'78 GS1000E restoration project

[Bill Alexander]

Yeah, noticed that too. Saw a lot of pics on the net, but no other GS had the letters and the stripes. Does your have stripes on the top of the tail too? Also never read anywhere about them and on the sites that offer the complete decal-set they're not there either. Perhaps only the red bikes have this.

Strange. On the other hand, our bikes look like limited edition

Yes it does also have the stripes on the top of tank and tail. Mine is very faded these days and the outside stripe is almost a gold colour (I will try to take a photo and send it in the next few days). If our bikes were in the same part of the world I would have suggested they were accessorised by a particular dealersip as a promo or something like that.

Actually mine is a bit mysterious in its specs. It has very early frame and engine numbers which suggest it should be on spoked wheels and have only single front disk but it is on alloys and has double disks - it is actually 'E' spec. It went on the road here in NZ in Sept 78 and I have owned it from 85 - I believe the mods were from new not by a PO.

I have wondered if it was used by the dealership as a demonstrator

Now that I know the "GS" and stripes are authentic I will certainly be keeping them when I paint it. I thinks we probably can claim limited edition status for the

[psyguy]

cheers for the tips, noobie

Actually mine is a bit mysterious in its specs. It has very early frame and engine numbers which suggest it should be on spoked wheels and have only single front disk but it is on alloys and has double disks - it is actually 'E' spec. It went on the road here in NZ in Sept 78 and I have owned it from 85 - I believe the mods were from new not by a PO.

bill, the usa market was always different to other markets and i think you'll find that both europe (noobie's models) and aus/nz (your model) had indeed had alu wheels / double front discs (i.e. the "E" spec) available right from '78.
though, the discs were still solid (not drilled), the m/c was round not rectangular, and the brake callipers are the earliest type, too.

the stripes in the centre i am not sure about

btw, bill, are you on the kiwibiker?

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/group.php?groupid=110

[noobie]

cheers for the tips, noobie



bill, the usa market was always different to other markets and i think you'll find that both europe (noobie's models) and aus/nz (your model) had indeed had alu wheels / double front discs (i.e. the "E" spec) available right from '78.
though, the discs were still solid (not drilled), the m/c was round not rectangular, and the brake callipers are the earliest type, too.

the stripes in the centre i am not sure about

btw, bill, are you on the kiwibiker?
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/group.php?groupid=110

No problem, psy!

Hm, my GS's serial number is a genuine E serial number... GS1000-5009XX. First registered in May (or April, not sure) 1978. And yep, the disks are solid, with no cooling-holes. Which means that I won't be able to use my disk-lock

My brain is not working at full power after driving all day (went to get the exhausts chromed... unfortunately the metal is too porose and it didn't come out perfect), so what is an "m/c"?

[noobie]

Yes it does also have the stripes on the top of tank and tail. Mine is very faded these days and the outside stripe is almost a gold colour (I will try to take a photo and send it in the next few days). If our bikes were in the same part of the world I would have suggested they were accessorised by a particular dealersip as a promo or something like that.

Yep, mine are gold on the outside too. Though I took them off for the painting of the tail (they were faded and torn anyway) and will probably just put new all-white ones on instead.

Now that I know the "GS" and stripes are authentic I will certainly be keeping them when I paint it. I thinks we probably can claim limited edition status for the

Hehe, we rule!

[psyguy]

so what is an "m/c"?

brake master cylinder

[Bill Alexander]

cheers for the tips, noobie



bill, the usa market was always different to other markets and i think you'll find that both europe (noobie's models) and aus/nz (your model) had indeed had alu wheels / double front discs (i.e. the "E" spec) available right from '78.
though, the discs were still solid (not drilled), the m/c was round not rectangular, and the brake callipers are the earliest type, too.

the stripes in the centre i am not sure about

btw, bill, are you on the kiwibiker?
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/group.php?groupid=110

Thanks for the info psy. It certainly rings true as I can't recall ever seeing a GS1000 on spokes in NZ. A couple of years ago I tried contacting Suzuki NZ to see if they have any history/achives from 78 - they never got back to me. I am quite curious about my bikes history - it's numbers suggest it was one of the earliest on the road. I have a couple of "two wheels" mags from May and Sept 78 which appear to suggest they went on sale in Aussie about Sept (I suspect they were a little earlier here). Do you have any further info ?

Only just joined kiwibiker - got a PM from Colin Green on this forum letting me know about it. I am beginning to make some realistic steps towards puttiing mine back together (biggest hurdle is getting some free cash to pay for the chrome - carpet, kitchen, bathroom ..... all somehow sit higher up the list ) so maybe I will get to participate in some rides in the next year or so.

[psyguy]

Do you have any further info ?

this is where i get most of my info on the european gs models:

http://www.gs-classic.de/index1e.htm

another good site:

http://www.suzukicycles.org/All-Suzuki/all_suzuki_models.html

the model you an noobie have seem to have been first presented in 1977 and was available in europe from early '78

btw, do you have a thread on the gsr about your rebuild?

[noobie]

this is where i get most of my info on the european gs models:

http://www.gs-classic.de/index1e.htm

another good site:

http://www.suzukicycles.org/All-Suzuki/all_suzuki_models.html

the model you an noobie have seem to have been first presented in 1977 and was available in europe from early '78

btw, do you have a thread on the gsr about your rebuild?

I completely forgot about the German site , thanks for reminding me

[Johno]

My Red/White 1978 GS1000HC

I also bought a red model GS1000 in 1978 which I recall was a HC model - which was a European spec machine. It was as a number of you have described - alloy wheels, twin solid disks up front and the decals as described.

It was very similar spec to the E.

Later in 1978 there were a limited number of twin disk, wire wheel models imported for Production Racing.

The wire wheels were lighter and provided better options for tyre choice. They were used in the 1978 and 1979 Castrol Six Hour production Race.

[psyguy]

thanks johno,
that sounds very accurate - the later E models that were called only E, not EC or EN had different rear shocks, drilled rotors, etc.

[noobie]

I also bought a red model GS1000 in 1978 which I recall was a HC model - which was a European spec machine. It was as a number of you have described - alloy wheels, twin solid disks up front and the decals as described.

It was very similar spec to the E.

Later in 1978 there were a limited number of twin disk, wire wheel models imported for Production Racing.

The wire wheels were lighter and provided better options for tyre choice. They were used in the 1978 and 1979 Castrol Six Hour production Race.

Now that I'm sufficiently confused , can anyone tell me if the HC and the EC had the same serial frame numbers or did the HC have different ones? I think I can remember this site having an explanatory page that can tell you which model exactly you have based on your frame number, but I can't find it anymore

EDIT: found it on gs-classics.de in a pdf file. Seems like the only difference between an HC and an EC is that the HC doesn't have a dash in the middle of the number. Example:
HC: GS1000500001
EC: GS1000-500001

[Bill Alexander]

this is where i get most of my info on the european gs models:

http://www.gs-classic.de/index1e.htm

another good site:

http://www.suzukicycles.org/All-Suzuki/all_suzuki_models.html

the model you an noobie have seem to have been first presented in 1977 and was available in europe from early '78

Thanks, I don't recall seeing those sites before - it is while since I googled GS1000.

btw, do you have a thread on the gsr about your rebuild?

No - not really much progress to report in a thread. Rather stop and start over the last 5 yrs !!!!