Rebuilding a GS650G from the ground up

[gs650gman]

I've recently been given a 1982 gs650g for the most part its all there its sat outside exposed to the elements for almost 5 years. it was wrecked at on time and has some cosmetic damage. My question is what will this bike mostly need to get it back on the road as far as mechanical work. And how hard would this bike be to completely strip and restore if I so choose to do. Any help appreciated.

[Ed Vrolijk]

Welcome to the forum!
It's a bit difficult to answer your question. I think posting a few pictures would make it easyer for other forum members to give you the info you need.
cheers,
Ed

[Nessism]

I've recently been given a 1982 gs650g for the most part its all there its sat outside exposed to the elements for almost 5 years. it was wrecked at on time and has some cosmetic damage. My question is what will this bike mostly need to get it back on the road as far as mechanical work. And how hard would this bike be to completely strip and restore if I so choose to do. Any help appreciated.

Wrecked bike that's been sitting outside in Ohio for 5 years?

Edit: You have not provided much information on the bike thus we are shooting in the dark in terms of offering advice. Plan on spending a lot of time and money getting the bike back in shape. Post photos and more specific questions and we can be more constructive.

[gs650gman]

Ohio weather has played havoc with the bike here is what I can see it needs. The front brake control as this and what was attached to was snapped of in the wreck. The engine appears to be sound no damage except for pavement scuffs on the engine covers. The handle bar needs replaced and the right foot peg. So in allmost of the damage was to the right side and I beleive the tank has to many dents and creases to save. So who could I look to to find all the parts for this gs650 ? anybody got ideas.

[uudfourty]

All of your questions and more will be answered as soon as sir Cliff comes about with his mega welcome, but in order to get you started, you can use ebay, www.bikebandit.com, www.z1enterprises.com and search these forums to get yourself some parts.

If you don't have a Haynes or Clymer manual yet, you're going to want one of those pronto. Not necessarily because you may or may not need a walk through of the basic stuff, but because the book lays out specifications for you.

If you're seriously going to do this "from the ground up," you might want to literally do just that: get a manual, completely disassemble the machine, then start gathering parts that are likely to need chainging: boot O rings, carb kits, fork seals, and so on.

You've got a lot of work ahead of you, but you've come to the right place.

I picked up a 79 GS550L that sat outside for a couple of decades after a wreck, and I'm not at all worried about completely re-building it simply because this forum exists. For any specific problems or concerns you have, this is the place to voice them.

Good luck. :-D

[gs650gman]

Thanks for all the input. It seems the thread is getting burried quickly so I dont expect to see any new post from this one. I'll be keeping progress updated . Thanks again all.

[cloudbreakmd]

Posting pics would probably be really helpful for input though. Good luck.

[BassCliff]

Hee Haw Howdy!

Hi Mr. gs650gman,

You'll want to start with a service manual. There's one available on my little BikeCliff website. Otherwise, with lots of pertinent information included, here is your mega-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)!

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 In The Garage section via the GSR Homepage 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 if your bike uses shims for valve adjustments, send an email to Mr. Steve requesting a copy of his Excel spreadsheet that helps you keep track of clearances, shim sizes and other service work.

These are some edited quotes from one of our dear beloved gurus, Mr. bwringer, with ideas on basic 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

***********************************
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:

1. Intake O-rings (install NEW OEM or Viton only - common nitrile O-rings will quickly deteriorate from heat)
2. Intake Boots (install NEW -- these cannot be repaired)
3. Valve clearances (more important than most people think)
4. Carb/airbox boots
5. Airbox sealing
6. Air filter sealing
7. Petcock (install a NEW one)
8. On '79 models, install new points or Dyna electronic ignition (or at least verify that the old points are working correctly)
9. 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.
10. Stock exhaust with NO leaks or holes -- good seals at the head and at the junctions underneath.
***************************************
OEM Parts/Online Fiches:

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://denniskirk.com - Put in your bike model and see what they have.
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.
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**********************
Additional parts/info links:

GSR Forum member Mr. duaneage has great used upgraded Honda regulator/rectifiers for our bikes. Send him a PM.
New electrical parts:
http://stores.ebay.com/RMSTATOR or http://www.rmstator.com/

http://www.ricksmotorsportelectrics.com/index.php

http://www.electrosport.com/

For valve cover and breather cover gaskets, I recommend Real Gaskets (reusable silicon):
http://www.realgaskets.com
The Rice Paddy (salvage/used)
http://www.ricepaddymotorcycles.com
Ron Ayers Motorsports
http://www.ronayers.com
MR Cycles
http://www.mrcycles.com
Moto Grid
http://www.motogrid.com
If all else fails, try this:
http://www.used-motorcycle-parts.org/
Used bike buying checklists:

http://www.amadirectlink.com/roadride/Riderresc/checklist.asp

http://www.clarity.net/~adam/buying-bike.html
Lots of good info/pictures here:
http://www.suzukicycles.org

http://www.cyclechaos.com/wiki/Motorcycle_Wiki

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)

[duaneage]

A free 650G is a good deal, they share parts with other GS bikes so www.alpha-sports.com should be a bookmark. THey have the fiche online for parts. You can get a part number and see where else it is used, enlarging the parts pool makes it easier to replace things.

Once you have a shopping list post in parts wanted here first. You'll get better deals than ebay, without the horse trading and competition that comes from auctions. But be realistic, if it needs over a grand in parts and work your better off finding another 650G in better shape and using this one for parts. I have disassembled 2 650 G bikes for parts to keep mine on the road, I have 7 plastic parts full of war time spares.

If you have questions I have color schematics for this bike, factory manual, on paper and pdf, and I've worked on mine for 5 years so I know it pretty well. I might have some duplicate parts on hand so let me know in a PM what you need and I might be able to help.

[Zooks]

Hey gs650gman welcome aboard.

If I might make a suggestion, after you type a question, re-read it (slowly) before you hit 'post'. It makes it much easier to respond if we can clearly understand your question.
Good luck with the 650G, I have brought some of the roughest old pigs back to life in the past. It can be done.