1981 GS450L the same as a 1989 GS500E?

[Guest]

Ok, so here's the story. I have owned a 1981 GS450L for the past 6 years. Thanks to your site I been able to keep the bike alive and running till now........the oil leaked out when it was parked at the park and ride. I think the sun and the heat of the parking lot ruined the gasket made the oil leak out. So the engine overheated when I was riding home.......bad day. I fixed the oil leak and after that the bike ran and then the coil packs stopped working. No spark. So I bought the Dana S something coil and timing part and installed it. Now the bike runs and all. But it revs high sometimes, randomly and it scares me. The bike doesn't ride the same. Basically I don't think the timing is right with the carbs fuel to air mixture and spark timing but its close enough to idle and ride. Been trying to fix it for half of last summer and still am. This all happened last summer.

So with all that said I think I am giving up on fixing my GS450L. Sad day....I found a 1989 GS500E for sale. It needs work. So I was wondering if the stator, R and R, the speedo, the carbs, and the wiring harness are the same on a 1981 GS450L and a 1989 GS500E? I just miss the way my gs450l ran stock. And am trying to keep riding but on a budget. Should I attempt to fix this old gs500e or maybe I should wait for a stock one to come up for sale? is another question?
Thanks for any reply's at all. Also thanks for all your guys help in the past as well.

[Gorminrider]

Mekanix might be around to tell you but the parts fiches are one place to look for comparisons. Also there's some stuff here

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=205995

If you're thinking of the 450 as parts for the 500, I stick my neck out and say it's a bad idea. Some parts will switch, no doubt, but too many won't. The best parts bike is identical .

[hjfisk]

No not direct replacement parts, some are ,most are not. As far as the carbs go it sounds like the ones on your 450 need some service done to them so they are not going to work any better on the 500. Plus the 500 has a CV flat slide carb . You could just take the time and give your 450 some needed love and know what you have when you were done. This site can walk you through anything you can come up against I am sure of it.

[takjr]

Thanks for your input. I agree I should rebuild my carbs on my 450. I think thats the problem too on my 450. And yes I would love to have my reliable 450 running right again and not start over on a bike I don't know. Thanks again.

[Mekanix]

I agree with the guys, Do a carb rebuild, change the intake O-rings, maybe the boots and that should fix your high idle issue. Also do the regular maintenance that you find around here. Valves for instance can do weird things when they are too tight or loose.

The GS500 is very similar.

The main differences are:

Shift drum. Its the same but backwards. So its 1 up and 5 down.
Head.
Cylinders.
Head and base gasket
Pistons (size and shape)
Ignition (its very similar to the dyna system. Basically does the same thing but doesn't have a mechanical advance)
Carbs. (better ones in my opinion but the older style can be tuned quite nicely)

Besides that the rest of the parts in the base swap over to each of them. Have to say that the 89 is going to have all of the upgrades in it though.
There is an 88 GS450 and that model is the same as yours but with all the upgrades that the next year's gs500 has.


Everything else can be used on each in some way. I mean lots of things are applicable to both.

Gaskets for both are the same part numbers for the bases throughout the years. Check the parts fishe for yours and this one and you'll see the similarities.

http://www.cmsnl.com/suzuki-gs500-1989-ek_model13449/partslist/?model_q=gs500

Also just download a manual and have a look through it. You'll find allot of the same things as in the other manuals.

I like having both bikes. They are very different but similar enough that you can work on both of them and everything you learn on one will be applicable to the other.