time to sell

[dgeorge]

Well a little over two years ago, I went to my landlords to pay the rent and noticed a sadly neglected 1983 GS1100GK sitting out behind his house. Well I asked him if he wanted to sell it and he said sure. He was asking $1400.00 for it, but he said it had a messed up u-joint in the drive shaft. So I talked him into selling it to me for $1200.00 and letting me pay it off at $100 a week. He tried to start it up and it turned over a few times and just quit. Well a few weeks later I borrowed a trailer and got the bike home and into the garage. This was in December so I decided to strip all of the paint due to severe lacquer checking and repaint everything. While I was in the process of getting everything sanded and ready to paint I pulled the rear wheel and swing arm off to find that it wasn?t just the drive shaft u-joint, but the final drive gear was busted and the nut rattling around was what he had thought was the u-joint. So I replaced both final drive gears as well as put new brushes in the starter (the reason it wouldn?t start) and cleaned the carbs. After getting everything painted and put back together, the bike started up and ran, but didn?t have the power that I felt like it should have. I did a compression check and all four cylinders were down to 90lbs. Well I rode it a little bit last summer, but stopped due to winter and a bald rear tire. In January of this year I started getting a lot of overtime and decided to use the extra money to rebuild the top end and fix up the bike. Took the top end off of the motor and had it reworked at a local machine shop, bought new rings, front and rear brakes, new fiber clutch disks and springs, took all of the aforementioned items apart and cleaned and reassembled everything. Also purchased two new Dunlop k491?s and had them mounted and balanced. Bought 4 carb kits, cleaned and rebuilt the carbs. Once I got everything back together, I found out that I had timed it wrong so I tore it all back apart, and retimed it correctly. Torqueing down the last bolt on the last cam hold down, the bolt snapped, so after trying various means of getting the broken bolt out of the head, I pulled the head back off and took it to a machine shop to let them deal with it. Got the head back on and everything back together properly this time and decided to run a compression test. No compression on #4 cylinder. Let it sit for a week out of frustration and rechecked the compression on #4 a 120lbs cold with the throttle closed. So I decided to go ahead and fire it up. Fired up with very little effort so I warmed it up and started syncing the carbs. Just about had the carbs in sync when it idled down to low and died. Hit the starter button nothing happened so after some trouble shooting I determined that it was the brushes in the starter again. Found a good used starter on E-bay and bought it once I got it and my new Morgan carbtune II, I crank the bike up and get it synced and running real well, not perfect but running mighty strong. I drove the bike back and forth to work for two weeks with no problems. Last Saturday, I had to go about 70 miles away to pickup a car that I had bought. I decided that I would ride the bike down and pickup the u-haul truck and car dolly, load the bike into the truck and then pickup the car and come home. Well riding the bike up the ramp into the u-haul my foot slipped off of the right side of the ramp and both the bike and I fell off of the ramp. The bike got by with just a little cosmetic damage, but I wound up with my right arm broken. So I have decided to sell the bike you will find it listed in the road ready bikes if anyone is interested in it. I just feel like the Lord has been trying to tell me that I don?t need something so dangerous and expensive.

[earlfor]

Thats really sad Daniel. All that time, effort and cost and you barely got to put a few miles on it. I can understand why youre feeling like it might not be intended to be, but I think you should consider just letting it rest until your arm heals and see if you feel the same way then. You may be surprised.
It cant cost you anything more to wait and see and you could find yourself happy you did.

Earl

[AOD]

oww.

sorry for your accident, but i'm sure in the last 2 years or so you've learned a lot about the joy, and pain, in fixing up an old bike. you will benefiit from it for sure. too bad you are ditching the bike though, i am new to NC, and looking for GS'ers to ride with.

~Adam

[mdole]

Sorry, to hear about your arm.

I've been riding for 40 years and would never even think about quitting, as it is one of the things that helps me to preserve the little bit of sanity that I have left.

I can understand your decision and wish you well.

[bradleymaynar]

Don't give up on it, yet. I've been without a bike since June, and everytime I see an old Japanese bike go by, I get just downright depressed. I'm probably gonna completely miss out on the decent summer months here, but will ride again. It took a car to rip me from my 750, and I think it will take a heck of lot more to get me to quit riding.

Brad tt

[MikeW665]

Daniel, where did you get your Morgan carbtune II from? The only place I seem to be able to find it is in England, did you get it from a place in the states??

Thanks,

[mcycle-nut]

No, I think the Lord is telling you NOT to ride a bike up a ramp to load it! It sounds like you have put too much time and effort, and money into this bike to let it go. You HAVE to ride it now!

[earlfor]

NO no no Kevin, the Lord is telling him not to put his feet down when the bike is moving. :-)

Earl

No, I think the Lord is telling you NOT to ride a bike up a ramp to load it! It sounds like you have put too much time and effort, and money into this bike to let it go. You HAVE to ride it now!