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So, as many know by now, Saturday I bought an 82 GS1100G from our own Griffin. Fellow GSR Steve and I, along with his wife, trecked out to Griffin's place in Indiana to meet him, check out his choice UJM museaum, which i might add, he's got just about every "best of the best" from every manufacture, hell of a collection, and to pick up the bike. On sight, when he mentioned that he would be selling it soon, and sent some pics, I was imediately in love, and seeing and riding it in person did NOT let me down at all. Long story short, Griffin is a hell of a guy, sold me a hell of a bike, for a hell of a deal. I couldnt be more pleased.
Trucked it home, and I had to watch it sit in the drive until Monday, when I could get it tagged and insured. Man, that was hard!! It was like KNOWING what was under the tree at Christmas, and your parents making you wait to open it! LOL. Monday finally came, and it was a simply gorgeous day. I got up early, showered and grabbed a Monster Java to assure I was fully awake and alert, and rushed over to the DMV, just down the road thankfully, to assure that there would be no line. Of course, there was a line. So, while in line, I called my insurance agent. Got coverage, but he wanted me to bring the bike by to get some pictures of it. By the time i got off the phone, it was my turn. This day was working in my favor so far!! Temp tag in hand, I booked it home to slap it on the bike, (and apparently i didnt do that well of a job, as will be touched on later) fired her up, and headed over to the insurance agent for his beauty snaps.
Mind you, my agent is not a biker, so he had really no idea, but when he saw it, he honestly thought I was yankin his chain about the age of the bike, till i showed him the paper work, and he looked at the VIN (Hows that for an ego boost Brett?? LOL) Got that taken care of, then on to catch my step-dad for a ride.
We rode out to the country side, where I could get a little better feel for the bike, as its a bit heavier than anything Ive ridden before (even my 77 CB750SS tank didnt feel this heavy to me, tho it was very close) We had ridden about 20 or so miles, when I pulled to a stop sign and a lady behind me honked. I pulled off the side of the road so she could pull up next to me. She told me my temp tag had blown off a while back. Great. So I flag my step dad down, and we spend the next hour or so cruising up and down the same couple mile stretch of road looking for it, to no avail. Finally, I tell him "Screw it, we'll just head back over to the DMV and I will see if they can issue a new one. Hell it's only been 3 hours since I was there"
So, back to the city we headed, with me in front, lest some cop get behind me and decide to investigate why I had no tag. Fortunately, no cops. Back in the city, at a light, I started to pull away. Let out the clutch, lil bit of throttle, the bike heaved like it wanted to go, but it would NOT move. Ok, i thought, maybe the back break is locked up. The cafe had pulled some nasty break issues similar on me, so it wouldnt suprise me. After all, this IS a 26 year old bike. The hoses could collapse at any time. So i rolled the bike back and forth a bit. No resistance there. Huh...I put it back in gear, and she pulled away just fine. Odd, I thought. So I pulled into a parking lot, just to make sure. I got off, and inspected the bike, checking for a hot caliper or something broken free and jamming something up. I got back on and spun it around the lot a couple times, and he seemed to be just fine. Weird. I know SOMETHING is amis, but what? So I started back to the house, gingerly at first, shifting thru the gears to assure that i had no transmission issues. I could hear nothing out of the ordinary, and power seemed to be delivered just fine, aside from the bit of a slippy clutch, which I already knew about. Maybe, I thought, that's the problem.
As I neared my street, I downshifted the bike, listening for anything that might cause me pain, 4th...good...3rd...good...2nd...good...1st...goo.. .CLAK CLAK CLAK...
Uh oh...I pulled the clutch in and semi coasted to my drive, only giving power by feathering out the clutch when i needed a lil boost. One in the drive, I shut the motor off, and rolled the bike back and forth again. This time, I could hear something making some racket. It sounded like a bolt in an empty soda can being shaken. I stripped off my gear, and put the bike up on the centre stand. In neutral, I turned the back wheel by hand, slowly, feeling for any odd vibration or unnatural sensation from it. As i turned i could hear it, something, metal. It sounded like a penny in a dryer now. No good. Immediately, I start thinking the worst. Something has drasticly malfunctioned in the final drive. But this is the first shaft bike I've ever owned. I dunno where to start. So I do what Ive done since the first day I picked up my FIRST GS...I turn to a GSR.
Steve answered the phone, and I told him what was happening. His first question was whether or not I was out doing wheelies on it. LOL No I said, I was getting on it quite a bit, but nothing brutaly shocking to the rear end such as that. Besides, with a slipping clutch, while Im confident that bike could pull the wheel off the ground, it likely wouldnt be able to at the moment, and I sure as hell wasnt going to try it having put at this point exactly 68.5 miles on it. He tells me to pull the pumpkin off and bring it down his way, to have a look see. He goes thru the list of what to do to get it off, and said that it would take me about a half hour. So, I enlist the help of my step dad, and we start taking things apart.
We take the shocks off the top mount to get the swinger to drop far enough the exhaust wouldnt block access to the axle. Then I removed the caliper. We get to the axle castle nut, and I realize I dont have a socket big enough for it. So Bob, my stepdad, says he's gonna run over to the hardware store and pick up and adjustable wrench (which Im ashamed to say i dont have in my tool collection, or didnt anyway) He leaves, but then I get antsy, because Bob is one of those people who can turn a 5 minute errand into a day long excursion. SO I take a crack at it with my vice grips. Lo and behold, off she comes without a problem. I actually had the wheel off by the time he got back...lol. I got the wheel off, and half expected to find the final drive a mangled mess. But to my suprise, it, aside from some scuffing, was just fine. The culprit was immediately shown to me. One of the "retaining clips" as i have no better word for them, that hold the inner hub gear in place, has sheared its boltheads, the clip itself has disintegrated, and all of that lovely metal had bounced around inside the hub and gear, creating QUITE the mess. A couple snaps to show, its hard to see anything, but I assure you, it had more or less trashed the wheel.
And the hub gear...
Sorry for the blurry pic there, my digi cam did not want to focus on that for some reason. But the little nubins of teeth that you see on the back side of the gear, which dont even contact the drive gear, are more or less all that were left of the teeth at all. What to do, what to do.
Steve, after examining the pumpkin, and both of us concluding that no real damage was done to it, tried to drill out the studs of the bolts left in the wheel. With luck, I would only have to purchase a new inner hub gear, and the clips and hardware. He tried his extractor, but unfortunately, the extractor broke off in the hole he'd drilled into the stud, filling it, and leaving us at square one. Those things were likely NOT coming out, at least not with what we had available. So, then Steve, being the amazingly generous person that he is, volunteers the rear wheel off his son's 81 850G that is a lil while away from being roadworthy again, untill I could find a suitable replacement for mine. Now, he's been a shaft drive bike rider for a LONG time (since Jesus was a baby I think) so he's got lots of practice and experience, but I must admit, I was pretty amazed by this. He had the wheel off the bike in less than 5 minutes. I told him its time for him to get on a crew for the IRL or NASCAR. Pretty darn quick!
We took the wheel back to my place, after assuring that the tire would hold air. We had suspicion after comparing the two wheels, that the brake rotor might not line up exactly, as they were just about a 16th of an inch or so different in offset. Once we arrived, we found it to be just that. So Bob takes off with the axle to Home Depot, or Lowes or where ever to find a washer that would fill the gap. Long section of the story short, after a bit of playing around with location of the shim washer, we got him back together. Couple more snaps...
It sitting sans rear wheel and pumpkin
And BEHOLD! He's roadworthy again!!
So, now that its back on the road, I have ridden the crap out of it the last couple days. It truely is a wonderfull machine. The sound from the stock pipes is simply delicious. That nice litre bike burble on idle, and a whooshy, semi angry rush when you get into the throttle. I was dead set on putting a 4into1 Vance and Hines on it before i bought it, but now im pretty sure that wont be happening untill these pipes give up the ghost. Sure they add some poundage to a fairly heavy bike, but the bike has AMPLE power to make up for it, and I didnt buy the bike to be a vintage go fast anyway. I will soon have the cafe for that.
Trucked it home, and I had to watch it sit in the drive until Monday, when I could get it tagged and insured. Man, that was hard!! It was like KNOWING what was under the tree at Christmas, and your parents making you wait to open it! LOL. Monday finally came, and it was a simply gorgeous day. I got up early, showered and grabbed a Monster Java to assure I was fully awake and alert, and rushed over to the DMV, just down the road thankfully, to assure that there would be no line. Of course, there was a line. So, while in line, I called my insurance agent. Got coverage, but he wanted me to bring the bike by to get some pictures of it. By the time i got off the phone, it was my turn. This day was working in my favor so far!! Temp tag in hand, I booked it home to slap it on the bike, (and apparently i didnt do that well of a job, as will be touched on later) fired her up, and headed over to the insurance agent for his beauty snaps.
Mind you, my agent is not a biker, so he had really no idea, but when he saw it, he honestly thought I was yankin his chain about the age of the bike, till i showed him the paper work, and he looked at the VIN (Hows that for an ego boost Brett?? LOL) Got that taken care of, then on to catch my step-dad for a ride.
We rode out to the country side, where I could get a little better feel for the bike, as its a bit heavier than anything Ive ridden before (even my 77 CB750SS tank didnt feel this heavy to me, tho it was very close) We had ridden about 20 or so miles, when I pulled to a stop sign and a lady behind me honked. I pulled off the side of the road so she could pull up next to me. She told me my temp tag had blown off a while back. Great. So I flag my step dad down, and we spend the next hour or so cruising up and down the same couple mile stretch of road looking for it, to no avail. Finally, I tell him "Screw it, we'll just head back over to the DMV and I will see if they can issue a new one. Hell it's only been 3 hours since I was there"
So, back to the city we headed, with me in front, lest some cop get behind me and decide to investigate why I had no tag. Fortunately, no cops. Back in the city, at a light, I started to pull away. Let out the clutch, lil bit of throttle, the bike heaved like it wanted to go, but it would NOT move. Ok, i thought, maybe the back break is locked up. The cafe had pulled some nasty break issues similar on me, so it wouldnt suprise me. After all, this IS a 26 year old bike. The hoses could collapse at any time. So i rolled the bike back and forth a bit. No resistance there. Huh...I put it back in gear, and she pulled away just fine. Odd, I thought. So I pulled into a parking lot, just to make sure. I got off, and inspected the bike, checking for a hot caliper or something broken free and jamming something up. I got back on and spun it around the lot a couple times, and he seemed to be just fine. Weird. I know SOMETHING is amis, but what? So I started back to the house, gingerly at first, shifting thru the gears to assure that i had no transmission issues. I could hear nothing out of the ordinary, and power seemed to be delivered just fine, aside from the bit of a slippy clutch, which I already knew about. Maybe, I thought, that's the problem.
As I neared my street, I downshifted the bike, listening for anything that might cause me pain, 4th...good...3rd...good...2nd...good...1st...goo.. .CLAK CLAK CLAK...
Uh oh...I pulled the clutch in and semi coasted to my drive, only giving power by feathering out the clutch when i needed a lil boost. One in the drive, I shut the motor off, and rolled the bike back and forth again. This time, I could hear something making some racket. It sounded like a bolt in an empty soda can being shaken. I stripped off my gear, and put the bike up on the centre stand. In neutral, I turned the back wheel by hand, slowly, feeling for any odd vibration or unnatural sensation from it. As i turned i could hear it, something, metal. It sounded like a penny in a dryer now. No good. Immediately, I start thinking the worst. Something has drasticly malfunctioned in the final drive. But this is the first shaft bike I've ever owned. I dunno where to start. So I do what Ive done since the first day I picked up my FIRST GS...I turn to a GSR.
Steve answered the phone, and I told him what was happening. His first question was whether or not I was out doing wheelies on it. LOL No I said, I was getting on it quite a bit, but nothing brutaly shocking to the rear end such as that. Besides, with a slipping clutch, while Im confident that bike could pull the wheel off the ground, it likely wouldnt be able to at the moment, and I sure as hell wasnt going to try it having put at this point exactly 68.5 miles on it. He tells me to pull the pumpkin off and bring it down his way, to have a look see. He goes thru the list of what to do to get it off, and said that it would take me about a half hour. So, I enlist the help of my step dad, and we start taking things apart.
We take the shocks off the top mount to get the swinger to drop far enough the exhaust wouldnt block access to the axle. Then I removed the caliper. We get to the axle castle nut, and I realize I dont have a socket big enough for it. So Bob, my stepdad, says he's gonna run over to the hardware store and pick up and adjustable wrench (which Im ashamed to say i dont have in my tool collection, or didnt anyway) He leaves, but then I get antsy, because Bob is one of those people who can turn a 5 minute errand into a day long excursion. SO I take a crack at it with my vice grips. Lo and behold, off she comes without a problem. I actually had the wheel off by the time he got back...lol. I got the wheel off, and half expected to find the final drive a mangled mess. But to my suprise, it, aside from some scuffing, was just fine. The culprit was immediately shown to me. One of the "retaining clips" as i have no better word for them, that hold the inner hub gear in place, has sheared its boltheads, the clip itself has disintegrated, and all of that lovely metal had bounced around inside the hub and gear, creating QUITE the mess. A couple snaps to show, its hard to see anything, but I assure you, it had more or less trashed the wheel.
And the hub gear...
Sorry for the blurry pic there, my digi cam did not want to focus on that for some reason. But the little nubins of teeth that you see on the back side of the gear, which dont even contact the drive gear, are more or less all that were left of the teeth at all. What to do, what to do.
Steve, after examining the pumpkin, and both of us concluding that no real damage was done to it, tried to drill out the studs of the bolts left in the wheel. With luck, I would only have to purchase a new inner hub gear, and the clips and hardware. He tried his extractor, but unfortunately, the extractor broke off in the hole he'd drilled into the stud, filling it, and leaving us at square one. Those things were likely NOT coming out, at least not with what we had available. So, then Steve, being the amazingly generous person that he is, volunteers the rear wheel off his son's 81 850G that is a lil while away from being roadworthy again, untill I could find a suitable replacement for mine. Now, he's been a shaft drive bike rider for a LONG time (since Jesus was a baby I think) so he's got lots of practice and experience, but I must admit, I was pretty amazed by this. He had the wheel off the bike in less than 5 minutes. I told him its time for him to get on a crew for the IRL or NASCAR. Pretty darn quick!
We took the wheel back to my place, after assuring that the tire would hold air. We had suspicion after comparing the two wheels, that the brake rotor might not line up exactly, as they were just about a 16th of an inch or so different in offset. Once we arrived, we found it to be just that. So Bob takes off with the axle to Home Depot, or Lowes or where ever to find a washer that would fill the gap. Long section of the story short, after a bit of playing around with location of the shim washer, we got him back together. Couple more snaps...
It sitting sans rear wheel and pumpkin
And BEHOLD! He's roadworthy again!!
So, now that its back on the road, I have ridden the crap out of it the last couple days. It truely is a wonderfull machine. The sound from the stock pipes is simply delicious. That nice litre bike burble on idle, and a whooshy, semi angry rush when you get into the throttle. I was dead set on putting a 4into1 Vance and Hines on it before i bought it, but now im pretty sure that wont be happening untill these pipes give up the ghost. Sure they add some poundage to a fairly heavy bike, but the bike has AMPLE power to make up for it, and I didnt buy the bike to be a vintage go fast anyway. I will soon have the cafe for that.
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