I was lucky to snag a 1982 Suzuki GS300L that was loved and is in great shape. The kill switch was the only thing on the bike that didn't work (when parked you just turn the key to turn off). Well me being me, with idk 2 hours of riding under my belt (post MSF), and with it being fall in New England, and knowing to stay away from leaves, well, there were some leaves, and well, my slow-look-press-roll in this turn was quite insufficient.
Anyway I dropped it and it broke the right control housing bracket (so now I get to fix the switch that never worked! ), the thing is I'm having a heck of a time doing it. I ordered a cheap universal set off of amazon just so I would be able to keep learning and riding while I waited for a real part.
It arrived the next day and I was able to sort the wiring and get the old ones connected to the new ones (did my first solder!!), switch works and she starts right up. However, 2 things that don't quite work - the housing expects a ~2mm hole to be in my handlebars to keep the housing from rotating with the throttle. I could drill a hole but only want to as a last resort. The other thing is the throttle cable [thing with the screw that attaches to the housing if anyone knows what it's called please let me know] does not screw into the universal housing. Now with these two problems "fixed" using zip ties and tape, the throttle [thing with the teeth that attach to the end of the cable and go inside the housing] seems to sort of get stuck when turning, I think it's because it bites into the cheap housing plastic.
So I ordered a different part from Lossa that I saw someone install on a YT video and waited for that, but it just arrived and it has the same little notch that goes into the handlebar hole (couldn't see it before ordering), and no space for the throttle, so that would be another part.
I am posting here for any advice/suggestions in general, but specifically - what other bikes use this same starter? And more useful - how can I search properly to figure that out myself? Maybe I curated my google results this way, but I get so many adjacent results and links to part stores and it feels like when I go to a link, it's never relevant to what I'm looking for. I think I'm just missing some major foundational knowledge because I'm new at this.
I have looked on ebay for the part and haven't found anything exactly. There are listings for other GS's but I'm not sure of compatibility. Would the piece for a GS1100 fit my GS300? It looks like mine (whereas the 500 and 700's do not), I looked up the handlebar sizes (both 7/8"), and the wiring may be different but I think I can splice it together like I did with the universal. And, it appears to have the metal clamp inside that broke on my original.
If you got this far, thank you for reading, I'm super excited, and also super bummed my brand new (to me) bike has been sitting in my garage for 2 weeks because of a dumb noob mistake. Any help appreciated.
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