them about the oil leak, they said they can't do anything with it because the service shop has a back log of over a month, ...

You are lucky that they even talked to you about it. Most shops have a "10-year" policy. Anything older than 10 years old does not make it through the door. Seems that all the rusty, stuck bolts and other fasteners break, which really destroys any profit based on a flat-rate manual, then the owner sees the bill for the "time and materials", which often exceeds the value of the bike and says "screw it, keep the bike".

My son has an '82 650GL that is also custom-painted green. You can see it by clicking on the link in my sig.

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[argonsagas]

Welcome to GSR.

One of our fine members has taken the onus upon himself to "officially" greet every new member, but he has been rather busy of late and you may not get the package for a day or two.

You will find a great deal of information available if you look under the appropriate headings in the technical section, and for off-topc discussion, there is an off-topic arena where you can expect things might get a warmer reaction than when discussing spoke into tube damage.


There are some delightful people on GSR. Enjoy yourself.

[850 Combat]

Have fun and be safe on it. It will do evertthing better than that old CB750.

[MrShortStack]

I ran the VIN in, I forget where, and it came up as an 83. The title says 1983 GS 650 L, but this is a shift drive, so.... I don't know much about this as of yet. I can tell you just about anything about the SOHC CBs. Give me some time and I will be knowledgeable about these bikes, but yeah, everything I read says that something is weird about this bike, but yeah, the title says it is an 83 and the VIN says it is an 83.

The 200 was a typo....sorry. 100 miles, typing too fast to read. From Monroe, NC to Camden, SC 522 out and 601 back, with 2 detours out to 40 Acre Rock. When I got back to the gas station, it took 2.15 gal and the fuel was up to the bottom of the fill neck. I "ran out" of gas while at the shooting range by me while trying to inch the bike up a steepish gravel hill, it died on me twice. Put the petcock into reserve to get me through the hills and popped it back into normal when I got back to HWY 207. Work is 20.6 miles away and I get to work and back on less than one gallon. I estimate 50-55 mpg.

Yeah the lady that walked me back to the service counter said it was too old but when I talked to the guy he said he was just backed up. He then gave me the number of a guy working out of his garage that basically only works on Suzukis. There is also a Kawasaki guy over on Trinity Church Road down by me. I was told he has over 100 Kawis sitting in his yard.

Your son's bike looks nice. I would take some locking side bags over a tail bag but I just like a tail bag better for grocery shopping. More space in a single place.

I'm not real worried about the headlight, and I do have some sweet mounting ears, aluminum, that I bought for the Honda. It's for the later end of the restomodding process, since it works just fine. I have all kinds of gear that I can probably switch over to this bike. Mainly, I just want a nice taillight that fits the original fender.

As far as off topic discussion, I wasn't starting anything up, just mentioning. It's not worth starting a thread over.

[Redman]

Welcome to GSR/

Yes, A 650 that is an L (teardrop tank, stepped seat, more chrome, leading axle) will be an G (shaftdrive).

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[Jcgonzal]

Ha ha I saw the 200 miles too and was definitely gonna ask what your secret was! I love my '82 as well, now that I got rid of the god awful stock bars. Still wouldn't mind a bigger tank......

[Jcgonzal]

Also, where are you located? I always liked that body style of Eclipse/Talon. 5 speed, turbo?

[GSX1000E]

My '82 650G was getting a disappointing 54 mpg average which is even more disappointing when my '81 1100E gets the exact same mileage and is WAY more fun to ride.
What kind of mileage are you all getting on your GL's that they can't go 150 miles before hitting reserve on those 3.5 gallon tanks?

[MrShortStack]

The eclipse is the standard 2.0/auto.

I can only ever put in just over 2 gallons when the tank looks bone dry. I went about 120 miles the other day that was mentioned earlier.

I think I said this earlier, but yeah, the "L".....means cruiser right? Besides the comfy seat, what makes this a cruiser? It feels more like the predecessor of the Katana or something. Comfy to lean low and turns on a dime. 2nd gear kicks like a 2-stroker. I will switch over to my spare euro styled bars eventually, maybe when the ice hits the road. Also, I hate these chromed out grips....

[850 Combat]

"L" was for the "Low Slinger". That is the way that Suzuki marketed them in the day, at least.