Getting it back in shape

[tony23]

OK - so last week I bought a 1981 GS650G for $200. It was fit enough to ride home - barely - and only because I stayed on back streets and had my wife follow me in the car. BTW - this bike had been sitting unused for about 2 years.

So, checking it out & riding it home, I noticed a few issues:

*BIG ONE - no front brakes
*Engine stalls out at idle
*Engine stalls out when rolling on quickly
*Scraping sound from front wheel
*Turn signals don't work
*Engine puts out a lot of smoke - some from a cylinder, some from the outside
*The seat is mangled
*There is still power transmission to the rear wheel with the clutch lever pulled all the way in
*There is a lot of play in the clutch lever
*The rear-view mirrors are thrashed

That's pretty much the main issues.

I didn't have the time to mess with it last week, but with the 4-day weekend for Thanksgiving, I figured I can get some work done.

So this weekend, I replaced the front pads & refilled the master cylinder, sprayed the hell out of the carbs with Berryman's carb cleaner & revved it for a while, adjusted the clutch cable, replaced the spark plugs, and replaced the mirrors. Last Monday, I ordered a new seat cover from Old Bike Barn.

Now, it still puts out smoke and the turn signals still don't work. There remains a bit of hesitation starting from a full stop, so I can't accellerate quickly, but it doesn't stall out anymore, and it idles decently. Brakes are working nicely, and the scraping has stopped.

I think I've done fairly well - a day's work and it's safe to ride again. I would, however, appreciate any additional thoughts or ideas for things I can do to get it in even better shape.

My main concerns are the hesitation and the smoke. Given that it had been sitting, I figure some of the smoke is just it blowing deposits clear and will lighten up, but I'm concerned that some of it may be due to an oil leak. Getting inside the engine is beyond my mechanical abilities. Same goes for the carbs - spraying them is one thing, rebuilding them quite another!

Anyways - all in all, I think I'm pretty satisfied with what I got. After a few little adjustments here & there, it's in decent running order, so I'm happy with the end results. Seems like it's a decent machine overall - we'll see what the next few months brings

[crag antler]

Congrats on a nice find Tony and welcome.
Where do you live?
There are many helpful GSR members worldwide that are willing to help.

[tony23]

Congrats on a nice find Tony and welcome.
Where do you live?
There are many helpful GSR members worldwide that are willing to help.

Thank you. I live in Riverside, CA - and would welcome any help on this from someone who knows what they're doing!

A bit of an update: I took it on the freeway for a bit, but it was real low on power. I couldn't get it over 60 at all. Got it home & sprayed more carb cleaner, dumped some of the in-the-tank stuff in, and let it idle for a bit. Then I took it out again & had no problems hitting up to 80. BUT - it backfired quite a bit.

Seems that a lot of the problems are going to be solved by a lot of carb cleaner and just riding it to get it broken in again.

[DimitriT]

Nice bike there! I hope to pick up a project bike like that next year.

You may want to consider doing an overhaul of the carbs per the link on this site ("Carb Cleanup Series" on main page). Until you can get the carbs opened up and clean the little passageways they won't work right. That's also a good time to replace the o-rings (do a seach for "Barr o-ring"). There may still be other issues but I would start there.

How does the tank look?

You'll have it purring in no time!

[JayH]

Did the engine stop smoking? I'm hoping that it was just a couple of piston rings that were sticking because the bike was sitting so long. Good luck w/ the new project.

[tony23]

Did the engine stop smoking? I'm hoping that it was just a couple of piston rings that were sticking because the bike was sitting so long. Good luck w/ the new project.

I rode it to work this morning. Yesterday, I wanted to, but it didn't start & I ran down the battery. Last night I jumped it & got it going again.

This morning, it started decently with the help of a blast of starter fluid. I let it warm up for a bit, then took off down the freeway. Work is about 45 miles from home, so it was a good drive. At the end, not a bit of smoke

It also seems to be running smoother, too. A new problem it's developed, though - when it's really warm after a run like that, the idle speed drops below 1000 and it stalls out. Hopefully, a simple adjustment will fix that.

[bwringer]

Intake o-rings and intake boots?

[tony23]

Intake o-rings and intake boots?

What are those, and where? :?