102,586.6 miles

[bwringer]

Dagnabbit, my GS850G's stator finally ate itself today.

I guess I can't complain. 102,586.6 miles ain't bad for the original stator. I think heat and age finally got to the insulation.

Fortunately, I had a stator from a 2001 GS500 in my parts stash for just such an occasion. (Yup, they're interchangeable aside from some piffling connector details.)

Charging nicely now.

[terrylee2u]

It's just a shame those guys at Suzuki didn't build their stuff to last

[nisom512]

It's just a shame those guys at Suzuki didn't build their stuff to last

yeah I know its almost like they didnt even try.

Good to hear brian (only cause I just got an 850 not to long ago.)

[Griffin]

The original stator on my GS700 lasted 61,000 miles.

The replacement for it lasted only 13,000 .

[twr1776]

You should submit your stator to Ripleys believe it or not or maybe Guinness.

[Dave8338]

A true testiment to R/R proper function and clean connections!

[twr1776]

Today 09:27 AM Dave8338 A true testiment to R/R proper function and clean connections!

Jeez, and I always thought you had to replace the Battery, Stator, & R/R first, fry the new ones and then bitch about the crappy GS charging system.

My bad.

[coyotehunta]

some kinda record.?

wowsers over 100,000 miles. be a good topic for a thread. id surely like to see how many miles a GS can tally up and maybe a picture of the JEWEL........ lets see a pic of yours. not sure i;ll see many with that many miles keep rollin

[hampshirehog]

I'd send it back with a letter of complaint and ask for a whole new bike - GS850 of course.

[jimfj]

What does she ride like after 100,000? What have you done to the motor if anything?

I ask because in reading some of your posts and replies I gather you ride the **** out of your bike and also gather you have no problem spending time above the 6000 mark on tach.

Do tell us what the secret is please!!

A lowly 850G owner with a wimpy 23,000 on the clock wants to know.

Jim

[Griffin]

What does she ride like after 100,000? What have you done to the motor if anything?

I ask because in reading some of your posts and replies I gather you ride the **** out of your bike and also gather you have no problem spending time above the 6000 mark on tach.

Do tell us what the secret is please!!

A lowly 850G owner with a wimpy 23,000 on the clock wants to know.

Jim

I'll vouch he rides the **** out of his bike, and spends plenty of time above 6K on the tach.

That's how I ride my 700, and I still see just his tailights (if I'm lucky) when riding with him.

By the way, my 700ES just went over the 73,000 mile mark, and it's never had the cases split, or the rings replaced.

[bwringer]

Way TMI

The engine isn't all-original, but the same clutch, ignition, and stator have been transplanted twice.

I bought it with 24K miles on it. The original head burned the exhaust valves at around 30K due to my ignorance about intake o-rings. I took the head to a shop to have new guides installed, but the pothead owner skipped town to beat dealing charges, and I never saw it again. Fortunately, the embryonic GSR forum served up salvation in the form of "Grandpa", who sold me a good '80 or '81 GS850 head cheap. I was back in business...

The first engine transplant happened when the original engine seized the #4 rod bearing at around 45K. To this day, I have no idea how a roller bearing crank can do that, but my best theory has something to do with the many pounds of goopy silicone sealer the idiot PO slobbered all over that engine.

After spending much of a summer bikeless, I dug up a replacement '80 or '81 bottom end from eBay, and transplanted my original block and replacement cylinder head onto that. So for quite a while it looked pretty odd -- corrosion top and bottom, with a black '83 block in between.

In 2005, I scored a very low-mileage '81 engine cheap on eBay and resolved to rebuild and paint it black so my bike would look new again. New-ish, anyway.

In the spring of 2007, the "new" engine was complete, and I completed the swap at about 75,000 miles. The "old" franken-engine (original cylinder bores) was working perfectly, and is still sleeping under my workbench.

I'm leaving out some details here, but that's the basic engine history. The only actual failures were human error -- intake o-rings and a pothead shop owner made the original head disappear, and the PO's slovenly habits with sealer very likely are what killed the original crankshaft.


Chassis:

- The brake rotors have been changed once, after I warped one at the inaugural North Carolina GS rally.

- The swingarm bearings have never needed adjustment. I greased them a couple of years ago, but they didn't really need it.

- The steering stem bearings were replaced shortly after I bought the bike, and are still fine.

- The suspension was upgraded with Progressive bits, also shortly after I bought the bike. The shocks are starting to lose a bit of damping after nearly 80,000 miles of abuse, and the fork springs are starting to sag.

- The sliders in the forks are original, and still looked fine when I finally replaced the original fork seals at 85,000 miles.

- I replaced the original R/R with a Honda unit at around 50,000 miles, even though the original was working fine.

- The starter is original

- The carbs are original. I installed a Robert Barr o-ring kit about six or seven years ago, and they haven't been opened since.

- I'm on the original speedo and throttle cables, fifth tach cable, second clutch cable.

- I think this is the fifth or sixth battery. I used to replace them every other year just because, but I'm going to try and get another year or two out of this Yuasa AGM battery.

[Grandpa]

What does she ride like after 100,000? What have you done to the motor if anything?

I ask because in reading some of your posts and replies I gather you ride the **** out of your bike and also gather you have no problem spending time above the 6000 mark on tach.

Do tell us what the secret is please!!

A lowly 850G owner with a wimpy 23,000 on the clock wants to know.

Jim

Lots of people on this forum know that I'm the previous owner of a 1984 GS1100GK, which I sold a year ago to TheCafeKid. In turn, TCK has bequeathed the bike to his roommate.

When I arrived iin Dayton in August, 2008, to deliver it to Josh, the bike showed 132,500 miles on the odometer. When I bought it in late 1999, it had a little over 25,000 miles.

Josh says that at approximately 140,000 miles, catastrophic failure of the middle gear bearing took place. I'm told the mighty GK is now back on the road, gathering up more miles.

Keep in mind that the GK's design is basically identical to the 850's. The bikes share many engine and chassis parts, or are easily adaptable and/or retrofitted. What goes for the GK also goes for the 850G, the 1000G, and the 1100G. Before the GK, I owned four consecutive 850G's from 1986 thru 99.

What's the secret of longevity for a GS shafty? Simple. You gotta run the hell out of it! You can't baby it. You must run it hard, and you must run it often. The stock engine is so mildly tuned by Suzuki, it's practically impossible to screw it up, unless it's purposely abused, run out of oil, dragged raced, modified, etc.

When you run your 850G, you must run it for at least 20 miles, letting the engine vapors escape via the exhaust. You must never let it idle for long. You start it, let it warm up a bit to run it without choke, (should not take long, or there's something wrong with its state of tune). Then you go for an extended ride, where you wind it up through the gears, upshifting and downshifting often.

You must change the oil and filter quite often, say 2000 miles. Brand of oil and filter is not important if your changing interval is short. The motorcycle must be in state of tune. This is a binary issue -- it either is in tune, or it is not. There's nothing in between.

Carbs must be clean and synchronized. Valves must be correctly set. Fresh fuel through the carbs all the time, as is fork oil and brake fluid.

Speaking of fuel, your 850G should take 87 fuel with no problems. If it doesn't run on regular, there's something wrong with the bike. Any fuel brand will do. Some knuckleheads on this forum will tell you that ***** brand is best for the bike. BS! They all work just fine.

Worry about what is important: Riding the bike. Don't make up problems. For example, I bought cheap brake pads on eBay, the cheaper the better. I couldn't tell the difference, ever, because more important than brand of pad is freshness of brake fluid and braided-steel lines. That's what makes the biggest difference. I'm a cheap bastard. I like cheap things, like cheap gas, oil, brake fluid (generic Walmart Dot3 works well...).

Again, the secret to a long life for your 850G is to ride it. Ride it hard, ride it often, take good care of it, but don't baby it or stress out over it. Keep it clean, and that includes all connections and fasteners.

By the way, in the 9 years I rode that GK, the head was never lifted off the bike. It still had the original stator and regulator/rectifier. I trust it still does.

I own a Yamaha Venture now. I could repeat the same advice to any Venturer on the Venture websites (except I must include the fluid in the hydraulic clutch and the engine coolant)

If you don't ride it long and hard, it will not perform. The GS shafty is a workhorse, a Clydesdale, a Percheron. You don't let a Percheron sit in a barn -- you make the damn thing work for you and earn its keep.

Nick Diaz
Middletown, MD

[propflux01]

Well Nick, if its any consilience, those forks you sold me way back when are still working hard in my 'GK, now with 88K miles on her and running fine!

[Grandpa]

Good to hear my old GK forks are still in use. That was 2002 I sold them to you, after my "bambicide."

Interestingly, when I hit the deer it wasn't the forks that were bent -- it was the triple tree. That's why I sold you the forks -- I had no more use for them.

I replaced the GK triple tree with one for an 850G, then found forks for it.

Anyway, I'm glad your GK is still running well.

Nick Diaz
Middletown, MD