Getting a gem from Dad, first thing ????

[Anonymous]

First post, came over from bobistheoilguy site. Dad has finally agreed to let me take "the" bike since he can't mess with it due to cancer. It's a 1980 GS1000G and I used to ride it when in college. Ran great up till Dad parked it. It has been garaged kept but has been sitting for 10 years. Still has oil in it. Gas tank has rust inside and will probably coat it like I did on an old moped. What would be the best thing to do first? I feel I need to use the old mechanics trick and fill it up with diesel via the spark plug holes and let it soak in. I know the carbs will have to be cleaned throughly, but hopefully not re-sealed. Have not tried to turn it over, to scared to just yet. But, maybe it will be OK since it's been inside and just set there. Thoughts?????

[Billy Ricks]

The usual maintenance items should be adequate. Do the carbs first and mount new tires. Go through all the electrical connections and clean them up and make sure they are making good contact. Flush the brakes lines and add new fluid. Aside from that crank it up and see how it runs.

Best of luck to your dad and warm wishes to you and the rest of your family.

[Anonymous]

What would be the best thing to do first?

If you haven't already done it tell him thanks and that you love him. Then follow Billy's advice.

[Hap Call]

I would put it in neutral, pull the points cover and put a wench on the end of the crank and slowly turn it over before I tried starting it.

Hap

[AOD]

new oil and a filter should be on the top of the list.

check the brake fluid too...if any of the resevoirs are empty, you'll have to bleed them. (piece of cake to bleed if you get the $5 brake bleeding kit at Sears or other parts stores)

g'luck,

~Adam

[redliner1973]

Schmoe,
I was the one from the Bobistheoilguy site that referred you here. Welcome to the site, You can use the search feature or sit back and go through the older posts, there is alot of info here for you to absorb......Enjoy!! :twisted:

[Anonymous]

thanks. Sure is a LOT of info on the GS bikes. The more I read the more I wonder about the bike. Hopefully I won't run into a serious problem that will not let me ride it after I get it working, if at all. Sure would like to get it working for Dad. He used to drive it a lot then let it set. Since he's been sick, he's mentioned it more than once. Be cool to get it back to her original condition. Dad can still walk around some, but not much, he may want to go for ride!!!! This might cheer him up. I'll find out this weekend when I head up there.

[Billy Ricks]

Schmoe,

With a little TLC you can get it running. A couple of weekends will work wonders. Where in OK are you? We are planning a fall ride in the Hill Country here in TX. Check the Meetingplace section of the forum. It would be great to have you along.

[Anonymous]

Well, I should at least know what stage I'm at by that time. Hill Country, drawing a blank here.....I'm SW OK around Lawton/Fort Sill area. That would be cool if I could get it back together by then. I'd like to. I'm sure Dad would like to see it once again stored to it's prior glory. He used to race dirt bikes in N.C. as a kid. Then went to street bikes. He used to love the 1000. I know when I drove it, MAN, she'd go screaming through the valley as another joined the chase......

[Billy Ricks]

NW of San Antonio. There is some great riding there. A group of guys from the D/FW area make the ride down for it. With my work I may even be up your way before then to lend a hand if you need it. It all sounds like alot of work, but it's not that complicated. Hell, if you wanted to pull the carbs off and send them to me I'll go through them for you, gratis.

[Anonymous]

That's what I'm TALKING ABOUT!!!!! Just talked with Dad, he had planned on riding it again but he can't because of the big C. However, he did tell me that the last time he drove it, it ran like a scalded dog. He did not get the fuel out of the lines. Gas tank is empty and rusty, I can fix, no problem. Toilet bowl acid cleaner works great, just have to keep track of the time it's in there. Then when it's all rinsed out, put a clear in-line fuel filter on it so you can see if it gets clogged up anymore. So, all the lubrication should still be in decent shape, just has sit for some time. Maybe I'll try and fire it up next week, or at least see if it will turn over, as suggested by some excellent posters!!!

I wonder, since I have to take the tank off anyway just to get started, if I should go ahead and take all 4 carbs. off and just clean them? My thoughts are to take the bowl and floats off, clean them, check the jets and the slider, and then check out springs and the fuel passages. At least this way I can narrow the problem down if it won't start. You think it may start without worrying about cleaning the carbs????

[Billy Ricks]

You need to go ahead and clean the carbs up. There are tiny passages that are going to be varnished up from dried up fuel. There's a good carb clean up section here, http://thegsresources.com/gs_carbrebuild.htm. If you don't want to get that thorough get some spray injector cleaner and blast it through all the passages. Just pull out all the jets first. If you get stuck on something post back, you'll find plenty of help here.

[dgeorge]

Toilet bowl acid cleaner works great

Tell me more about this, please. I've also got a tank that has some rust and I'm looking for a good quick fix. Any info you can provide would be greatly appriciated. Oh and by the way I was stationed at Altus AFB back in the early 70's and graduated from Alva HS up close to the panhandle.

Also sorry to hear about your dad, I'll keep you both in my prayers.

[Anonymous]

Altus is about 40 minutes the way the crow flies. They just finished a nice resort over there at Quartz Mountain. Really nice, but HOT. Small world, I was born in Fayetteville, NC.
Toilet bowl cleaner. It's at Lowes or Home Depot. That stuff is basically phosphoric acid, but not at concentrated strength. I used in on a 1983 Yamaha moped that I rebuilt. I had heard about acid tank treatments and pulled out my chemistry books. Some of the other acids that they say use is too strong. If you don't take it out quickly, you'll get "flash" rust. That is the acid eating away at the metal and then rusts right after you rinse it out. Way too strong for this application, plus the metal on the tanks are pretty thin. So, armed with knowledge, I found out that the toilet bowl acid was a weaker solution. Pour it in the tank, then maybe ADD some water, slosh it around and wait about a minute. Never ADD water to acid. Trick is to watch it. You'll see the rust spots start to clear up. You may have to do this a few times, but it's so much cheaper and works. This stuff doesn't give off death fumes either. Make sure you rinse really good. What I did was take the tank to one of those high pressure car washes, stick the hose in the tank and blast it first, then used the acid. On top of that, just to make sure, I put in a clear fuel filter between the tank and carb. to make sure no other junk was getting into the carbs. Remember, that tank will not look factory and you might even think it still looks crappy, but it will work and your fuel will be clean.

On those carb cleaning pictures, since that was off a 850, I'll assume the 1000 are pretty much the same thing except bigger jets or bowls?????

[Anonymous]

OK, finally made it up here to Dad's house in Tennessee and got to work on the bike and found out some interesting things. First, the front end was wrecked and replaced with another GS series front clip. Has the curved cruiser type of handle bars now, but everything else seems pretty good shape. However, either they are low on oil or they are shot, the forks that is. Opened the fuel tank and sure enough, the old familar nasty ass gas smell revisited me from the ghost of a distance past. God what a horrible smell. Thought I was going to barf. Got the tank off and drained the fuel, there is about a inch of crud in the bottom of the tank. Took one of the bowl drain screws out and sure enough, fuel drained from that one. Didn't take them all off, hadn't had time yet. But where there is one, there will be three. Did pop off the top of one of the carbs and the diaphram and the slide looked brand spanking new. The throttle cable still springs back after a turn. Wiring looks good, no frayed ends or anything. Tires are shot. The rear differential has leaked some, but this thing has been sitting for some time. There is still oil in the crankcase. Took off one spark plug and it looked good, looked in the cylinder and could see some carbon deposits on the cylinder, but other than that I couldn't tell anything. VIN number is BS1000G105985. Will need paint job. I'm at least looking at paint, carb rebuild kit (probably), tires and lots of love. Any comments? I'm at a cross roads here, do I go ahead and take it, free, to Oklahoma and get busy or am I looking at a non-stop ending problem? How much all together ya'll think? 2000 or more? Inputs appreciated.