'82 GS300L Restore & Timing Adjustment - Complete Noob

[pete]

Aaah your coils mount a little differently... the mounts for mine are attached to the back bone of the frame, not the side rails where yours are.

Having them upside down won't make a difference, it'll just mean longer leads.

The only question is clearance to the bottom of the tank but you've covered that off so you should be all good.

Just remember when putting the rotor and spacer in that once everything is all tightened up the advance mechanism needs to be able to rotate and spring back freely. You'll know if it can't because it won't rev above about 3000 - 4000RPM...

[pete]

I figured since I had all of the electrical off now I might as well do some cosmetic things too like paint the battery box and the junction box.

Just realised you said you were painting the junction box... I'm assuming this is where your starter solenoid and R/R are mounted?

If so, scrub some of the paint off where the starter solenoid mounts as the bolts ground the solenoid. Run an extra lead from battery negative to one of the starter solenoid bolts and move your R/R ground to the same bolt.

Another suggestion I haven't done myself is to use start washers so they bite into the metal and ensure the grounding connections stay good.

[hjacobmiller]

Lots of progress, but man I am tired!

I had to do a little cutting and bending to get the coil mounts the S-kit came with to fit in how I wanted. The original frame had little tabs on the mounts that I just bent back a little bit so that the brackets would seat. I'll put up some pictures, but all in all good progress!

Except for a couple of burns, the soldering went pretty well, thanks to YouTube! I didn't get quite as extravagant as your mini harnesses Pete, but I did make one mini harness so that it gives me a little extra wire to work with.

What I have left to do:

1. Finish the mini harness by putting the ring connectors on the coil terminal side.
2. Double check my wire/cable routing through the frame. Its a little messy.
3. Build the spark plug wires and route them accordingly. Anyone know of a good tutorial on making these?
4. Lube up the advance - Pete you mentioned with just motor oil?
5. Finish installing the S kit and run the oil pressure switch wire with it. Would a ring terminal be OK underneath the screw? I just was hoping to keep it a little more secure, and honestly I don't have the little forked terminal and I'd hate to buy a whole pack for just one.
6.Put everything back together and see if I can get some nice blue spark!

[pete]

Lots of progress, but man I am tired!

I had to do a little cutting and bending to get the coil mounts the S-kit came with to fit in how I wanted. The original frame had little tabs on the mounts that I just bent back a little bit so that the brackets would seat. I'll put up some pictures, but all in all good progress!

Except for a couple of burns, the soldering went pretty well, thanks to YouTube! I didn't get quite as extravagant as your mini harnesses Pete, but I did make one mini harness so that it gives me a little extra wire to work with.

What I have left to do:

1. Finish the mini harness by putting the ring connectors on the coil terminal side.
2. Double check my wire/cable routing through the frame. Its a little messy.
3. Build the spark plug wires and route them accordingly. Anyone know of a good tutorial on making these?
4. Lube up the advance - Pete you mentioned with just motor oil?
5. Finish installing the S kit and run the oil pressure switch wire with it. Would a ring terminal be OK underneath the screw? I just was hoping to keep it a little more secure, and honestly I don't have the little forked terminal and I'd hate to buy a whole pack for just one.
6.Put everything back together and see if I can get some nice blue spark!

Good stuff! Sounds like you're getting there

I'd be adding a step 5a to your list... double check all wiring to make sure the left Dyna module is still firing the left coil and right firing the right coil and make sure the switched 12v is going to the + side of the coils and red lead of the Dyna modules.

For making the spark plug leads, I'm guessing Youtube again. I just went by the direction on the Dyna packet and that worked out ok.

Engine oil is fine on the advance mechanism. It just needs to be able to rotate smoothly on the shaft so it can advance and retard at the right rev's.

Ring or fork terminal will be fine on the oil pressure sensor, but I found the ring terminals I had access to were too big for the little screw but the fork terminals were good. I also found it much less fiddly to leave the screw in and slot the fork terminal on rather than have to hold the Dyna module and ring terminal and try to get the screw in...

[hjacobmiller]

More progress! I have a lot of pictures to upload too, but I'm still not running.

Everything is connected and I get spark! On both sides! Big wonderful blue sparks! Good voltage at the coils. Although I may have gotten a little carried away with zip ties

I think that I have a problem with the ignition timing as I can't get it to fire. I tried doing the light test in the instruction but I there is another problem because I couldn't get it to work.

Pete you mentioned mechanism rotating freely on the shaft... Is there a shaft that the center bolt goes through that rotates within the advance mechanism?

When I go to turn the advance it automatically starts to turn the whole crank, and doesn't allow it it to go to the "full advance." I'm guessing this is because it is not rotating on the shaft, just turning the whole mechanism at once.

On the back of the advance mechanism, there is a groove that aligns with a knob on the crank shaft. There are also the two teeth on the end of the advance that engage with cross-haired grooves on the (19mm) nut. As I turn the nut (19mm) it instantly starts turning the crank because these teeth are engaged. From what I understand there should be some play before the crank starts to turn (to the full advance position) right?

Is the advance supposed to rotate slightly to the full advance position BEFORE the crankshaft starts to turn?

Just out of curiosity, your center bolt isn't reverse thread is it? Mine's not, I just want to double check.

Maybe I am not putting it together correctly or something...

All in all I think I'm getting REALLY close and seeing sparks made me hopeful!

Would it be OK to soak the advance in carb cleaner? I don't have any kerosene.

[Mekanix]

lol over thinking it a bit I think.

The bolt on the end of the advancer and the big nut behind it are fixed to the crank.

You use the big nut with a wrench to rotate the crank and everything should go with it. That's its designed purpose.

Just under your spacer the advancer rotor is the only thing that should move and it should only move forward. If you hold the crank and rotate that you'll notice that it moves forward a bit and then springs back.


If its locked down tight then you might want to loosen the bolt holding the advancer on the crank and see if the rotor rotates better then. If so then your spacer might be too thick and binding things up.

Take the advancer out before you clean it. You don't want to get any solvent on your new electronics.
Take the plastic rotor off as well. Just soak the weights and springs if they don't move freely and grease them up again after.

The center bolt is normal right hand thread.

As for it not firing:

Are you sure that you have the left and right firing in the right order ?

The reason I mention that is because the rotor could be on backwards and firing the wrong cylinder at the wrong time.

You usually would find this out with a loud backfire.

Look at Pete's setup and try to align your plate the same way so the timing will be close to where it has to be.



For the light test, connect a light between ground and the - on one of the coils, Left or right.

When you rotate the engine and the light turns on, that's how you know where it is timed.


So to do it right. look in the window to make sure you see the F mark for the left side and that that side is on the compression stroke.

Then grab the rotor and turn it by hand clockwise so that its fully advanced. Then while holding it that way try and rotate the crank a bit until the light comes on.

When it does come on look in the window again and see how far off you are.

Adjust the plate a bit and try again until your marks lign up and the light comes on at the same time.

[hjacobmiller]

Well gentlemen....we have a running bike!

Mechanix, you deserve a medal for putting up with all of my stupid questions!

And Pete - thank you so much for all the guidance and measurements!

The solution was easy - the rotor was on backwards. I didn't even think to check that.

I need to set my idle a little lower and set the throttle cable again. I'm having problems with turning and it revs up really high and then idles like that. I know it isn't carb problems though since those were were just cleaned.

That will be another day though as it rides just fine for little rides down to the local beach.

As promised here are some pictures:



I had to bend down the coil mount a little to fit the spacer they provided:



Here is my little mini-harness extension to the coils:



Tucking the coils underneath the tank:



Running the plug wires:



My cleaned up dash:



And some wholesome shiny goodness:



Seriously, thank you guys so much.

I suppose I should have asked this sooner, but what could have caused the original box to go out?

[pete]

Awesome news Jake! Glad to see she's back running again

My ignitor died after sitting for years but I suspect that the standard dodgy charging system is what kills them. If the R/R goes and you get overcharging I have a feeling they can't cope with that long term.

Mind you, after 30 odd years capacitors tend to start drying out anyway...

PS: Tell Dynatek a DS3-3C works on a GS300 with retro-fitted mechanical advance too

[hjacobmiller]

Awesome news Jake! Glad to see she's back running again

My ignitor died after sitting for years but I suspect that the standard dodgy charging system is what kills them. If the R/R goes and you get overcharging I have a feeling they can't cope with that long term.

Mind you, after 30 odd years capacitors tend to start drying out anyway...

PS: Tell Dynatek a DS3-3C works on a GS300 with retro-fitted mechanical advance too

I already emailed Larry with pictures and all.

How did you guys get so smart with bikes!?! I know I'm just a young gun at this business but seems like you all know these bikes better than Suzuki did!

[Mekanix]

Its part of the passion of owning a 30 year old bike.

Mine was made before I was even born. I actually found this site a year before I got my first gs400.

I bought a an83 gs550L with no papers and a Suzuki Quadrunner 160.

Managed to fit the 550 engine in that frame and had to learn things from scratch.

That included replacing a burnt valve, rebuilding carbs, changing shim's, removing head, complete custom exhaust, wiring, ignition, charging...

Then I went online looking for a manual and found the GSR.

From That I learned how to rewind my own stator and did that too.

I even had to figure out how a 6 wire RR worked with a sense line.

Since then, I mean 18 years later :P I've owned two gs400's and worked on a 750 and 850.

After a while you notice allot of things are very similar and there is less mystery to how it all works.


Its mostly discovered from wanting to know and wanting to fix something.

The rest comes from actually doing work and seeing it through until its done.

That Quadrunner took nearly 4 months to finish, Even though It could have been done in a weekend.

It takes time and patience to really learn and make something your really proud of.


You kind of remind me of when I got my first GS400, That's when I actually got on the forum and asked questions.

With my second one I was on allot more but giving more information back.

Some people rebuild this bikes just for something cool to do. Others for nostalgia. Some for a look they like (cafe), and some for sentimental value.

When you have passion, you find a way and it all adds up.



You should make a write up for that bike, Its safe to say that the DS3-3c can be applied to any 250-500 base which is going to help Dyna with sales I can imagine.



One thing I would recommend to them would be to paint the rotor red on one side and blue on the other like you would see on a magnet.

On and an adjustable rev limiter would be nice

[pete]

Everything I know I have either learnt from here on the GSR or worked out by myself over the last few years getting my 450 going.

Before rebuilding it, I'd never done more than change oil, gap spark plugs, and install a car stereo or three.

I did however do some college about 20 years ago and have fiddled with electronic things along the way as a result which is how I know how to solder and how I remember some basic electronic things.

So next time you think I'm a guru... well I ain't haha

I can tell you though that I'm now no longer afraid to tackle anything mechanical. I may not always succeed and may get out of my depth, but I'm more than happy to have a go.

Mekanix goes places that still scare me though!

[hjacobmiller]

Well I definitely appreciate all of the help and I have a new respect for old bikes.

There is definitely a lot of pride knowing that I took something that wasn't running and found out what would work and how it works. Kind of embarrassing to look back and see where I came from, but really cool seeing what I have now.

I've been riding around town and get plenty of looks. Even though it is just a little bike it is still a blast. Actually I think it is more fun because it is a small bike.

I was thinking about replacing the chain though. Its a little stressed and probably is the original one. Does anyone have any recommendations? The front and rear sprocket teeth look fine, but the chain is pretty rough looking. I've heard to do both the sprockets and the chain at the same time.

What do you guys think?

[pete]

Jake that's excellent to hear!

It gives you a real sense of satisfaction you just can't get with modern stuff.

All I can suggest with a chain is get a good one.

I have a Triple S O ring chain on mine and so far so good, but there are also RK, EK, DID, etc. that are good brands.

The recommendation definitely is to do chain and sprockets together so the teeth and chain wear evenly (supposedly anyway).

[razor02097]

Well I definitely appreciate all of the help and I have a new respect for old bikes.

There is definitely a lot of pride knowing that I took something that wasn't running and found out what would work and how it works. Kind of embarrassing to look back and see where I came from, but really cool seeing what I have now.

I've been riding around town and get plenty of looks. Even though it is just a little bike it is still a blast. Actually I think it is more fun because it is a small bike.

I was thinking about replacing the chain though. Its a little stressed and probably is the original one. Does anyone have any recommendations? The front and rear sprocket teeth look fine, but the chain is pretty rough looking. I've heard to do both the sprockets and the chain at the same time.

What do you guys think?

The chain and sprockets should be replaced as a set. On the 300 a bikemaster O ring chain and JT sprockets ran me under $100.

[hjacobmiller]

Any tips for getting the front sprocket off?