Falling into despair...........

[jlmoulto]

So the following is a list of things I need to do to my GS850.

1) Exhaust leak...On the pipes just past the header. Seems to be a welded seam has cracked. Can this be fixed, at least temporarily with that Muffler cement, I believe you call it.
2) Side cover Oil leak
3) Stearing Head Bearings
4) Battery
5) Front and Rear Brakes
6) New Tires
7) Gas Mileage? Drove today with a friend riding a GS750 and when we gassed up He put in $5.50 while I put in $9.50. We both left with full tanks. What would cause such a dramatic difference is gas mileage? My dealer without seeing it suggests that it needs a carb job which is going to cost almost $250.00 for parts.

So do I junk the bike and but new or fix it?[/list]

[Anonymous]

It'd be my guess that you're looking at about $800 or so in that list...
it's your call man

one thing I can say, is that my GS750 generall gets pretty damn good gas mileage though. I went for a 2 hour ride on a guy with a 1992 Katana 600, and his used like $3 more than my GS750..

[frosty5011]

Drove today with a friend riding a GS750 and when we gassed up He put in $5.50 while I put in $9.50.

Holy Smokes! How is that possible?...LOL

Do you have a different fuel tank installed? The standard tank (your signature says GS850GL) is supposed to be around 3.5 gallons (13 liters). Even if you rode till it was completely empty..... it would mean your gas cost around $2.75 gallon.

You sure you didn't fill his bike up first, then (without resetting the pump), continue to fill up yours to get a $9.50 total?

[Billy Ricks]

You can save a few bucks by going to a bearing shop for your steering head bearings instead of ordering from a bike shop.

[SqDancerLynn1]

The 750 will get better milage than the 850, a lot of people think the 850 should have had a 6th gear. I can't see how you put $9.50 in your "L" tank.

[jlmoulto]

You may not have noticed but I am from Newfoundland. Our current gas price is $1.00/litre. I believe in one gallon there is 3.78 litres, so that would make it 3.78/gallon Canadian or approx $2.71 per gallon in US dollars.

Stock tank. The only real difference I an see is that he was using a windhield, I was not. And he is a "few" pounds lighter!!!

[Anonymous]

Re: Falling into despair...........

Old bikes exist to be repaired and ridden. :-)

1 - Exhaust leak. Anything can be repaired, but pipes can rust pretty thin and the repair will not last long. Welding is easy as long as there is metal enough to hold on to. Temp repairs are OK with muffler bandage stuff, and can sometimes last for a surprsingly long time.

2 - Side cover leak. You don't say which cover. Either it's only a paper gasket, or it needs a seal replaced behind the points. Neither are difficult. Oil is cheap enough for this kind of repair to be left until after more urgent spending, like tyres/brakes - unless it is a really bad leak.

3 - Steering head bearings can be hard to remove. Fitting cost at the bike shop is more than the price of the bearings from a bearing shop. Do it yourself easy if you give yourself a few hours to get it right.

4 - Battery. Every bike you ride will need a replacement sometime. Consider it bad luck that it coincides with the other repairs, but it's just like putting petrol in the tank, it has to happen.

5 - Brakes. You don't say what is wrong. Pads are normal replacement, as in point 4, other things like caliper axle journals are repairs.

6 - As for 4.

7 - Fuel consumption. I get 20 to 22 kilometres per litre from my GS1000G. It improved from about 16 per litre when I put on a National Cycle touring windshield. If you need carb work there is some good stuff in the techo pages of this site, chase it up before you pay someone to do the work. Having them properly balanced is very important and you might want to pay the shop to do that. Fuel consumption can also get mucked around by bad ignition timing or fouled plugs.

Hope the old girl gets going soon.
Kim