80 gs750E tscc or 82 gs850L shafty

[jimfj]

Hello, 1982 GS850G

I'm new to the shafty world, and fairly new to motorcycling. I don't personaly like the looks of the L but as far as the what others have said about comfort and ride I can chime in. I love the the bike. Mine has 18k on it and is tight as a drum.

Work on the 850 first. Once you get that going you will always have something to ride while you are working on the 750. IMHO you have a good problem!

Jim

[rphillips]

My vote goes to the 850 "L". I'm not an "L" fan, but definitely like the roller bearing crankshaft better, and as long as not road racing nor drag racing, the shaft drive is the only way to go. Before spending too much on the 16v 750, I, personally, would much rather try to find a good 16v 1100 eng (roller bearings) & put it on the 750 frame. You are the one going to ride it, 750 "E" is no doubt a sport bike, & the Suzuki "L", Kawa. "LTD", Honda "Custom", & the Yamaha "Specials" we called "Cruising for Burger bikes. I'm still addicted to the roller bearings.

[BassCliff]

Hee Haw Howdy!

Hi Mr. buckeyemike,

I love my GS850GT. It fits me. Which bike fits you?

Dear fellow GS rider,

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 (and most other models) 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
Carolina Cycle
http://www.carolinacycle.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
http://www.bikepics.com
Basic motorcycle maintenance/repair:

http://www.dansmc.com/mc_repaircourse.htm

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)

[buckeyemike]

L bike

That was an interesting list of replies. I figured most people would like the L on this site. Guess I was wrong! I bought the L last week for Three reasons, one I let my brother take the 750 because he showed interest and did get it started after a few days with problem of it dying after about ten minutes. I think carb but all pipes are nice and hot so not sure, saw somthing on here about starter?? not sure but back to my other two reasons, 2nd the 750 has always been one to two inches to tall for me since I am only 5'5", and third I really like the L look, they had the custom look down when harley and everyone else could not get it right!! and this last thing goes along with the look it feels so much better sitting on the L for me. now that being said I have not driven the L yet. All I know is the 750 is very fast alittle to fast and hope that the 850 isnt much slower. Thanks to all you guys for the replies.

[tkent02]

That was an interesting list of replies. I figured most people would like the L on this site. Guess I was wrong! I bought the L last week for Three reasons, one I let my brother take the 750 because he showed interest and did get it started after a few days with problem of it dying after about ten minutes. I think carb but all pipes are nice and hot so not sure, saw somthing on here about starter?? not sure but back to my other two reasons, 2nd the 750 has always been one to two inches to tall for me since I am only 5'5", and third I really like the L look, they had the custom look down when harley and everyone else could not get it right!! and this last thing goes along with the look it feels so much better sitting on the L for me. now that being said I have not driven the L yet. All I know is the 750 is very fast alittle to fast and hope that the 850 isnt much slower. Thanks to all you guys for the replies.

If you go with the L, change the bars to make it safe to ride, the stock ones are scary.

[chef1366]

no Brainer, Ride The One That Isn't An "l".

Hey Now!!!! ;-)

[Steve]

No brainer, ride the one that isn't an "L".

Hey Now!!!! ;-)

Maybe it will work if he just gets it running then rides the "L" out of it?

.