I bought an 82 GS650GL from a neighbor that got tired of storing it. A good bit of cleaning revealed a bike that was weel worth the effort of making it street worthy.
After cleaning the carbs and the brakes (we want to stop too!), it was up and running. It's now registered and on the road.
Thanks to everybody on this forum for their helped. Lurking here as a guest really helped the job go smoothly.
Thanks to whoever behind www.cycleorings.com. He's inexpensive and prompt. What a difference a new set of o rings made. Don't even think about touching your carbs until you check those o rings!
Fortunately, I didn't have any stator or R/R problems. I followed the advice on this forum and made sure that all of the ground wires were in good shape.
I would encourage anyone to take on an old GS as a project. The bikes seem to be well built and reliable. Mine sat in the weather for awhile at the PO's house, but didn't suffer from the neglect. Parts are plentiful and cheap on eBay. Many are still available from various online distributors.
I'm looking into replacing the "L" tank with one from a "G". It mounts at the front perfectly, but the "G" tank is about an inch longer, so the mountng tabs at the back don't line up. A simple adapter bracket should work. The problem is that the "G" tank will interfere with the "L" seat. I need a new seat cover anyway, so I think I'll look into having the seat reworked to fit with the tank.
The other bikes I own are a 78 Yamaha XS1100 and an 81 Yamaha Virago 750. I guess I'm a sucker for old Japanese orphans.
Thanks everyone for all your help!
Comment