8 or 16 valve

[Guest]

Ok i admit I am new to Suzuki. See my intro. My question is which years have the 8 valve and which have the 16 valve. I have downloaded two service manuals one says "GS650E" the other says "GS650G" My owner's manual says "GS650G" The bike's side covers say "GS650L" so whats up with all the letters?

[tkent02]

Look on the side of the head, if the little cam covers are round, it has two valves per cylinder, if they are rectangular, it has four.
Shaft drives and chain drives before 1980 were two valve per cylinder. Chain drives after 1980 were four valve per cylinder, with a few exceptions.

[gpd211]

great thank you. The cam covers are round.

[chef1366]

I'm pretty sure all 650s are eight valve.

[Steve]

I have downloaded two service manuals one says "GS650E" the other says "GS650G" My owner's manual says "GS650G" The bike's side covers say "GS650L" so whats up with all the letters?

For the low-down on the alphabet soup, read this.

The 650E is a chain-drive bike that has a few differences that will not pertain to your bike. You don't need that manual.

The 650G is the shaft-drive bike. The L at the end signifies the "low-rider" version with the chrome fenders,
leading-axle fork, high-rise handlebars, peanut tank and step seat.

A bit more correctly, you have a GS 650GL.

Even more correctly, you have a GS 650GLX. The X at the end indicates that it is a 1981 model year.

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