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So, now that I'm home and finally had a chance to consult the impressively comprehensive GS parts catalog on the BikeCliffs website, I'm looking for part# 33120-11410. (Using the British 1980 GSX-400 engine as the reference.) I'm seeing a couple of used ones on eBay and new ones from https://en.impex-jp.com. Anyone had any dealings with them? Endorsements or warnings?...
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Those are country codes. Canada is E28. In the first pages of the Parts fiche , there's some explanation.Curiosity... I expect it says somewhere on the site, and probably has to do with the various markets, but I can't find anything - do you know what all the "E01, E01, E17..." etc are referring to?
Also, your VIN number has info http://www.suzukicycles.org/_misc/identification.shtml
eg for my '81 GSX 400E : JS1GK5 1A4B2 100xxx
S=Suzuki
1 =Motorcycle
G=multiple cylinder
K=250-399 cc
5=4 stroke twin
1=model version
A= base model with unrestricted power output (germany ,uk? might be different-per their regulations jetting was reduced per licencing restrictions...?)
4=vin "check" result of algorithm!
B=1981
2 =means factory
100xxx =sequence number
...and the part number itself contains info particularly useful per dimensions in mm ,paint codes etc...there's better info somewhere than this screengrab from the parts fiche I just can't find it right now but you get the clue
part numbers.jpg
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Interesting, thanks, something else to aid in the search (and another site I'll be spending hours at, no doubt).
And then on the weekend, I'll have to make an inspection of the bike for what I don't think I've ever seen, ie. a VIN number. It definitely has a serial number stamped on the frame, but I'll bet the farm, no VIN plate. Of course the page you link to, refers to 'after 1981' and bikes 'for the American market' where, as covered earlier, the European variant of this model was sold in Canada in 1980, but definitely worth another look.
But this tangentially reveals another piece of the puzzle about the whole GS/GSX, 2-valve/4Valve, US/UK, differences in -at least- 1980. I have my insurance card in my wallet, and it shows that my serial number is "GS40X-xxxxxx" So, presumably, the "GS40" refers to the GS line and 400cc (perhaps a 450 would have been GS45), and 'm betting the "X" refers to the 4 value TSCC engine type. PURELY guesses, of course, but that would fit with the UK and European versions that year all being GSXes since they had the TSCC engines, while in Canada,even though the 1980 400 was also a TSCC, they left the X off the model name (in 1980 anyway) for reasons unknown (and I can only guess it to be an attempt to avoid north/south of the border confusion when the vast majority of the media -American- available at the time would be referring to a GS400).
Ah, the joys of marketing...Comment
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And apparently, they kept using GS rather than GSX on the TSCC 400s in Canada at least into the mid-80s (this is a very cool site...)
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Stamped on the engine, GS40X [engine serial follows] refers to the GSX400 engine. On the frame, I have a proper VIN stamped in with no relevance to the engine's serial #Comment
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Yep, confirmed - at least there used to be something of the sort once upon a time...
One GS40X- serial number stamped on the engine casing near dipstick, a different GS40X- serial number (this is the one referenced in my vehicle registration/insurance) on the right side of steering column. And a stick-on label of some sort on the left side....
IMG_4955.jpg
...shame it was a sticker rather than a stamped plate, since as you can see, most of the info is long since rubbed away. (And when I tried to wipe some of the grease off other spots, it took the ink from the sticker with it.) Some day, I'll have to look at close-ups I took of the bike in the first years after I bought it, to see if I was aware of the sticker at the time and thought to photograph it.
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It's an Oddball burden!
I hope you don't have to explain it to too many people too often!... a bike in the Twilight Zone between two technologies (points/EI) and bureaucratic evolutions (VIN/serial).
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