GS Newbie Here

[MaxFubar]

Hi all, new GS owner here. A good friend of mine gave me his father's(passed away a few years ago sadly) bike as he's career military and moves around a lot. Told me he wanted to see it go to somebody who would appreciate it and ride it. Not currently running, but it seems to be all together for the most part. Joined to get into the info on these things and get started on getting this thing back on the road, amongst several others that I have in the stable. I'm pretty sure I narrowed this one down to a '79 GS1000L, but I wanted to get some input. I found several sheets with serial numbers on them, but wanted to consult the experts here for some feedback as well.

E2bK9lNb.jpg

https://imgur.com/E2bK9lN

https://imgur.com/PbJyqMb

I'm also running around on a Suzuki Savage bobber these days and my love of old Japanese bikes goes back to my dad's '71 Honda CL350 and my first bike I bought, a '72 Honda CB450(still have it, rebuild in progress on the motor). Looking forward to getting to know y'all and learn about these bikes. From what I can tell these are some hellacious machines when they're tuned up and running, definitely looking forward to getting this 'ol gal back up on her feet and motoring around.

650 Savage - https://imgur.com/RqU0lYl
CB450 - https://imgur.com/iT7canY

[Rob S.]

Welcome aboard. My first bike was a '71 CB350. Two friends had the 450. Pic looks like a '79 1000L to me.

Welcome aboard.

[Big T]

Yep, 79 L model
The carbs tell the story

[MaxFubar]

Thanks for the input. Now on to three articles and stickies to figure out what to do first to get her back in fighting shape.

[Big T]

Oh, look at the Top 10 Newbie mistakes thread

[Gorminrider]

Hi, Maxfubar! Looks like a nice example...Apart from the seat cover cosmetic bits look hopeful, and they are the hardest to replace. be sure to have a look in the airbox- the mice might have built a nest from parts of the seat!

Overall, carbs and gas tank and petcock and valve-check are good places to start but you've got bikes so you know...

Source of manuals and tips here BikeCliff's Website

[MaxFubar]

Hi, Maxfubar! Looks like a nice example...Apart from the seat cover cosmetic bits look hopeful, and they are the hardest to replace. be sure to have a look in the airbox- the mice might have built a nest from parts of the seat!

Overall, carbs and gas tank and petcock and valve-check are good places to start but you've got bikes so you know...

Source of manuals and tips here BikeCliff's Website

I got the airbox off last night and other than the filter turning to dust upon removal, it's all pretty clean. I was going to remove the rest of the air box and take a look at the carbs, do some minor cleanup and see if I can't get it to fire. Will need a battery and unfortunately I've got my buddy looking for a set of keys. So I may have to remove the ignition switch and bypass for testing until I can either get a set of keys or replace the switch, gas cap, and seat lock with new pieces.

[1948man]

Seems maybe I remember you can order a key if you have the numerical key code which might be printed somewhere. I think there may be a guy on Ebay.

[Big T]

There's a guy here

Kiwi Canuck aka Dave

[Gorminrider]

You shouldn't need to futz around up at the key switch while you look for a key.... you should be able to take from a red wire or battery + to the fusebox bus that feeds the circuits. On these suzukis the keyswitch mostly justs connects red to an orange that feeds the bus..and, on yours. I think, grey to brown to power some dash lights etc

[MaxFubar]

There's a guy here

Kiwi Canuck aka Dave

Sent him a PM, thanks.

You shouldn't need to futz around up at the key switch while you look for a key.... you should be able to take from a red wire or battery + to the fusebox bus that feeds the circuits. On these suzukis the keyswitch mostly justs connects red to an orange that feeds the bus..and, on yours. I think, grey to brown to power some dash lights etc

I get it, would still like to have a long term solution if I'm able to make this thing run and ride. But yeah, initial testing is going to involve bypassing the ignition switch in some way/shape/form.

[salty_monk]

Yes should be pretty easy to bypass the ignition for testing but Kiwi was fast when he did my keys!