78 GS1000 Rebuild ?'s

[Gutter]

Howdy All,

So I am doing a "rebuild" of the old 1000 and I have a few ?'s for you folks:

1. My carbs need to be gone thru, is there any specific brand of rebuild kit that I should look for or avoid?

2. I am getting rid of the big fat Vetter fairing and going back to the stock style headligh (and a custom fairing yet to be made). Can I use a headlight and bucket/ears from a GS750, 1100 ect ect.? I know the ears need to match the fork tube diameter...I am more concerned about the wiring.

3. I would like to do some "modernization" while maintaining the integrity of "Japzilla" as I call her. Can somone recommend a nice aggressive/sporty tire that works on the stock mag style rims? Also, are their any more modern (Katana or GSX syle) rims that are a direct fit? I also want to get rid of the chrome front fender (sorry I hate it) and get something more modern-any recos?

4. Has anyone ever tried taking a seat pan from something else and custom fabbing a seat? I dont want to ruin the nice tour seat I have so I can use it for longer rides, but I want a more sleek look....maybe I would be better finding a used stock seat and fabbing from that?

5. Please suggest any get rich quick scams you may know of so that I may actually be able to fund this project.

Thanks a million everyone, and I will get some pics of Japzilla as she sits now and once I am finished.

[tkent02]

Can somone recommend a nice aggressive/sporty tire that works on the stock mag style rims?

Avon Roadriders AM26
New tech in old tire sizes, they rock.

[Gutter]

Awesome, I will check those out. Thanks man!

[ptm]

1. My carbs need to be gone thru, is there any specific brand of rebuild kit that I should look for or avoid?

General recommendation around here is to reuse all the metal parts - jets, etc. since they're better quality than the kits. Replace all the o-rings from http://www.cycleorings.com/, and get the top and bowl gaskets from the dealer or http://www.bikebandit.com. If you're careful you shouldn't need the rebuild kits.

The rebuild guides in the GS Resources garage can help. http://www.thegsresources.com/files/vm_carb_rebuild.pdf is for the early VM carbs like yours. http://www.thegsresources.com/gs_carbrebuild.htm is for the later CV carbs, but it has some useful tips.

Good luck

[Steve]

1. ptm nailed it ... avoid all of the kits. Just get the o-rings from cycleoring.com and clean the metal parts.

2. Wiring should not be a problem unless whoever put the fairing on butchered the wiring in the process.

3. I have never used them, but I see a lot of recommendations for Pirelli Sport Demons.

4. I would suggest finding a used seat and fabbing from that.

5. I have won several lotteries, according to all the emails I get. :shock:
I can't use all that money, so I will be glad to forward some of them your way. 8-[


.

[renobruce]

Howdy All,

So I am doing a "rebuild" of the old 1000 and I have a few ?'s for you folks:

1. My carbs need to be gone thru, is there any specific brand of rebuild kit that I should look for or avoid?

2. I am getting rid of the big fat Vetter fairing and going back to the stock style headligh (and a custom fairing yet to be made). Can I use a headlight and bucket/ears from a GS750, 1100 ect ect.? I know the ears need to match the fork tube diameter...I am more concerned about the wiring.

3. I would like to do some "modernization" while maintaining the integrity of "Japzilla" as I call her. Can somone recommend a nice aggressive/sporty tire that works on the stock mag style rims? Also, are their any more modern (Katana or GSX syle) rims that are a direct fit? I also want to get rid of the chrome front fender (sorry I hate it) and get something more modern-any recos?

4. Has anyone ever tried taking a seat pan from something else and custom fabbing a seat? I dont want to ruin the nice tour seat I have so I can use it for longer rides, but I want a more sleek look....maybe I would be better finding a used stock seat and fabbing from that?

5. Please suggest any get rich quick scams you may know of so that I may actually be able to fund this project.

Thanks a million everyone, and I will get some pics of Japzilla as she sits now and once I am finished.

Ditto on the orings. If you plan on putting on a 4-1 pipe and pods, buy a Dynojet jet kit, which is just a change of the main jet and the jet needle.

For the best fit, get the fork ears from a 78 or 79 GS1000. I've got the same bike and have some good pics of the wiring in the bucket. Let me know if you want them, or if I can help. Do you have a wiring diagram?

I have the Sport Demons on my Skunk and I love them. They were a big improvement. I'll be trying the Avons on my current project.

[chef1366]

Sell him your pig light Bruce. :shock:

[renobruce]

[chef1366]

LOL!!!! That thing made me laugh. Fleabay gone bad.

[Gutter]

Pig Light: SOLD! Haha.

Thanks everyone, I appreciate all of the info. I will do what you suggested for the carbs and look at the tires you all mentioned.

As for the headlight: I have a guy locally who has a 78 GS750 light, bucket and ears he will sell me for $35. Seems like a good deal to me...any ideas on if this would work? Thanks!

[renobruce]

Pig Light: SOLD! Haha.

Thanks everyone, I appreciate all of the info. I will do what you suggested for the carbs and look at the tires you all mentioned.

As for the headlight: I have a guy locally who has a 78 GS750 light, bucket and ears he will sell me for $35. Seems like a good deal to me...any ideas on if this would work? Thanks!

It should work. The spacing between the forks on the 750 and 1000 are different, but not by much. If by chance it doesn't work, the bucket and light are worth the money. Let me know.... I might have a spare set of fork ears around some where.

[Gutter]

Bruce, what kind of ears are on your 1000 in the picture? It looks as though the turn signals are mounted directly to the ears....and those turn signals are sweet too!

[Gutter]

Bruce, what kind of ears are on your 1000 in the picture? It looks as though the turn signals are mounted directly to the ears....and those turn signals are sweet too!

[renobruce]

Bruce, what kind of ears are on your 1000 in the picture? It looks as though the turn signals are mounted directly to the ears....and those turn signals are sweet too!

The ears are stock. The stock or aftermarket sigs mount to the ears. I found some sigs on ebay. They are made from aluminum, so I was able to strip the clearcoat and polish them. Here's some pics that might help. The pics show the old style sigs I had for a while.

http://s19.photobucket.com/albums/b182/renobruce/GS1000/?start=0

[renobruce]

Here's some pics I took today of the sigs and ears: