Looking for more advice

[newvined]

Alright, the oil change and air filter cleaning went well. I must admit though the bike may be a bit big for me as I needed help getting it up on its center stand. Does that make me a wuss?

Anyway, I am now ready to tacke the valves and need to give the engine a good cleaning before I tear it down. (At least it seems like a good idea).
My reasoning is to get rid of all the oil, dirt, and grime so it doesn't get inside the engine once I have the valve cover off.

I have some Krud Kutter, and Purple Power. Is this stuff ok to use? And after I spray it on, would it be ok to hose it off or should I use a rag/towel? I don't want to cause any secondary problems by using the wrong cleaner or procedures.

Oh yeah, I pulled the plugs last night and the previous owner has splitfire plugs in this bike. The split tips looked good, like they might be running a bit hot, but otherwise they looked like I had hoped they would. My question here has to do with the plug type. Are splitfire plugs good to run in a bike, or should I change them to a different brand? I'm guessing it doesn't matter but I thought I'd ask just in case.

I think thats it for now. Thanks for the help yesterday. So far everything has gone pretty smoothly. Can't wait to finish so I can ride and put up some pics. Its nothing fancy just a 82 GS850L.

David
82 GS850L
(great bike for a great price):-D

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. newvined,

The trick to putting your bike up on the center stand is pushing down on the stand rather than pulling up on the bike. You still have to do both, but more pushing down with your foot makes it easier. It just takes a little practice. There's even an instructional video on Youtube somewhere. I'm sure you could find it.

The purple stuff is OK. I'm a Simple Green fan. I just spray it on, let it soak, scrub a little with an old toilet brush, hose off carefully, repeat as necessary, remove excess water with an old towel. You don't want water in the air filter or anything. If there are any leaks in your intake system, it would not be good to get water in there. Are your intake boots and O-rings in good shape?

I use the stock plugs in my 850, NGK B8ES.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. :-D

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[chuckycheese]

Welcome

It sounds like you have a nice bike and you're getting it ready for sunny weather. I agree with Clifford about the plugs; I'd use the standard NGK plugs. The bike was designed to run those plugs and they should work very well.:-D

[GregM.]

David,

His advice sounds right on, on all accounts... from the little that I know about these bikes... except, clarification please on one point.

A question for whoever -

Don't I remember reading here, that simple green, or the purple stuff, or one of those cleaners... would stain the type of alum. these engines are made of?

Thanks, Greg

[MellowMoodz]

A question for whoever -

Don't I remember reading here, that simple green, or the purple stuff, or one of those cleaners... would stain the type of alum. these engines are made of?

Thanks, Greg

DON"T USE THE PURPLE STUFF!!!!!! ask me how I know....go ahead....ask....well I'll just tell you.....I was cleaning off my engine to find a suspicious oil leak....used the purple stuff...and it ate most of the clear off my engine.....not a happy camper.....

[BassCliff]

No Purple stuff. Vote Green.

DON"T USE THE PURPLE STUFF!!!!!! ask me how I know....go ahead....ask....well I'll just tell you.....I was cleaning off my engine to find a suspicious oil leak....used the purple stuff...and it ate most of the clear off my engine.....not a happy camper.....

Wow. I did not know that. I'll be sure to remember. Thanks Mr. MellowMoodz.

Here's a picture before Simple Green.



And here's a picture after Simple Green (I still have a little spot cleaning to do).



Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[GregM.]

Hi BassCliff,

Cool, your '80 850G is the same dark burgandy as mine!! You don't see too many like that. I think most of the '80's that I've seen here are the black ones. I believe Suzuki made two colors, for each year.

And good job on the engine clean-up!!

[BassCliff]

Hi BassCliff,

Cool, your '80 850G is the same dark burgandy as mine!! You don't see too many like that. I think most of the '80's that I've seen here are the black ones. I believe Suzuki made two colors, for each year.

And good job on the engine clean-up!!

Thanks Mr. GregM. I was very fortunate. I like the burgundy. My bike even has the little silver dots on the swingarm covers and the silver trim around the tail light. Yep, there's a lot of black ones. I think Mr. bwringer has a blue one. I've seen one or two brown ones. Good bikes all.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[newvined]

Hi Mr. newvined,

The trick to putting your bike up on the center stand is pushing down on the stand rather than pulling up on the bike. You still have to do both, but more pushing down with your foot makes it easier. It just takes a little practice. There's even an instructional video on Youtube somewhere. I'm sure you could find it.

The purple stuff is OK. I'm a Simple Green fan. I just spray it on, let it soak, scrub a little with an old toilet brush, hose off carefully, repeat as necessary, remove excess water with an old towel. You don't want water in the air filter or anything. If there are any leaks in your intake system, it would not be good to get water in there. Are your intake boots and O-rings in good shape?

I use the stock plugs in my 850, NGK B8ES.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. :-D

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

Thanks again guys for the advice. I would have probably used the purple stuff. I'm off to get some simple green and stock spark plugs.

David