'79 GS850G Easy newbie questions

[Anonymous]

Hi, first off great site I love the fact that there are so many GS loving riders out there like myself. I have a '79 GS850G, my first bike , and I was just wondering about a few things. First my running lights have apparently stopped working for no reason and I was wondering if this is easily fixed. Everything else electrical on my bike works fine and all of my fuses appear to be working fine but my fuse box has been tricky before with my headlight not working yet there being a good fuse in the spot for it. Just wondering if one of the fuses was specifically for the running lights or if I need to try to look for another solution. The brakes and blinkers work fine though so it is not the bulbs.
Second question. I have a vetter fairing on my bike and it is in pretty rough shape. The mounts are bent and the plexi is cracked and it is pretty smashed up on one side. I was curious if anyone else here had stripped there bike of the vetter and how difficult this would be and also costly. Would I be able to make a sufficient mount and what size headlight and case would I need to get to replace the vetter's rectangular headlight. And also where is the least costly place to purchase the replacement? Sorry about my lack of knowledge but I tried searching this and I just did not find enough information to make me feel like I could do this myself. I am a very poor college student and anything that will shrink my already sparse wallet makes me cringe . Any help would be very very appreciated!
One more thing a real quickie. Where can I get drive shaft oil and how often due I need to change/fill the oil. Thanks!

[SqDancerLynn1]

The Vetter is easy to remove. As far as installing a headlight
ebay would be the best You would need the fork ears, headlight housing
and a headlight from a gs 850/1000. Look to see if yours have been removed. Stock your bike does not have running lights, may have been changed with the vetter installation. For that matter you could use the vetter headlight if you wanted, Their is a tab on the bottom that needs to be pushed in while you turn the headlight bezel, doing it on the cheap you just need the headlight ears for mounting.
This post will tell you the oil requirements

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/viewtopic.php?t=37011

[Anonymous]

So I can just take out the vetter housing for the light and put it on a new set of ears? That would be awesome.

Also, I think I used the wrong term for running lights as in when I drive at night people see no lights seeing me from behind. So basically I will get hit if I go out at night time with the beast until I fix that problem. Thanks alot for the quick response .

[bwringer]

So I can just take out the vetter housing for the light and put it on a new set of ears? That would be awesome.

That's exactly what I did when I got my 850. The Vetter went directly into the garbage where it belonged (it was cracked all over) and I used the Vetter's ugly plastic headlight bucket for years. The headlight ears were still attached to the bike.

It really bugged me because the wiring and connectors just hung there in the breeze tucked behind the hideous headlight bucket.

Earlier this year, I ponied up $60 for a new chrome headlight bucket from Cycle Recycle II. My stock headlight lens fit perfectly, and there was plenty of room in the bucket for the wiring and connectors.

Here's my bike with the chrome headlight bucket:

http://bwringer.com/gs/bwringerGS850_medium.jpg

Here's Cycle Recycle II's web site:

http://www.crc2onlinecatalog.com/

Enter the catalog, then click electrical, then headlight and tail light. They have headlight ears, but they're somewhere else on the site, or just call.

Here's the page with the headlights -- the one I have is the first item on the page:

http://www.crc2onlinecatalog.com/head_and_tail.htm

If you have any questions or need other parts, call them (don't expect a reply if you just email). The web site is just a tiny fraction of the stuff they have, and they are very helpful.

[Anonymous]

I jus checked it out and I do not have the ears left on my bike :? . Oh well looks like I am going to need to buy them. Also I was still wondering if anyone has had problems with their brake light not lighting up when they drive. My brake light works when I am using the brakes but it does not stay on all the time so now I can't ride my GS at night . Anyone have any thoughts about the cause of this problem?

One more thing, when you still usd the crappy rectangular headlight bucket, where you able to still use the turn signals that the vetter came with? Or do those also need to be replaced?

[bwringer]

I forgot -- I bought some aftermarket front turn signals after removing the Vetter fairing. In my case, the aftermarket signals were black plastic instead of chromed plastic. Yours are probably the round style, which you can buy aftermarket or maybe used. Check with CRC2.

As far as the tail light, you might have a bad bulb or corroded socket or connection in the socket.

I would replace the bulb and clean the socket and see if that helps. If not, check it with a test light or voltmeter to see if electricity is getting to the socket.

The side of the socket is ground. There are two contacts at the bottom of the socket. One contact is the brake light filament, the other is the "running light" filament. Since the brake light works, the ground connection and the brake light wire are OK.

Once you know which wire is which, you may have to trace the "running light" wire and see if you have a bad connection or break somewhere else. It's pretty basic electrical troubleshooting.

[Redman]

You didnt say where you are located. Maybe someone nearby has a complete Vetter Windjammer fairing from a GS850G just sitting in basement for 11 years. a-hem.

About "drive shaft oil". Most any auto store (or auto department at WallMart Kmart ectera) will have 80-90 gear lube (maybe called hypoid gear lube). My 80 GS 850 has the gear lube in the rear drive unit (at rear wheel) AND in front drive unit (at back end of engine, front of shaft drive). Both have a drain plug. In rear: fill to level of the fill port. In front (behind cover behing gear shift lever): there is a drain plug and a fill level small plug, fill plug is on top (I think its 82 and after dont have the shaft lube in front, is engine oil). Zuki book says to change shaft lube every 7500 miles. I'd say change it if you dont know the history, and change at least every 2 years regardless of miles. BWringer has great pictures of that on his web page (and posting referenced above by SqDancer).

Also imprtant about shaft maintenance is the splines on the hub that can bee seen when rear wheel is off, needs to be greased with moly lube grease every tire change or when ever rear wheel off for any reason. We can ask Giblet about that har har har (and/or search for past postings)

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/viewtopic.php?t=29336

[Anonymous]

My 80 GS 850 has the gear lube in the rear drive unit (at rear wheel) AND in front drive unit (at back end of engine, front of shaft drive). Both have a drain plug. In rear: fill to level of the fill port. In front (behind cover behing gear shift lever): there is a drain plug and a fill level small plug, fill plug is on top (I think its 82 and after dont have the shaft lube in front, is engine oil).

this is definitely not true.

all 850g, 1000g, and 1100g models use gear lube in what you call the front, which is actually the middle gear.

none of these bikes ever used engine oil in this middle gear.

always use gear lube in both rear and middle.

engine oil goes for lubricating engine, clutch, and transmission.

[gspaul]

Yes, that's just for the 650,allway's wondered why?