1100G, GL, GK wiring and cable routing, and my incoherent rambling

[RedBaron]

Hello guys,

Over the past 15 years of ownership of my GK a million little repairs and alterations have began to add up into a bit of a mess. Over that time I've grown from someone more interested in the immediate next ride at any cost to someone more interested in good function and appearance. I pride myself in extreme "is that original" repair these days, but am not above modification that the layman wouldn't notice. I'd consider myself very good with service manuals and routing diagrams from my time in service departments (17 years?), but the .pdf copies of these GS manuals from the bikecliff site aren't as clear as the modern manuals I've cut my teeth on, and I'm stressing to find correct looking/functioning routing of wires and cables. 15 years of rushing through repairs on this unit has me doubting things that may even be correct.

This particular bike is a 1982 GS1100GK that was a gift from my Godfather after I completed college in 2005. He was the owner since the mid 90's. My first street bike, though I'd ridden a million road bikes working in dealers the 2 or 3 years previous. The unit had been maintained by a local independent shop owner 2 counties away from my Godfather but local to me here. A good mechanic that wasn't an absolute hack (don't get me started on mechanics I've worked alongside, and my own occasional moments of ignorance). The bike was, from all that I have identified over the years, 100% original prior to my youthful vigor.

Being 20 or so at the time, I leaned heavily towards a more "G" look, and began moving the bike in that direction. All in all crap got stuffed everywhere. So I'm here today to ask if any of y'all with a somewhat original G, GL, or GK that has the tank off, could get me some photos of correct wire and cable routing in the upper engine, frame, and steering head areas. I'm currently on superbike bend bars with an OE Suzuki GS1000 "S?" clutch cable. It's routed on the left of the steering head, between the coils, into a wire loop off of the valve cover bolt nearest the cam chain area at the rear, between the 1 & 2 intakes, under the cam chain tensioner, to the lever. My throttle and choke cables are original GK cables, and are sitting on top of the left tank mount, above the coils, making a last second turn through the opening behind the coils to the carbs. Most of the harness is stuffed in between the coils, as well as some jumpers for a coil relay mod. An additional harness follows the frame on the right side. I'd just like to make sure everything is in a reasonably safe, not binding place, and thought I'd ask for info. The routing in these manuals baffles me. Thanks for any help.

[RedBaron]

Also, It's a little bit of a tangent, and I feel crazy for writing it in a technical forum, but my heart is screaming at me to talk about that mechanic I'd mentioned earlier who had maintained this GS.

He was a hero to me. 5 years ago I reached for my dreams and opened my own shop based greatly on his setup. His example was the very reason I started working on bikes as a kid.

George Yount was his name, a military man originally from Alaska if I remember right. His wife Marie worked alongside him at West 64 cycle in Morganton, NC. He did service, she did parts, and their deaf cat could nap through a motocross thumper revving to full song indoors. He was a man I'll always look up to like an extra grandfather, and the biggest inspiration for the motorcycle side of the past 20 years of my life (I'm 35 in a month).

He raced offroad, competitively, until his death a year or two back (heart complications). He was trail riding, into his 70's (WR426/450), even did Baja on a 650R just a few years back. He died while stopped on the trail (Brown Mountain OHV), sitting in the leaves, while talking with other friends. He was sitting in a place I'd talked to him at a million times in my lifetime, on one of our favorite trails (Trail 1A/2 intersection). A few of the locals want to put a memorial there, but I haven't heard an update in a while. The state is complicated about their land (I just love the government).

I got the phonecall while out riding my Triumph. The girlfriend I had at the time was terrified because I could barely speak for days. For a long time I'd just sit in my porch chair outside my business staring at the parking lot. It was a big deal to me.

I visited his wife Marie to offer her help, as the whole local motorcycle community did. I'm proud of how we "kids" did at that time. As he was like a grandfather, she's like a grandmother to all of the 1985(perhaps earlier) - 2018 moto kids locally. Her parts distributors had canceled her accounts practically immediately (I raised a bit of a stink to my reps after I found that out), and everyone tried to help her sell her old stock so she could get out of the shop. I bought some things off her, offered free installations for any old tires her customers bought, and offered her my dealer cost on anything she needed to help complete her sales of old inventory. It was killing her to be in the shop. They lived together, working that shop together for decades. I couldn't imagine the type of love that much time together would require. Maybe one day I'll have my own to work the parts counter.

His funeral was so massive with all of his racing/riding peers and the moto kids he'd "raised" that you couldn't get into it. Hundreds of people there for a guy who rode motorcycles, and ran a roughly 500 to 800 square foot business. He had such a huge impact on the community.

All the way up until the end he and I still ran into each other from time to time riding Brown Mountain OHV (a notoriously difficult, rocky, state owned park) and would take off riding together. George could still run a "modern" (speeds have increased a full class since my racing youth) low A pace the first hour or so, and Mid B indefinitely. It was just terrifying to watch him crash at that age, but he worked out and was in incredible shape so he could recover gracefully. A lifetime of smooth riding he'd acquired, I'm only just attaining any smoothness to brag about. I feel the same joy in "smoothly" waxing the heavy handed 20 somethings. They try to drive tack's with a sledgehammer, just like I once did. 450 motocrossers and rev limiter smashing aren't the ticket for hard enduro.

George had a GS1100E in his parts showroom ever since I was a kid. The only "sport" bike I'd ever saw in his shop. All of my friends lusted over it. He would tell all of us kids that it was too fast for us and that he couldn't sell it because of that. Looking back, I know that it's not that fast, but it's still a great memory. Marie sold it after his death to Steven Skipper, a kid I've ridden with some and know well (Husky 430 and 250 enduros). He has "Steve's Cycle", in Rutherford county NC. A good kid. Has a nice little shop and loves the old stuff.

George had an XS1100 midnight special. Marie sold it to a customer of mine and I got to restore it to roadworthy condition, witnessing George's terrific bike storage technique along the way. The tank was immaculate, as new, drained and coated with something to inhibit rust before he'd stored it. The carbs merely needed rubber components, they were spotless. Even the bike's electrical connections were coated with dielectric grease. Amazing foresight that I greatly appreciated.

I regret passing up George's Yamaha R5, but I didn't have the money and there's no way I'd haggle Marie.

Another good old mechanic and human is Johnny Kirby from Granite Falls/Lenoir. Dunno if he's still living or racing, but he was still brutally quick in 2017 or so. Throttle control like I've never seen, to the point of sounding like he rides a generator (XR250R, CRF250X). A very nice ambassador to local young folk, and brutally fast. A former pro, turned - last I saw a 60+ "Gold masters" class champion or frontrunner consistently in the NCHSA (North Carolina hare scrambles). Had lost his wife recent to last we rode. Was spending a lot of time on Goldwings then.

I had to write because, god I'm gonna miss the old folk. I'm not ready to fill these huge shoes. I'm afraid that we're losing the greatest people that we'll probably ever know. There's something different about generations past. I just hope to one day emulate them. Maybe little Steven can do the same with his shop too.

Guys, I'm sorry to drag y'all through that tangent during a technical post. I'm on a new anxiety medicine as of today that's making me ramble too much in writing, internally I've been insecure in filling my mentors/heros' shoes, and before today I've never really got to fully express my grief of losing my friend, hero, and mentor so it spilled out here. I'm sure I look insane. I've been fortunate to not have to deal with much death so far, but that leaves me ill prepared to deal with it when I have to. In my heart I feel that you guys might better understand the parts of this motorcycle life that the layman could never understand, so I felt safe to speak. I don't need condolences or a response or anything, just needed to get it out. Cable/wire routing information is all that's requested.

[RedBaron]

I've messed around with the bike some more since posting and am not particularly liking the throttle and choke cables.

I threw the carbs back on and noticed a lot more excess than I'd like, likely being the source of the questionable routing I've seen. A younger me's half-assed solution to excess cable from low bars. It'd be nice if I had memory of all the questionable crap that younger me did. It feels like I'm finding and repairing another mechanic's repairs, when it was all me.

Could be the result of my brain injury. A truck hit me hard enough to turn my jaw into puddy, helmet slipped off (trying to take my beard with it), truck stopped on my head. A lot of good turn signals seem to do.

I have other motorcycles now so I have time to do decent work on the GS. I've went ahead and added GS1000S throttle and enrichener cables to my next order.

I'll probably dive into the harness routing in the mean time, shortening some excessive length and cleaning it all up a bit. I believe that this will all help my concerns. I've been meaning to build a harness for years. I've done it for customers, but for now I'll likely just shorten some parts, and wrap in my coil relay wires. A little trial and error may just cure my routing woes.

[Redman]

RB,
don’t worry about the personal story. That does happen here (by some of us more than others).

i would be glad to help you with the cable routing. Maybe what I can do is send copy’s of some of the pages from the factory manual (82 GK).

pm me an email address, and I’ll see what I can do maybe this weekend.

[RedBaron]

I've got 2 copies of the factory G manuals with GL and GK supplements from the bikecliff site, but it's difficult to see in depth on my phone. I may try my PC right quick to see if that helps with clarity. I think starting from incorrectly assembled instead of a blank slate might me hurting me. I'll check on the PC and if the larger screen doesn't help I'll shoot you a PM to try your manual copy.

[RedBaron]

Looks like switching to the PC was the correct move.

It appears that the clutch and enrichener cable pass rearward around the left side of the steering head, between/underneath the coils, perhaps clamped behind the small vertical bar in the frame, and as I already have them on out. The throttle cable apparently comes from the right of the steering head, following the top of the frame with a clamp and under the horizontal tube above the carbs. The main harness appears to arrive from below the lower triple, through a loop on the frame, underneath/amongst the coils, and into clamps on back. I'll locate all the reference points I've seen on the bike tomorrow. Talking about emailing a manual seems to have solved my issue by driving me to look at the manual again on the much larger PC screen. You helped Redman! Thanks!

[RedBaron]

It hit me today that the early 1000S probably had different carbs and the late S might use a different carb cable scheme. Looking deeper into the fiche it appears to be the cas. I've switched my order to an 82 ES throttle cable and 82 EZ choke cable. I'm guessing a bit but they seem to hook up the same at the carb end so hopefully they're shorter than mine and fit the handlebar end.

[Steve]

The 1000S was only available for two years, '79 and '80. The carbs were different between those two years, so the cables would, indeed be different. The "choke" cables are different, too. In fact, since you have an '82 your "choke" cable and mechanism is even different from what was on either year 1000S. That mechanism (and activation lever at the thumb) appeared on the '82 models.

.

[RedBaron]

Thanks for the information Steve. I'm glad I didn't order them. I'd like to have tried an ESD choke cable (looking at 82 "E" fiche) but it seems to be discontinued. I've got the "ESD" throttle cable ordered, hopefully the throttle side matches, the carb side looks the same on the fiche. I ordered a regular E choke, I'm hoping it'll be a bit shorter than my stock one. It seems to still use the lever on the left switch housing. I was a hair away of trying to order 1979 stuff before it clicked in my brain how I've heard of the change to CVs on here. It looks like some of the CV big GS run a different cable setup at the carbs. I'd always been unaware of that and assumed all of the Suzuki BS carbs were the same. I've got two or three sets that are identical but they must've came off roughly the same units.

[salty_monk]

There are diagrams in the manual that can be deciphered with a bit of study. You can download on the basscliff site that Bwringer hosts. http://gsarchive.bwringer.com/

I just did it on my 1100G. There is a build thread where you might see a few pictures but I don't believe I specifically took one of the wiring.

I used a Euro bend bar and for me it was better to change the routing of the clutch and throttle cables. I used a 1000S clutch cable. They are quite a bit shorter than stock. That's what I use on my 1000 with Daytona bars too.