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Clever titles are tough eh? Seriously though, my buddy bought a 1981 GS1000 a couple days ago. He has zero mechanical knowledge and almost zero motorcycle experience in the last 10 years. He is also broke and wants to use this bike as his primary mode of transportation for the next few months so his wife and son can use his truck without having to take him to work everyday. So, it has been left in my hands to iron out the problems and teach him how to ride again.
Damn I'm a good friend...I'm not a professional mechanic, but I've got functional knowledge of most aspects of vintage bikes. Minimal practical application experience though, so I'll be leaning on the great people of this forum and others for guidance.
Paid $600 for it. Clean title and new tires. Not running right though. Not firing on cylinder #2. Starts up right away with very minimal use of choke. Came with stock exhaust as well as a 4 to 1 pipe. Came with pods - I asked about the stock air box, but he said he bought the bike without it. Did give us the chrome covers for the air box though.
It rode well enough for me to not trailer it the 3 miles back to my place. Over the last couple days, I've only had a couple hours total to look into it. I'd like to summarize where I'm at, and where I intend to go ultimately.
My friend is 5'1" and heavy. So even with short shocks, he still can't touch the ground. So, this thing has been "ghetto hard tailed" with a simple set of tubes in place of the shocks. Yes we are aware that negatively affects the handling of the motorcycle and decreases the comfort of the ride. I'm going to cut a seat pan and turn some heavy short springs to make up some comfort while keeping it short enough for him to touch the ground. I'm aware that bobbing/chopping is sacrilege, but it is necessary in this case.
I found out that the #2 cylinder wasn't firing because the previous owner had run the vacuum line to the vent on the tank instead of the petcock. Switched that and #2 was back online. However, the bike was still choking between 3k-7k rpms. Running lean right?
Previous owner said they cleaned carbs, replaced plugs, changed oil.
The stock exhaust was on the bike and we took the 4 to 1 home in the truck. The stock exhaust was not bolted on completely, so it was leaking bad. I pulled it off to inspect and found that none of the sleeves were in place, so there is no way these are going to seal. Called a few local shops to see if we can get sleeves. In the meantime, I bolted up the 4 to 1 and it seals up well. However, I believe we are missing a piece, because the muffler supplied with the 4-1 will not fit correctly, it jams the brake pedal up. I tried running the bike open header, but it just wouldn't do it. I crammed the muffler on there awkwardly just to test, and sure enough, in neutral and warmed up, no more choking through the RPM range. I took a test ride to the gas station about 1/4 mile away and it is still choking while in gear at 25%-75% throttle. At WOT, once it climbs past 6-7k rpms, it rips. That thing moves.
The #1 carb is overflowing when parked. So either something is worn out or they didn't set the float right. Either way, the carbs will need to come off for me to inspect, clean and check what jets are in there to see where I need to go from here. Also need to find information on tuning carbs for elevation as well as mods.
The petcock is probably bad, because a previous owner installed an in-line cutoff. I don't know if we will buy another, rebuild, or just forget it. Ultimately, I'm the brains and the skills, he is the bankroll - and his wallet is both anorexic and very rusty.
I have not checked the valves. Honestly, I don't know how. I've never adjusted valves on anything, I've always had someone else do it. I'll probably start looking to see what I can find as far as How To's go.
I'm hoping to be able to get it running pretty smooth with the pods and the 4-1. Since I had to lower it so much, I need to modify the kickstand so it doesn't fall over if the wind blows and I can't do that with the stock flute on the left side.
BikeCliff's website is an awesome culmination of information. Though I will say, I have a hard time reading the yellow background pages. Bother my eyes for some reason. But oh well, small price to pay.
Sorry my first post is so crazy long, but I wanted to be as thorough as possible in case anyone decides they want to chime in on my issues. Please excuse my messy driveway - I'm a self employed handyman/fabricator and that is where the magic happens...haha!
Damn I'm a good friend...I'm not a professional mechanic, but I've got functional knowledge of most aspects of vintage bikes. Minimal practical application experience though, so I'll be leaning on the great people of this forum and others for guidance.
Paid $600 for it. Clean title and new tires. Not running right though. Not firing on cylinder #2. Starts up right away with very minimal use of choke. Came with stock exhaust as well as a 4 to 1 pipe. Came with pods - I asked about the stock air box, but he said he bought the bike without it. Did give us the chrome covers for the air box though.
It rode well enough for me to not trailer it the 3 miles back to my place. Over the last couple days, I've only had a couple hours total to look into it. I'd like to summarize where I'm at, and where I intend to go ultimately.
My friend is 5'1" and heavy. So even with short shocks, he still can't touch the ground. So, this thing has been "ghetto hard tailed" with a simple set of tubes in place of the shocks. Yes we are aware that negatively affects the handling of the motorcycle and decreases the comfort of the ride. I'm going to cut a seat pan and turn some heavy short springs to make up some comfort while keeping it short enough for him to touch the ground. I'm aware that bobbing/chopping is sacrilege, but it is necessary in this case.
I found out that the #2 cylinder wasn't firing because the previous owner had run the vacuum line to the vent on the tank instead of the petcock. Switched that and #2 was back online. However, the bike was still choking between 3k-7k rpms. Running lean right?
Previous owner said they cleaned carbs, replaced plugs, changed oil.
The stock exhaust was on the bike and we took the 4 to 1 home in the truck. The stock exhaust was not bolted on completely, so it was leaking bad. I pulled it off to inspect and found that none of the sleeves were in place, so there is no way these are going to seal. Called a few local shops to see if we can get sleeves. In the meantime, I bolted up the 4 to 1 and it seals up well. However, I believe we are missing a piece, because the muffler supplied with the 4-1 will not fit correctly, it jams the brake pedal up. I tried running the bike open header, but it just wouldn't do it. I crammed the muffler on there awkwardly just to test, and sure enough, in neutral and warmed up, no more choking through the RPM range. I took a test ride to the gas station about 1/4 mile away and it is still choking while in gear at 25%-75% throttle. At WOT, once it climbs past 6-7k rpms, it rips. That thing moves.
The #1 carb is overflowing when parked. So either something is worn out or they didn't set the float right. Either way, the carbs will need to come off for me to inspect, clean and check what jets are in there to see where I need to go from here. Also need to find information on tuning carbs for elevation as well as mods.
The petcock is probably bad, because a previous owner installed an in-line cutoff. I don't know if we will buy another, rebuild, or just forget it. Ultimately, I'm the brains and the skills, he is the bankroll - and his wallet is both anorexic and very rusty.
I have not checked the valves. Honestly, I don't know how. I've never adjusted valves on anything, I've always had someone else do it. I'll probably start looking to see what I can find as far as How To's go.
I'm hoping to be able to get it running pretty smooth with the pods and the 4-1. Since I had to lower it so much, I need to modify the kickstand so it doesn't fall over if the wind blows and I can't do that with the stock flute on the left side.
BikeCliff's website is an awesome culmination of information. Though I will say, I have a hard time reading the yellow background pages. Bother my eyes for some reason. But oh well, small price to pay.
Sorry my first post is so crazy long, but I wanted to be as thorough as possible in case anyone decides they want to chime in on my issues. Please excuse my messy driveway - I'm a self employed handyman/fabricator and that is where the magic happens...haha!
Good luck with the project.
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