Getting a GS450L

[Gusteko]

Heyo, I'm getting my A2 license soon and will be upgrading from a 50cc moped to an 86 GS450L. Would love to hear your thoughts on the bike!

[Rijko]

Welcome.

And another welcome - to the world of classic bikes.
Unless you can find one that is very well maintained, which is very, very rare,
be prepared to spend extra on initial maintenance.
Things like front fork and brakes rebuild, oil change, tires, chain and sprockets, battery, petcock issues.
Valve adjustments, carbs cleaning, sorting out electrical issues.
And more. These bikes are old and often maintained poorly.

It would help to have a grease monkey friend because most motorcycle shops
won't touch the oldtimer with a 10 foot pole.
Or charge you an arm and a leg to do the work.
And even then they may not have the proper knowledge to work on these old bikes.
So be prepared to do a lot of technical work yourself.

So a BIG warning - the bike may look good and be cheap to buy, but could cost you
a lot to get it running properly. Also, some parts are hard to find and expensive to buy.
It may be cheaper to buy a bit more modern bike without issues.

That said, this forum is GREAT in helping you to get the bike running well.
And once the issues are sorted, these classic bikes are reliable and big fun.

So tell us a bit more, you already got the bike ?
Pictures are always appreciated here.

[steve murdoch]

Welcome to the site, Gusteko.
The L is sometimes good naturedly referred to as the red-headed stepchild of the GS family. No matter, make it yours and enjoy it.

[Phred]

Congratulations and welcome to the Forum. You have come to the right place to get your bike up and running properly. I don't know much about the 450L as I have an 850L that I restored and that is what brought me to this forum. Be sure to check out Bikecliff's website for tutorials on everything to get your bike up and running. In your part of the world obtaining parts might be a bit of a problem but check out Z1 Enterprises as they sell parts for the Japanese four only. Good luck and enjoy the upgrade from the moped.

[Gusteko]

I don't have the bike yet, I'm planning to go and buy it in a couple weeks. I just turned 18 and will be getting a bike instead of a car. I got a moped 3 months ago to commute to work over the summer because my escooter broke down (I tried to give it more power ). I thought it would be just that, a way to get to work, but it was much much more than that, I fell in love with riding and knew I wanted a classic chopper/cruiser after the first week, put over 5k km on my moped (which has a ts of 60kmh) in 3 months. I just love riding. And for the maintenance part, the one I'm planning to get seems to be in near perfect state, but if anything goes down I have a friend that is extremely knowledgeable about bikes, so fixing anything won't be a problem.

[SkyfangR]

i recently bought an 85 gs450l, and after dealing with PO (previous owner) issues, im quite happy with it. it needs prettying up, but i feel its a solid first motorcycle.
the only bad thing is decent parts for this thing are either hard to find, or ridiculously expensive. usually both

[Rob S.]

...fixing anything won't be a problem.

Certainly hope you're right.

Welcome to the site. And congratulations on stepping up to a real motorcycle. I was also 18 when I started riding. Take it slow at first, and get yourself a shop manual. An owner's manual is also nice to have.

Good luck, and welcome to the brotherhood.

[Rijko]

I don't have the bike yet, I'm planning to go and buy it in a couple weeks. I just turned 18 and will be getting a bike instead of a car. I got a moped 3 months ago to commute to work over the summer because my escooter broke down (I tried to give it more power ). I thought it would be just that, a way to get to work, but it was much much more than that, I fell in love with riding and knew I wanted a classic chopper/cruiser after the first week, put over 5k km on my moped (which has a ts of 60kmh) in 3 months. I just love riding. And for the maintenance part, the one I'm planning to get seems to be in near perfect state, but if anything goes down I have a friend that is extremely knowledgeable about bikes, so fixing anything won't be a problem.

I think that story will make most members here remember their first bike experience and smile.

Great that you have an experienced wrenching buddy, hopefully he will help with the purchase.

Myself i always want to take the bike out for a ride if possible and ask the seller not to start it before i get there.
Warm engine, usually i walk away.

And these old Suzuki's can have electrical issues : there is an ignitor or "CDI box" that can go bad and if so,
most of the time the regulator/rectifier unit is bad also.
And that ignitor box is very hard to find and quite expensive.
If you are interested, in my sig is a link to 'The Stator Papers' that describes lots of checks and makes for a good read.
Recommend to perform at least the 'Quick test'.

Electrical issues are for sure if you pop the RH side cover to get to the battery and
if you take a voltmeter and measure more than 15 volt with the engine revved to 5000 rpm things are going to get expensive.
Measure this after the test ride, revving to 5000 rpm on a cold engine is not good.

[Rob S.]

Myself i always want to take the bike out for a ride if possible and ask the seller not to start it before i get there.
Warm engine, usually i walk away.

Totally. I made it clear to the seller of my 11EZ that the engine and exhaust must be cool to the touch. Then you can see how easily it starts, how nicely it idles and how well it pulls to redline.

[Rich82GS750TZ]

And these old Suzuki's can have electrical issues : there is an ignitor or "CDI box" that can go bad and if so,
most of the time the regulator/rectifier unit is bad also.

Rijko, what has the ignitor to do with the charging system? I’m not sure I see the logic in your statement.

[storm 64]

Rijko, what has the ignitor to do with the charging system? I’m not sure I see the logic in your statement.

Maybe it a time thing. When your ignitor goes the stator is not far from going too. Or vice-versa.
However, I never had any problems with the stock Suzuki electronic ignition...

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Could be, I just have not seen anyone make this correlation before. I’m willing to learn.

[Rijko]

Rijko, what has the ignitor to do with the charging system? I’m not sure I see the logic in your statement.

i could have phrased that clearer - a broken igniter will
not likely result in a broken R/R.

Maybe i should have put the correlation the other way around :
if the R/R fails, you usually get higher than 15 Volt on all components.
This will quickly take out the igniter.

So if you find high voltage on a bike with an igniter, you may very well
have the igniter on the way out even if it still seems to work ok.

And yes, maybe all was caused by a bad stator ..

[Rijko]

Electrical issues are for sure if you pop the RH side cover to get to the battery and
if you take a voltmeter and measure more than 15 volt with the engine revved to 5000 rpm things are going to get expensive.

Main thing i wanted to offer was the advice to measure voltage.
That's no guarantee for good stator, R/R or igniter - but high voltage
usually means a repair, sometimes expensive.

And when buying a bike, measuring 15+ Volt usually means i walk away.

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Rijko, thanks for clarifying.