I just picked up a new (to me) gs850. I got it from a gentlman on Craigslist for 300.00 dollars. I didnt hear the bike run, however I got it for a cheap enough price that I wont lose if she truns out to be a lemon (which I dont think is the case anyway). My brain is running overtime right now, from excitement that I got it for such a low price, but also, because shes really in nice condition for a 33 year old motorcycle (The tires are less than a season old, and the brakes were recently redone; front and rear). It is obvious that this motorcycle was well cared for, and a person doesnt see that very often. The guy I bought her from stated that he had her running after a year of sitting, but that she had been run for a while on 3 cyls. he didnt know if the valves or cylinder was damaged or not. So, with that in mind, I have a couple of questions.
1.) If she ran (and the PO says it was recently; approx a month or so ago) I think I will do a valve adjustment, and tinker a bit just to see if she is up to snuff. What are your thoughts?
2.) If she doesnt run well, how far should I go to resurrect her. New head? Rework current head? The bike has 46,000 miles on her right now, but, I just want an around town bike.
3.) At some point I know I will get scolded for not rebuilding, resynching, and reworking the carbs, along with the airbox etc first and I understand this, my point is that I will have a better feel as to what I will need to get, and how far I will need to take the bike down for the rebuild if there is a problem. Right now, the valve cover is already off, and it would be an easy matter to adjust valves and see what and where I need to get down to (ie head, valve job etc) Is my thinking flawed on this?
Thank you in advance for your assistance, and time in responding. Have a good one
Arrow78
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