1982 GS750 Petcock and other questions

[kruppy761]

I just bought a 1982 GS750, I can't remember if its L or something else right now(I'm at work) it's chain drive. The previous owner told me he had it for 5 years and had it running 4 years ago. He had the carbs professionally re-done and it rode fine. He said that a little time after that the petcock went bad and now the carbs need to be redone.

First off how do I find a replacement petcock? Or is it easy enough to rebuild myself? (I have a lot of mechanical experience being an aircraft mechanic but have never done a lot of carb work before) I can follow schematics and directions pretty well so if there are instructions and stuff I'm pretty good with a wrench.

Also the battery is not there... and the manual he gave me was left in the rain or a ditch or something but it is of little use. What type of battery would you guys recommend.

And finally would the carbs need to be redone or should I replace the petcock and see what happens?

P.S. This is my first GS, well first street bike period and project so I will probably be on here a lot because you all seem to have quite a bit of experience.

[BassCliff]

Hey howdy hey!

Mr. kruppy761,

It's always better to do it right the first time, i.e. get a new petcock and rebuild the carbs yourself (to make sure they're done right). Depending on the condition of the carbs, a couple of tanks with Sea Foam may help, but there is no guarantee. I just put a Yausa AGM (maintenance free) battery in my bike and I love it. Now, on to the welcome!

Let it be known that on this day you are cordially and formally welcomed to the GSR Forum as a Junior Member in good standing with all the rights and privileges thereof. Further let it be known that your good standing can be improved with pictures (not you, your bike)! :grin:

Perhaps you've already seen these, but I like to remind all the new members. In addition to the carb rebuild series, I recommend visiting the garage section via the GSR Hompage and check out the Stator Papers. There's also a lot of great information in the Old Q&A section. I have some documentation on my little BikeCliff website to help get you familiar with doing routine maintenance tasks (note that it is 850G-specific but many tasks are common to all GS bikes). Other "user contributed" informational sites include those of Mr. bwringer, Mr. tfb and Mr. robertbarr.

And here are some quotes from one of our dear beloved gurus, Mr. bwringer, with ideas on basic maintenance needs (depending on initial condition), parts, and accessories.

***********Quoted from Mr. bwringer************
Carburetor maintenance:

Replace the intake boot o-rings, and possibly the intake boots. Here's the procedure:
http://bwringer.com/gs/intakeorings.html

Here's an overview of what happens with this particular problem:
http://cycleorings.com/intake.html

You'll also want to examine the boots between the carbs and the airbox. There's a good chance these are OK, but check them over.

And finally, if things still aren't exactly right, you'll want to order a set of o-rings for BS carbs from the GS owner's best friend, Robert Barr:
http://cycleorings.com

Once you receive these rare rings of delight, then you'll want to thoroughly clean and rebuild your carburetors. Here are step-by-step instructions that make this simple:
http://thegsresources.com/gs_carbrebuild.htm
*************End Quote*************
**********<quote Mr. bwringer>**********
Every GS850 has (or had) a set of well-known issues that MUST be addressed before you have a solid baseline for further troubleshooting.

It's a vintage bike, and it's quite common (as in, every single GS850 I have had contact with) that there are multiple problems that have crept up and slowly gotten worse over the years.

It's not like a newer vehicle, where there's generally one problem at a time.

These common issues are:

Intake O-rings (install NEW OEM or Viton only - common nitrile o-rings will quickly deteriorate from heat)

Intake Boots (install NEW -- these cannot be repaired)

Valve clearances (more important than most people think)

Carb/airbox boots

Airbox sealing

Air filter sealing

Petcock (install a NEW one)

On '79 models, install new points or Dyna electronic ignition (or at least verify that the old points are working correctly)

On all models, it's fairly common to have problems with the spark plug caps. These are $3 or $4 each, and often worth replacing if you're keeping the stock coils/wires.

Stock exhaust with NO leaks or holes -- good seals at the head and at the junctions underneath.
**********<end quote>**********
***********Quoted from Mr. bwringer***************
http://denniskirk.com
Put in your bike model and see what they have.

I would definitely double and triple the recommendations to use Cycle Recycle II and Z1 Enterprises as much as possible. These guys are priceless resources. Z1 tends to have slightly better prices, CRC2 has a wider range of goodies available. If you're near Indy and can bring in an old part to match, CRC2 has a vast inventory of used parts.

http://oldbikebarn.com seems to be slowly regaining a decent reputation, but it's still caveat emptor. They don't have anything you can't get elsewhere at a better price anyway.

OEM Parts/Online Fiches:

http://www.babbittsonline.com/
Decent parts prices. Spendy shipping. Don't give you part numbers at all. Useful cross-reference if you obtain a part number elsewhere. Efficient service.

http://bikebandit.com
Fastest. Middlin' prices. Uses their own parts numbering system to obfuscate price comparisons -- can be very confusing for large orders. Cheapest shipping, so total cost usually isn't too bad.

http://flatoutmotorcycles.com
Slow. Cheapest parts prices, crazy shipping costs. Don't expect progress updates or much communication. Real Suzuki part numbers.

http://alpha-sports.com
Exorbitant parts prices. Different type of fiche interface that's quite useful at times, especially with superceded part numbers. Real parts numbers. Shipping cost and speed unknown due to insane, unholy pricing.

Stainless Bolts, Viton o-rings, metric taps, dies, assorted hard-to-find supplies and materials, etc.:
http://mcmaster.com
Fast, cheap shipping, good prices. No order minimum, but many items like bolts come in packs of 25 or 50. Excellent resource.

http://motorcycleseatcovers.com
Great quality, perfect fit (on original seat foam), and available for pretty much every bike ever made. Avoid the textured vinyl -- it's perforated.

http://newenough.com
You DO have riding gear, don't you? Great clearances, always outstanding prices and impeccable service.
***************End Quote**********************

Here are a few extra links:

Cycle-Re-Cycle Part 2
http://crc2onlinecatalog.com/

The ever popular Z1 Enterprises
http://www.z1enterprises.com

The Rice Paddy (salvage/used)
http://www.ricepaddymotorcycles.com

Ron Ayers Motorsports
http://www.ronayers.com

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed of your progress. There's lots of good folk with good experience here.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
(The unofficial GSR greeter)

[TheCafeKid]

Cliff not to jack a thread, as i always seem to do, but where does one pick up a battery such as this? I dont know much about cycle batts, as ive never used a Maint free one.

[BassCliff]

OK, just this once

Cliff not to jack a thread, as i always seem to do, but where does one pick up a battery such as this? I dont know much about cycle batts, as ive never used a Maint free one.

Well, OK. As long as you don't abuse the privilege. :-D

I got a Yuasa AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) battery from a local bike shop. The part number is something like 14AHL. Here is some info. The Yuasa part specific to my bike was YTX14AHL-BS. That particular battery fits a lot of GS bikes (and others). They can also be found online and from other manufacturers. You will activate it and charge it once it arrives. Mine was about $80. I'm sure you can find a cheaper one at Wal-Mart. No muss, no fuss!

And cafe guys love them because you can mount them in any direction except upside down. \\/ And if you don't have much room, I've heard some guys use a smaller (12AHL?) model for tight spaces. You'll lose a few CCAs but if your bike starts easily there shouldn't be a problem.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[TheCafeKid]

Thanks Cliff! Been lookin for one, as i was considering moving my batt and solenoid and stuff under the tail i;ve been working on for my cafe. As always, great info and thanks much!

[kruppy761]

Hey,
thank you for the greeting and all the links, those links are going to help I'm sure.. I solved the battery problem last night, went by Walmart on my way home from work and picked up an Ever Start stock replacement(by their catalog) and took that home and tore into the petcock. Found the problem. It wouldn't turn in any direction, I forgot which position it was stuck in but once I got it out of the tank and tore it apart I found that rust deposits had jammed up the valve inside, and accidentally tore up the diaphram. So I think I'll take everyone's advice to just replace it. A little more about the bike: Its a 1981 not 82, and is the "L" model. I paid 800 for it the story was that it was left in a barn just south of here and thats where he got it and had it running for a little while, (I got the feeling his wife didn't want him to ride). So The odometer says it has about 5500 miles on it so... for 27 years old that didn't seem to bad but it has a whole lot of corrosion all over the case and most everything has that white powder on it... so I picked up a can of mothers today. Hoping to pick up a petcock tomorrow before work or atleast go by the local suzuki shop and see if they have/can order something. Other than that thanks for the help so far. And I'll try to take some pictures tonight and get 'em on here.

[tkent02]

As far as Suzuki goes, if you go into the shop to ask for parts for a GS anything, the moron in the parts department will look at you like you're from Mars. Get a part number from someplace on line, ask for it by number.

[catbed]

bah, use bikebandit or flatoutmotorcycles for the petcock. much cheaper.