GS1100 Drive belt

[jeffwest5599]

New to the fourm and have a question. I will be purchasing a 1982 GS1100 from a guy that is perfect except he stated the drive belt in the shaft drive was bad. I have worked on many bikes and consider myself to be a pretty good mechanic. However, I have never worked on a shaft drive. Any idea how difficult it is to replace these. Any help is appreciated.

[Nessism]

There are no belt on the bike. Most likely the rear wheel driven spline is stripped out. Easy fix. Parts will cost you about $150 to repair if you do it yourself. Another option is purchasing a used spline/wheel from an early bike because the splines in them are higher quality. Lots more info on this topic in the archives.

Good luck and welcome.

Some good reading for you...

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=185111

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=178810

[jeffwest5599]

GS1100 Drive Blet

That woudl explain why I culd not find anything about it and it seemed foreign to me being a shaft drive. The bike runs fine and goes into gear, it will not go. Does that mean that the spline is the culprit.

Jeff

[jeffwest5599]

drive Belt

He said he took it to the dealer and they said it was the drive belt but they probabaly said spline and he misunderstood. They told hime about $200 to fix. This shouldl be somehting iI should be able to do I would think if that is the problem.

[koolaid_kid]

That woudl explain why I culd not find anything about it and it seemed foreign to me being a shaft drive. The bike runs fine and goes into gear, it will not go. Does that mean that the spline is the culprit.

Jeff

Sounds like the classic stripped splines instance. You can do it yourself if you are a bit mechanically inclined.

[jeffwest5599]

Drive Belt

OK. It appears it is the spline from what I read here and everywhere else. Any idea where to get one. I have checked ebay and the usual suspects on the web as far as oem parts and cannot locate one.

Jeff

[Nessism]

Try googling "suzuki parts". That spline is available anywhere original equipment Suzuki parts are sold. Part Shark, Boulevard Suzuki, and Bike Bandit are good sources.

BTW, don't bother ordering parts until the bike is properly checked. The GS1100G bikes also tend to bust their secondary gears so there is a remote possibility that could be the problem also.

[7981GS]

Don't forget our friend at Boulevard Suzuki for your FIRST choice!

Daniel

[1948man]

Often, on Ebay, if you find used splines the seller knows what he has and prices accordingly. On the other hand, you can often find an entire rear wheel with rim, splines, etc for cheaper than what some sellers charge for splines only. Gold splines are soft ('82 and some yrs in that time period) where as earlier black splines and later galvanized-colored splines are good. If you find some, get the year and ask here if it is a good year, someone will know.

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. jeffwest5599,

I suggest that you read up on all of the information in the links below. Then you will be well ahead of the game when it comes to maintaining your GS shafty.

Here are some pictures of the rear drive spline. Have a look at the Rear Wheel Removal guide on my website to see where it's located.



Bad spline on the left, new one on the right.



One of the early "dark" parts.



The '82-'83 "gold" parts are too soft. The old dark ones or the new silver ones are good.

Let me dump a TON if information on you and share some GS lovin'.

I just stopped by to welcome you to the forum in my own, special way.

If there's anything you'd like to know about the Suzuki GS model bikes, and most others actually, you've come to the right place. There's a lot of knowledge and experience here in the community. Come on in and let me say "HOoooowwwDY!"....

Here is your very own magical, mystical, mythical, mind-expanding "mega-welcome". Please take notice of the "Top 10 Common Issues", "Top 15 Tips For GS Happiness", the Carb Cleanup Series, and the Stator Papers. All of these tasks must be addressed in order to have a safe, reliable machine. Now let me roll out the welcome mat for you...



Please click here for your mega-welcome, chock full of tips, suggestions, links to vendors, and other information. Then feel free to visit my little BikeCliff website where I've been collecting the wisdom of this generous community. Don't forget, we like pictures! Not you, your bike!

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff