My 1981 GS650G Thread

[BigD_83]

I forgot to tell you, I picked up an '83 myself last summer, so our garages are looking pretty similar these days.

How is the 550/600 swingarm swap going?

[Macgyver]

Greetings everyone.

Hey guys,
Sorry it has taken me so long to get back on here. Been lurking a bit, but still busy.
I haven't decided which way to jump on the swingarm swap, so I just tore the bike down and gave her a full frame and parts paint/cleaning, electrical rewiring, and engine swap over the winter.

I lost 3rd gear in the fall, likely shifter drum me thinks. I had a complete engine from a 550 ef parts bike I purchased last summer, so I gave her a good look over, compression check, etc. and popped her in when I was rebuilding the bike after the tear down and paint with very nice results.

I am getting some awfully odd looks from people, even a few facebook posts from the locals about the crazy guy riding so early in the season. How soon they forget I am the only one around who rides all year round in these parts.

Here is a new pic taken today for the pic hungry out there.
I will be around, and I will catch you guys later.

[BigD_83]

Sticking with the military olive drab is always a wise choice, Mac.

Good to see you're keeping the rubber side down.

[Charlie G]

Glad to see you and your bike are still kickin.

cg

[Macgyver]

Greetings guys,

So, wanna hear a tale of woe and personal misery???

As some of you may know, I had a gasket let go in the 650, and have had no luck in resurrecting her.
She starts right up with barely a flick of the starter button everytime, but has a god awful clunk noise in the transmission which sounds to me like the same thing William Groebe is going through with his bike.

Anywho, the point of this post is to find out if anyone knows if a 1979/1980 850 G engine would fit in the 1981 650 G frame?

I have searched, and can't find a definitive answer.

I would love to find a 650 trans and put the already rebuilt top end on to it, but there is a definite lack of G model 650 parts in this area, but I can get an 850 engine for $100.

Anyone know for sure?

[BigD_83]

I do not know the answer, but I do know the mounting bolts -crankcase to frame- are very different, so there is likely some more width to the 850 bottom end

[Charlie G]

I have an extra 650 but I want to hang onto the it for now. You might want to go to someplace like Alpha (online)and cross reference the transmission parts to see if they are used in any other bike. You may get lucky and find a 550 of something uses the same parts you need.

[Macgyver]

Thanks for the quick replies guys!
BigD! Charlie! Haven't talked in ages, how's things going guys?

Well BigD, I was hoping the 850 would shoe horn in, but I guess not. Drats.

Well Charlie, it appears that the 650 is kinda in a class all it's own when it comes to parts interchange since it is the biggest of the small block engines. Good idea though.

I don't need the 650 right now since I am riding the 550, maybe I will wait until I can find a donor trans. I would hate to not use the top end I have since I rebuilt it with everything as racey as I could get my grubby hands on.

Oh well, I was hoping to get the 650 going before winter when the garage gets too cold to work in.

[gbeckhart]

Hey Macgyver,

Sorry to contact you this way. I saw some photos of the way you rerouted the choke cable on a GS650G. When I entered this forum I can read all you did but no photos. Don't know why. Is there a place where you have posted your photos? What did you use to make the bracket attached to the carbs? The few pics I found on google are great!
Thanks

[Macgyver]

Greetings gbeckhart!
You should be able to see the photos, they are still there when I look at the thread...odd.

Anywho, if I remember correctly, I used a bit of the bracket which held the original choke cable and a piece of the bracket which came with the new knob. I welded them together and cleaned it up with a grinder, then primed and painted.

I suppose a large inner diameter washer and some steel ground down to fit around the curve of the top cap would do.
I did look into getting a bunch cnc cut from steel sheet, but they were completely out to lunch with the cost.

If you would like, I may be able to do up a template for you so you could make one out of a piece of flat steel. There would be some large bore drilling involved, and relatively precise work involved though.

Cheers,
Mac

[Burque73]

I was searching for ideas on making my own gaskets and came across this thread. The links lead to more useful stuff too.

Man, I love the wealth of knowledge in this forum.

I am trying to pull all of the posts I have done on building projects for my bike into one thread, so here are some links to other posts already on here.

Old bike, new owner
(O.D. green paint, exhaust repair, seat pan repair, bike cover)

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=131135

Shakedown Ride

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=148584

The infamous $2 brake bleeder, and stainless brake lines.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=148769

LED Tail Lights

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=150779

More to come.

Well, I was sorting out the pics I have for the "projects" I have completed on my bike and I ran across a few I haven't posted yet, so here goes.

Here is a pictorial tutorial (say that ten times fast!) on how I cut a new gasket for my valve cover out of some Fel-Pro Karropak gasket sheet.

Step 1. Gasket material. I used Fel-Pro Karropak #3046 gasket sheet available from any auto-parts store. It is fairly thin, dense material we need here, not the cork-like stuff.

Step 2. Removed valve cover and cleaned all of the crud from the mating surface with a razor blade. Made it nice and shiny clean. I used a detergent removable ink marker to trace the inside edge of the valve cover so I could trace the ink mark to have my inside lines.

*NOTE*
I have heard of soaking the sheet in water and setting the cover on the wet sheet with a 10 lb. weight on top and letting it sit overnight to get the imprint. This is likely how I will do my next gasket.

Step 3. I layed out the gasket sheet on a paper calendar desk blotter to make sure I would have a surface under the gasket which would be smooth and would allow me to cut right through the sheet without destroying the finish on the table. I then carefully placed the valve cover on the sheet, remembering once I start tracing, it cannot be moved until all of the tracing is done, otherwise the gasket won't trace or fit accurately.

*Note*
You can set a weight on top to help it stay put if you are worried about it moving. A friend of mine secures items to the wooden workbench with drywall screws to make absolutely sure things won't move on him.

Step 4. I then carefully put downward pressure on the cover to keep it from moving, and began tracing. I used a .3mm red sharpie permanent marker. I then traced around the entire cover.
Be careful around any areas that may not allow easy acces to trace. You can use the open areas around the center of the cover to trace the hard to reach areas. You don't have to trace it all in one continuous line, use a ruler later to join up the lines as needed.

Step 5. This is a shot of a punch I made from a cut off 1/4"x3" shoulder bolt. I used a dremel rotary tool and a pointed abrasive stone to hollow out the center approx. 3/16" deep. I used a cushioned vice to hold the rotary tool and very carefully began pressing the center of the bolt to the stone, while spinning the bolt with my fingers to get a nice round hollow with a relatively sharp edge on it.

Step 6. Next, I inserted the punch in the first bolt hole in the cover and sharply struck the punch in a downward motion with a medium sized hammer to cut out the hole. Make sure the holes are all cut out!
*Note*
After this, I bought a set of gasket punches, much nicer to use, highly recommended.

Step 7. I then traced the lines on the inside which were left by the ink impression, using a ruler as needed. Then using my favorite exacto knife, I began cutting along the inside lines.

Once the inside was cut out, I then used a set of Craftsman titanium scissors to cut the outside lines.

Make sure the blade is clean and sharp, and don't force it to cut quickly! Gasket material and too much downward pressure on the knife can make a bad combination. At the very least it will make the line wobbly , and at worst, it can make the knife bend and take off on a tangent, cutting through an area that should be gasket.

I know some of us still have a corks on our forks, so take your time, and be careful. I can't imagine blood is good for gasket material.

Step 8. Now I have a new gasket! It only took about an hour to do too.
If you are lucky enough to have access to a large format 11"x17" scanner, you can scan the gasket and simply print the outline of it on gasket sheet next time you need to make one. BTW, if someone has a scan of their gaskets, please share so we can all save some time!

I hope this helps,