New GS850 owner and questions

[Guest]

Hi all,
New GS850 owner here
I'm a newer rider, started last year, though i've put on about 10k since then. What can i say, i like riding. I picked up a 1980 GS850 shaft drive recently with 17k on the ODO. Seems to be mostly stock aside from a 4 in 1 exhaust and some awful swung forward racer bars someone had on it. They've already been replace with the stock bars.. Runs pretty well i think. I took the crash bars and center stand off of it (which i'd be willing to sell if anyone is interested), made sure everything was tight, oiled, lubed, safe to test ride, etc. Just as a note about myself, i've done full engine and bike rebuilds a few times before, so i'm pretty handy but it seems like some of these little problems are hard to track down, but those in the know (other GS owners) have seen the same problem and come up with it right away. Okay, here we go.

A few questions for you GS experts:

-The throttle is pretty hard to twist compared to most bikes, whats the most common reason and fix for this

-I get some light backfiring at around 5500-6500 rpm when i let of the gas slightly, or more than slightly. On the gas it doesn't do this. Higher RPMs don't seem to do this.

-Pulling out in first seems odd. The clutch is easy to manipulate, but it seems to have a real "catch" point that seems less linear than most bikes

-Front brake seems to work good, but on a dual disk, i'd imagine chomping on the fronts should almost send you over the bars. Mine slows down quick, but not at fast or hard as i feel it should. Master cylinder maybe? Air in the lines?

-I'll be pulling the fenders, tank, and side covers and repainting them. I'd like to leave the engine in place and clean/mask/paint it, whats the best way to clean it well in place. Its not oil/grime soaked, mostly just pitted a bit from age. Elbow grease and a brass brush, soda blast maybe?

-The speedometer makes a gear type noise above 25 mph. Works fine, just annoying as heck!

Thats all for now, thanks in advance for the help and advice. I'm glad to join the GS club and can't wait to put many miles on this bike!

[78550GS]

try this: http://members.dslextreme.com/users/..._Greeting.html

Most of the info you need is here.

[Brendan W]

With a non stock exhaust as with pod filters you could have some jetting issues. Try changing the brake fluid and greasing up the caliper slide pins for a start and the speedo cable might need a clean and lube.

[jsandidge]

crash bars

Hi all,
New GS850 owner here
I'm a newer rider, started last year, though i've put on about 10k since then. What can i say, i like riding. I picked up a 1980 GS850 shaft drive recently with 17k on the ODO. Seems to be mostly stock aside from a 4 in 1 exhaust and some awful swung forward racer bars someone had on it. They've already been replace with the stock bars.. Runs pretty well i think. I took the crash bars and center stand off of it (which i'd be willing to sell if anyone is interested), made sure everything was tight, oiled, lubed, safe to test ride, etc. Just as a note about myself, i've done full engine and bike rebuilds a few times before, so i'm pretty handy but it seems like some of these little problems are hard to track down, but those in the know (other GS owners) have seen the same problem and come up with it right away. Okay, here we go.

A few questions for you GS experts:

-The throttle is pretty hard to twist compared to most bikes, whats the most common reason and fix for this

-I get some light backfiring at around 5500-6500 rpm when i let of the gas slightly, or more than slightly. On the gas it doesn't do this. Higher RPMs don't seem to do this.

-Pulling out in first seems odd. The clutch is easy to manipulate, but it seems to have a real "catch" point that seems less linear than most bikes

-Front brake seems to work good, but on a dual disk, i'd imagine chomping on the fronts should almost send you over the bars. Mine slows down quick, but not at fast or hard as i feel it should. Master cylinder maybe? Air in the lines?

-I'll be pulling the fenders, tank, and side covers and repainting them. I'd like to leave the engine in place and clean/mask/paint it, whats the best way to clean it well in place. Its not oil/grime soaked, mostly just pitted a bit from age. Elbow grease and a brass brush, soda blast maybe?

-The speedometer makes a gear type noise above 25 mph. Works fine, just annoying as heck!

Thats all for now, thanks in advance for the help and advice. I'm glad to join the GS club and can't wait to put many miles on this bike!

Your backfiring or popping could be a lean condition. Probably a good idea to check your jetting as already mentioned. Also a full strip and dip of the carbs could be in order.

I might be interested in your crash bars. Can you send me pics and a price?

Drew

[mmc205]

Sure, please send me an email to mmc20522@gmail.com with the subject "crash bars". That will be my tickler to take pics for you. For some reason when i get replies and what not on here it doesn't notify me via email..

[rustybronco]

Throttle is easy to turn on mine. Cable misrouted? Mechanical bind? Time to investigate.

------

Mine has a well defined catch point.

Cheap brake pads could be the problem as well.

Purple power. But, I'd pull the engine or mask off everything very well first as it's an acid.

Try 'properly' lubricating the speedo cable.

[eil]

The link to BassCliff's GSR Greeting shouldn't be missed, it's the starting point to everything you'll need to know about your bike.

A few questions for you GS experts:

I am not an expert, but I like to try to help out.

-The throttle is pretty hard to twist compared to most bikes, whats the most common reason and fix for this

Throttle cable needs lube. If it isn't completely smooth and effortless after lubing it up, get a new OEM replacement. EDIT: could also be bound up somewhere, like rustybronco says. Does it return okay or stick sometimes?

-I get some light backfiring at around 5500-6500 rpm when i let of the gas slightly, or more than slightly. On the gas it doesn't do this. Higher RPMs don't seem to do this.

Stock airbox? Leak in the exhaust? This is not my area of expertise, but perhaps the jetting needs to be dialed in more to account for the aftermarket pipe.

-Pulling out in first seems odd. The clutch is easy to manipulate, but it seems to have a real "catch" point that seems less linear than most bikes

I've noticed that every bike seems to have its own clutch personality. My 850 is nice and smooth with a very wide friction zone. My 750's friction zone is short and somewhat grabby at the end, especially at low RPMs. If you're sure the clutch cable is properly adjusted, you can always take apart the clutch and inspect the plates, but they're probably fine.

Maybe keeping the revs up while letting the clutch out would help the plates slip more and make it less grabby.

-Front brake seems to work good, but on a dual disk, i'd imagine chomping on the fronts should almost send you over the bars. Mine slows down quick, but not at fast or hard as i feel it should. Master cylinder maybe? Air in the lines?

If you haven't rebuilt the front and rear brakes yet, you really should. You would be amazed how nasty 30 year-old brake fluid can get. Tear down the master cylinders and calipers, inspect for corrosion, upgrade to stainless steel sheathed brake lines, fill them up with new brake fluid, and bleed them properly. Those brakes will easily be able to send you over the handlebars when they're working right.

-The speedometer makes a gear type noise above 25 mph. Works fine, just annoying as heck!

The bearing in the cable connector is starting to go. Unfortunately, these are not robust. You can probably quiet it down some by squirting it with some lube (not through the hole in the center of the connector, sorta around the inside of the threaded part). In the mean time, you might want to scout ebay for another speedo to have on hand.

Welcome! (P.S. we like pics!)