78 GS1000 Tank/Petcock ID

[Guest]

I picked up a 78 GS1000E out of a storage shed, and I'm new to the bike and the forum. After sitting 20 years, the tank and petcock were a mess. Tank is cleaned up, but based on the reading I've done around the site, the petcock is the leverless type from a later year. Wondering if anyone can confirm the tank is a 78 and suggest a suitable replacement petcock? I believe I've read that the petcock from a 78 GS750 will work on the 78 1000E tanks and its much cheaper. Any help would be awesome.










Thanks.

-D

[chuck hahn]

What you picture is an 80 petcock and NOT the correct one for that tank or year bike. The 77 and 78 750 is the exact same petcock but with the nipples to the side instead of the back. May take an inch or two more fuel line but the 77 / 78 ones are 1/3 the price of the 78 1000 petcocks. I run 77 petcocks on all 3 of my 78 1000s just for the savings reason itself.

http://www.partsoutlaw.com/oemparts/a/suz/50d3fefff8700230d8b4dd65/fuel-cock

[chuck hahn]

WAIT...I stand corrected!!! On the one picture from the bottom looking up the side of the tank I noticed the badges are setting way above the tank surface...so you have an 80 tank painted to LOOK LIKE a skunk tank. If it were a true skunk tank the side of the tank would be indented and the badges would be inset from the curve of the tanks side.

Second give away is the way the decals curve up and around the tail of the tank....stripes on the indented 78 tanks go straight back all the length of the indentation. youve got an imposter tank is my summation.

[chuck hahn]

this is my tank a member here painted some years ago....see the differences??

http://meticulousmotorcyclepainting.com/full_gallery.php?gallery=18&count=15

[steve murdoch]

I need to borrow your peepers, Chuck. Didn't see that.
Well called.

[Sandy]

WAIT...I stand corrected!!! On the one picture from the bottom looking up the side of the tank I noticed the badges are setting way above the tank surface...so you have an 80 tank painted to LOOK LIKE a skunk tank. If it were a true skunk tank the side of the tank would be indented and the badges would be inset from the curve of the tanks side.

Second give away is the way the decals curve up and around the tail of the tank....stripes on the indented 78 tanks go straight back all the length of the indentation. youve got an imposter tank is my summation.

I've seen a few of those exact imposter tanks show up on here from time to time. I wonder if those were what Suzuki was supplying as replacement tanks when they ran out of the correct ones. The reason I say that is because in and around 1984/85 I had to replace the tank on the '79 GS1000E I had at the time and while it came painted correctly for a black '79 it was in fact a '80 tank because after I got it home I had to go back and order an '80 petcock to fit it. I remember it well as I was more than a little peeved at the time.

[n2520v]

Thanks for the info! I assume no issues running this tank/petcock combo on this year/model? Mfg date on the data plate is 4/78.

-D

[sealpup]

As long as the petcock fits on the tank O.K and it operates at it should, then no problems. If you persist with this particular tap though, you really should find a plastic filter for it (the bit that sits inside the tank, not an inline filter). Either that, or buy a new aftermarket petcock. They're ridiculously cheap in the scheme of things and will last for years.