1983 GS1100E Preventative Maintenance Questions

[zpcm04]

First, let me thank you for a great site and a wonderful resource.

Recently purchased a 1983 GS1100E from one of the site members and had a couple questions regarding routine preventative maintenance.

Background: The bike is stock with the exception of AGM battery, K&N air filter and 1+ primary gear. It had approximately 13,000 miles when I purchased it. The bike was mainly kept in climate controlled storage, so must of the rubber is original and in excellent condition. In the 2,000 miles that I have ridden it, most of the riding has been 2-up and it has consistently averaged 53 mpg (I pretty much keep it between 3000 – 4000 rpm). The previous owner inspected, adjusted, serviced and/or replaced just about everything before I purchased it. The only thing he did not do was check valve adjustment. He said that the initial 600-mile valve adjustment had been performed, but was not aware of one since. There are no unusual valve train noises.

My questions are:

1. Do you need to loosen and re-torque head bolts before adjusting the valves on the 16-valve head? I read Mr. basic’s article on BikeCliff’s Website and did not see any mention of it.

2. From what I can tell from Mr. basic’s article, I will need a valve cover gasket, “half moon” cam end seals and possibly the tach drive o-ring to perform the valve adjustment. Any other parts/gaskets/seals that I should have on hand?

3. Besides oil filters, oil filter cover o-rings and oil drain plug crush washers, are there any other parts I should order for routine preventative maintenance?

Thanks in advance for your response,

Philip

[chuckycheese]

1. If you don't have a leak, I'd LEAVE THEM ALONE!!!!
2. You'll need a valve cover gasket. You may or may not need half-moons. You shouldn't need a tach gasket.
3. You'll need some oil filters. Usually, you can use the filter "O" ring over and over with no problems, at all....same with the drain plug washer.

[Nessism]

The factory service manual has good information about preventative maintenance - hard to go wrong if you follow their instructions. One thing they recommend is changing the brake lines every couple of years. I think this is excessive but if your brake lines are originals, I recommend you replace them and flush out the old fluid.

A few other things I recommend is to make sure your R/R is grounded back to the battery, and that the round bullet connectors on the stator leads are not corroded (many people replace these with spades).

And don’t forget that those pod filters need to be cleaned regularly and reoiled. K&N filters are actually pretty poor at scrubbing the air so you need to keep them clean and well oiled.

Hope this helps and good luck.

[posplayr]

Head bolt O-rings

#17 O RING Part #09280-17002 Qty 2 $2.25




If you are going to adjust valves, i would replace the #17 o-rings on the Cylinder head microfiche. This can cause a pretty bad leak at the front of the motor. After 25 years they get hard so worth replacing if they have not been. there are two of them that go on Nut #14.

Pos

[isleoman]

If it were mine I'd leave it alone and wait for 25K.

Ride more, worry less.

My 82 1100e was done at 600, 10,000 (only because the crank twisted and the whole engine needed to be disassembled), 40,000, and 90,000. It has 107,000 now.

[bwringer]

1) Replace those old tires, pronto.

2) Check the valve clearances. Please. They're way past due.

3) You know that funny handle on the right, the one that twists? For the love of all that's good and holy and right in the world, give it a good yank once in a while and let the thing yodel to redline. It ain't gonna break.

[chuckycheese]

Important

At the expense of sounding patronizing....I think this is important.

You're going to have to unloosen and tighten quite a few bolts in the process of adjusting your valves and changing your oil. Not one single one of them needs to be very tight. Torquing the bolts on the valve cover gasket is a good idea but, if you tighten it down and it doesn't leak, that's all that counts.
The same holds true for the oil filter housing and the crank case bolt. They don't have to be very tight, at all. If you find a little weaping, tighten it up a little more, but don't make the mistake of overdoing it.

Trust me...I know what I'm talking about; and so do some others, here.

[zpcm04]

Thanks for the responses.

I can see, however, that I was not clear in my first question, so let me try again.

1. Is it necessary to re-torque the head (i.e., the fasteners that hold the head to the engine) prior to adjusting the valves?

Also, folks seem split on whether to do this procedure according to the recommended schedule or to wait until the engine has more miles. Just curious, does the valve lash on these engines tend to get loose or tight when they need adjustment?

Thanks again,
Philip

[moto_dan]

Thanks for the responses.

I can see, however, that I was not clear in my first question, so let me try again.

1. Is it necessary to re-torque the head (i.e., the fasteners that hold the head to the engine) prior to adjusting the valves?


Thanks again,
Philip

NO. BTW where did you get the idea that re-torquing of the Head has anything to do with adjusting the valve lash on the rocker arms?

[zpcm04]

I turned wrenches when I was a kid (30+ years ago). If memory serves me correctly, we did this to ensure that no head bolts were loose, which could affect how long the engine held the valve adjustment. I also seem to recall that this procedure was mainly performed on engines that had the cam in the block and that used mechanical lifters in the valve train.

Obviously, the GS engine is a DOHC design. On the surface such a procedure does not seem to be needed. A lot of water has passed under my bridge and I just could not recall much else about why we did this. I thought it was better to ask first to confirm it was not necessary before diving in.

[chuckycheese]

Thanks for the responses.

I can see, however, that I was not clear in my first question, so let me try again.

1. Is it necessary to re-torque the head (i.e., the fasteners that hold the head to the engine) prior to adjusting the valves?

Thanks again,
Philip

See 1. on reply #1

[GQROD]

When i did my valve adjsutment i did re-torque the head bolts just to make sure and two of them were out of torque specs so it can't hurt to check them. Mine is a 16 valve head.

[TheCafeKid]

If you dont know the condition of the bike, the way its been treated etc etc, you're gonna need a manual. Shop, Clymer, Haynes, whatever, get one.

Suzuki DOES recommend you check and retighted the head bolts if necessary when you do a valve adjustement because YOU'RE ALREADY IN THERE. That is not to say you need to re-torque your headbolts EVERY TIME. I would check them tho.

Leakage is likely to be coming from the half moon plugs, as said, AND/OR the TACH GEAR. It is common for those to dry out with age and begin leaking. Best way to check is to unscrew your tach cable. If its got a bunch of motor oil in it, its likely leaking. Its not hard to change, and WHEN (not if) you adjust the valves for the first time, might as well replace it if its leaking, and replaces those halfmoon plugs too.


Like Ed said, if you've got the stock rubber brake lines on the bike, junk em. they're likely garbage. Stainless is king, not all that expensive (last i checked it was cheaper than Zook OEM rubber lines) and if you want the "stock" look, they now come in black so they look more like rubber.

Check all your electrics. Grounds need to be cleaned and greased, free of corrosion. Same with all the charging system connections. Actually, its highly recommended to remove all of the bullet type connectors in favour of SPADE type, and on the stator/r/r connection, alot will recommend you solder those together....

Tires: Yup like BWringer said, ditch em.

VALVES are very very important, get the adjusted pronto, or come the spring or your next riding season, you'll likely be back asking why your bike starts like crap when its cold, runs rough and buzzy, etc etc. Its all in the valve adjustment baby.


Good luck...oh, and post up some pics, we kinda like that around here

[chuckycheese]

Sissy

I may be a sissy but I think messing with those head bolts when nothing is apparently wrong and you have no leaks....is just asking for trouble.

What could you possibly have to gain?

[Nessism]

I may be a sissy but I think messing with those head bolts when nothing is apparently wrong and you have no leaks....is just asking for trouble.

What could you possibly have to gain?

The idea is preventative maintenance; do a small amount of work before the bike breaks down and requires a lot of work and money.

Torquing the head bolts is recommend in the Suzuki manual because it will assure the clamp load has not loosened up, which will lead to leaks. If the head is leaking already, it's too late.

The question I have about torquing the head is whether or not you should crack the bolts loose first before making them up and tightening to spec?