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Hello, all. I recently wrapped up my 850 project and thought I’d do a quick write up of the journey. This was the first GS I’ve worked on, and this forum has been immensely helpful for figuring out the GS quirks (i.e. Stator Papers), so thank you all.
I began with a real pile of junk. It had more holes in the tank than metal, had a fresh coat of BRUSHED on metallic blue paint, but was complete. I was told by the seller that it was kept in a barn- he did not mention that the barn had burnt down around the bike, leaving the Suzuki cartoonishly surrounded by ash and rubble. I took it home anyways.
The real work started with a top end rebuild: new rings, cylinder hone, all new gaskets and seals, etc. Somebody had previously tried to clean the carbs with a hammer, as the bodies were all badly cracked. eBay saved the day with a new set of old carb bodies. I borrowed a friend’s ultrasonic cleaner to get the jets and carbs good and clean.
The oil pan nearly gave me a heart attack when I removed it- full of shattered clutch debris. A previous owner had installed all new clutch plates but not cleaned out the old junk. It must have never ran like this, because there was no real damage to the bottom end or transmission- the crank, bearings, and transmission gears all looked great. A good cleaning and a new oil pump were all that the motor needed.
With the motor in good shape, I moved on to brakes, suspension, and electrical problems. I rebuilt and painted all three calipers and both master cylinders, replaced the rear shocks, installed a Polaris regulator, and polished or painted all the odds, ends, nuts, and bolts. I went through a full roll of tinfoil trying to cheaply shine up the rusty exhaust.
To wrap everything mechanical up, I pressed in new wheel bearings changed the tires. A little soldering got the fuel level sender working again. All new control and gauge cables went in. A new headlight went in and the cracked turn signals were replaced.
Once I tracked down a new tank that could actually hold gas and did some fiberglass repair on some of the cracked plastics, the body work began. Endless Bondo sanding made for a very dusty basement. For painting, I set up a ridiculous plastic booth around a window with a box fan for ventilation. Given my workspace, harbor freight spray guns, and lack of painting experience. I’m pretty pleased with how the finish turned out.
I’ve had about a month of riding on the 850. It took some clever DMV trickery to get it registered, as it came with no paperwork, but I did get plates on it. As soon as I got the carbs tuned and balanced properly, the bike really came alive and hasn’t given me a problem since. It’s a little heavy for the daily commute, but is absolutely my new favorite weekend ride. Looking forward to keeping this bike around and on the road.
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I began with a real pile of junk. It had more holes in the tank than metal, had a fresh coat of BRUSHED on metallic blue paint, but was complete. I was told by the seller that it was kept in a barn- he did not mention that the barn had burnt down around the bike, leaving the Suzuki cartoonishly surrounded by ash and rubble. I took it home anyways.
The real work started with a top end rebuild: new rings, cylinder hone, all new gaskets and seals, etc. Somebody had previously tried to clean the carbs with a hammer, as the bodies were all badly cracked. eBay saved the day with a new set of old carb bodies. I borrowed a friend’s ultrasonic cleaner to get the jets and carbs good and clean.
The oil pan nearly gave me a heart attack when I removed it- full of shattered clutch debris. A previous owner had installed all new clutch plates but not cleaned out the old junk. It must have never ran like this, because there was no real damage to the bottom end or transmission- the crank, bearings, and transmission gears all looked great. A good cleaning and a new oil pump were all that the motor needed.
With the motor in good shape, I moved on to brakes, suspension, and electrical problems. I rebuilt and painted all three calipers and both master cylinders, replaced the rear shocks, installed a Polaris regulator, and polished or painted all the odds, ends, nuts, and bolts. I went through a full roll of tinfoil trying to cheaply shine up the rusty exhaust.
To wrap everything mechanical up, I pressed in new wheel bearings changed the tires. A little soldering got the fuel level sender working again. All new control and gauge cables went in. A new headlight went in and the cracked turn signals were replaced.
Once I tracked down a new tank that could actually hold gas and did some fiberglass repair on some of the cracked plastics, the body work began. Endless Bondo sanding made for a very dusty basement. For painting, I set up a ridiculous plastic booth around a window with a box fan for ventilation. Given my workspace, harbor freight spray guns, and lack of painting experience. I’m pretty pleased with how the finish turned out.
I’ve had about a month of riding on the 850. It took some clever DMV trickery to get it registered, as it came with no paperwork, but I did get plates on it. As soon as I got the carbs tuned and balanced properly, the bike really came alive and hasn’t given me a problem since. It’s a little heavy for the daily commute, but is absolutely my new favorite weekend ride. Looking forward to keeping this bike around and on the road.
image.jpg
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