New 1983 GS1100GL Owner

[risccas]

Wow I'm glag you guys are here. I just purchased a 1983 Suzuki GS1100GL(21K miles on it) this weekend. It's the first motorcycle I have ever owned. My father-in-law has been lettng me learn to ride on his 1983 Honda Nighthawk 650 over the past year. So this GS certainly feels a tad larger, but not much more powerful. This bike is running fairly well, but has had nothing done to it in four years. It seems to miss a couple of times as you accelerate through each gear. I was gonna have it put in the shop this week and have the following things done to it: Oil Change, Air Filter Changed, Fuel Filter Changed, Spark Plugs & Wires Changed, and the Carbs cleaned. I started to wonder if I might be able to do all this on my own. So here is where your opinion would really help.

#1 - Is there anything I should know about changing the oil & oil filter on a GS1100?

#2 - Why do people often replace their stock air filter w/ K&N filters? Is it really worth the money?

#3 - Is taking out the carbs too big of a job for someone w/ zero motorcycle repair experience and a moderate amount of automotive repair experience? While I have to carbs out, should I just clean them or should I rebuild them as well?

Any advice offered would be greatly appreciated!!!

Jason

[joe.d]

Change the plugs and do the oil change your self, just remember to stick with the torqe settings in a manual( buy your self a Manual) and half the fun of owning these machines is working on them

[SqDancerLynn1]

If you have some repair experience, even on cars It helps. Their is an excellent carb series in the garage section of the forum You don't necessarly need to rebuild them. You need to dissasemble them completely & replace every O ring. Replace the intake boot O rings & examine the boots. The BS series carbs they cannot be too clean The air box needs to be complete & well sealed No air leaks

[Alan Schlosser]

I'd maybe have the carbs synced, change the fluids as see how it runs. Also, I'd just replace the air filter with a stock one. I got mine through Dennis Kirk, it was made by Uni. Properly set up stock, this motor should be more than powerful enough.

[risccas]

OK, thx for the info. Can anyone tell me what the horsePower rating is on the GS1100GL?

[Einar J Skog]

Hi

GS1100G>>>>>> 94 Hp & 87 Nm