New issues.

[groundshock]

Now that I got this pig running, a few questions.

-When cold, it makes a pretty noticeable knocking sound, almost like tranny noise. Goes away when hot, bike seems to run fine and go down the road fine.

-When I unplug the breather hose, I'm getting quite a bit of smoke from it, and some oil. Normal?

-What are the recommended tire sizes on the 78 1000 with the spoke wheels? This thing looks like it has tractor tires on it, 110/90 in front and a 130/something in back.

[tkent02]

Now that I got this pig running, a few questions.

-When cold, it makes a pretty noticeable knocking sound, almost like tranny noise. Goes away when hot, bike seems to run fine and go down the road fine.

Clutch rattle? Does it go away when you pull the clutch in?

-When I unplug the breather hose, I'm getting quite a bit of smoke from it, and some oil. Normal?

No

-What are the recommended tire sizes on the 78 1000 with the spoke wheels? This thing looks like it has tractor tires on it, 110/90 in front and a 130/something in back.

3.75-19 and 4.00-18

[TheCafeKid]

Now that I got this pig running, a few questions.

-When cold, it makes a pretty noticeable knocking sound, almost like tranny noise. Goes away when hot, bike seems to run fine and go down the road fine.

-When I unplug the breather hose, I'm getting quite a bit of smoke from it, and some oil. Normal?

-What are the recommended tire sizes on the 78 1000 with the spoke wheels? This thing looks like it has tractor tires on it, 110/90 in front and a 130/something in back.

What side of the bike is the "knocking" noise coming from? If it seems to originate from the stator cover, I would think the starter clutch is going bad. The "does it while cold but seems to go away when warm" is kinda indicitive of it, but Toms right on the clutch possibility too. That would be coming from the OTHER side of the bike obviously. If its coming from the head area, it may be some cam walk. Another common occurance on high mile and/or poorly maintained GSs.


Blowby smoke, especially if its been sitting for a long while, can be pretty common place. It may simply be condensation that has been trapped in the oil/motor, and is finally being burnt off. The oil, however, is not quite. Check your level, and catch a whiff of it to assure you've not overfilled or gotten fuel into it, raising the level.

110 in the front on the skinny spoked rim and 130 on the back of the same spoked rim is kinda pushing it. The 110 MAY be ok, but were it mine, on the spokies at least, I would keep it at 100, and 120 on the rear. 130 will square off rather quickly, as it pinches pretty good..

[groundshock]

The knocking sound is very noticeable, louder than the engine noise. Only very low RPMS when the bike is warming up or stumbling at low RPM.

I'll wait to see if the blowby smoke decreases over time, but ive got a feeling this thing is going to have to be gone through over the winter. Would be just my luck.

The front tire looks like a freakin balloon. the back, while looking decent, looks like it is indeed pinched a bit.

There's going to have to be money spent here obviously, so I guess I have to decide what my plan of action is with it. It's running now, quite well aside from these little issues, and I gotta decide if it's the bike I want or if i want to try and flip it to fund something else.

It really is a nice bike, it's be a shame IMO to start hacking and welding up the Gixxer stuff on it especially if after that it still wouldnt hang with newer stuff.

Decisions....

[Nessism]

It's normal for there to be blowby and oil haze mist out the breather. I wouldn't worry about it as long as the compression it good. Before you worry about compression though, verify the valves are adjusted properly and go put some good hard miles on the bike to break loose any sludge/carbon that may be holding the rings.

For tires, 100/90-19 is the defacto standard for just about all the GS bikes. I wouldn't worry about what came on the bike when it was new since tire technology has changed significantly since then. For the rear tire, you might want to verify the wheel width before purchasing anything. If it's 2.15 wide (likely), I'd stay with a 120/90. Some of the cast wheels are 2.50 which allows a 130 to be used. Let the wheel width determine which to use.

Good luck.

[groundshock]

It's normal for there to be blowby and oil haze mist out the breather. I wouldn't worry about it as long as the compression it good. Before you worry about compression though, verify the valves are adjusted properly and go put some good hard miles on the bike to break loose any sludge/carbon that may be holding the rings.

For tires, 100/90-19 is the defacto standard for just about all the GS bikes. I wouldn't worry about what came on the bike when it was new since tire technology has changed significantly since then. For the rear tire, you might want to verify the wheel width before purchasing anything. If it's 2.15 wide (likely), I'd stay with a 120/90. Some of the cast wheels are 2.50 which allows a 130 to be used. Let the wheel width determine which to use.

Good luck.

Good info. Will do.

[salty_monk]

Mine rattles & yes it clears when I pull the clutch in.... what does that mean? Unbalanced clutch basket I presume?

The 130 Avon is fine on both my 78 & my 80... unlikely the 79 needs anything different. I have a 100 on the front.

Dan

[tkent02]

Mine rattles & yes it clears when I pull the clutch in.... what does that mean?

Loose springs in the back of the basket, in every one I have taken apart.

[Nessism]

Mine rattles & yes it clears when I pull the clutch in.... what does that mean? Unbalanced clutch basket I presume?

The 130 Avon is fine on both my 78 & my 80... unlikely the 79 needs anything different. I have a 100 on the front.

Dan

130 is fine on the 2.50 aluminum wheels but groundshock has spokes.

According to the parts fishe on Alpha Sports, the rear rim on the GS1000 spoked wheels is 2.15" wide. I wouldn't go any wider than 120 on a rim this width.

[groundshock]

Y'know that loud ass noise I was talking about?

Goes away when I pull the clutch. Any ideas? Clutch basket?

[tkent02]

Y'know that loud ass noise I was talking about?

Goes away when I pull the clutch. Any ideas? Clutch basket?

Probably the springs in the back are loose.
Balance the carbs for a very smooth idle will help, as will lengthening the springs.

[mcloud]

Make sure you have the 2 oil seperators (scrubble) in the breather cover.
item 11 sku#11187-45000

http://www.cheapcycleparts.com/pages/parts/viewbybrand/1/Suzuki.aspx

[groundshock]

Probably the springs in the back are loose.
Balance the carbs for a very smooth idle will help, as will lengthening the springs.

I've gotta try and find a writeup on balancing these carbs, but I can say with certainty that they're very close. No vibrations at any point in the rev range.

As far as the springs, I was going to do an oil change soon here on it, how exactly do I 'lengthen' them? Bend them longer?

Any info woud be awesome, this noise drives me nuts, it's downright embarrassing.

[Nessism]

Do a search on "clutch hub" and you will get lots of info. Basically you need to pull the hub out, shim the springs or replace them, and have the basket welded back together. Some members purchase an aftermarket backet in case the old basket is worn oversize where the tabs for the clutch plates fit - this can create noise as well as the loose backplate.

It's all in the archives...

[groundshock]

Sounds expensive.