First time GS1000 owner

[FLHGSRay]

Po Jim called the other day, said he found the grab rail for the seat. Took the opportunity to make a 200 mile trip. On the road at 6:30 am. First long bike ride of the year. Back roads all the way. Took the bagger because I had to work after and didn't want to chance breaking down. Bike looks much better with the grab rail on it. Still has the sticker on it that says "Don't use seat rail to lift motorcycle". Also gave me what we think is the original horn. Bike had air horns on it when I bought it.

[JimmyR]

Hey Ray - we have something in common which is quite rare. I have a Suzuki and a Harley! In my case a '98 Fatboy and an 82 GS1100G. The (expensive) thing to do if you want to run pods is use Mikuni flat slide carbs apparently. I just got a set of RS36 carbs for my GS because I want to run pods. I get the impression that CV carbs and pods don't get on well. Some folks say the Dynojet kit will help with pods and CV carbs but once you install it there's no going back. So now that I have stock carbs running well with the airbox I'm leaving them alone and using RS carbs and pods. I have the CVs and airbox as my fall-back position!

I found that my bike didn't want to run even though I had it all set up and cleaned as per the manual. Then after my fourth carb rebuild all of a sudden it decided to run and has run better each time since. The first time it blew a lot of crap out and stank. Now it's fine.

So our experiences are similar. I have the Dynatek 2000 also. Works for me.

[FLHGSRay]

Flat spot on takeoff

Alright, so my only problem is a flat spot after idling for a minute, like maybe the length of a red light. If I don't blip the throttle before pulling away, I get a pretty bad flat spot, just as I roll on the throttle and release the clutch. Haven't decided if it's getting too much fuel or not enough. The bike starts easily, even in the dead of winter. Pull the choke knob and hit the starter and it's running, every time. Runs great all the way up to redline. Will idle at 1000 rpm all day long. Doesn't pop or backfire. K&N filter in the stock airbox. Stock exhaust that the PO drilled out the ends of. New intake o-rings and carb o-rings after a thorough carb cleaning. All the jets and needles are stock. Float levels were checked. Haven't synced yet. Any ideas? Haven't really dug into it yet. Probably a simple fix or adjustment. Just doing a little brainstorming. I plan on posting this in the Carb/Exhaust section also, so no busting my chops for double posting, eh? Thanks!

[FLHGSRay]

Hey, guys. Decided to resurrect my old build thread, because I just dug my 1000 out of the shed and moved it to my new shop. Been extremely busy for the last few years. Been doing very little riding for the last 3 years. Built a new garage last fall, then had rotator cuff surgery this past July. The Suzuki hadn't been started in 2 years, but I dragged it into the shop today and put a battery charger on it, and it started. Runs like crap, so I guess I'll plan on cleaning the carbs, but I'm gonna try fresh gas first. Also, the petcock is leaking pretty badly. If I remember correctly, it can be rebuilt, right?

[bobgroger]

Petcock rebuilds are hit and miss. I ended up buying a new OEM one after the rebuild filled up the crankcase with fuel. Expensive but good for another 35 years. My GS850 is my slowest but my favorite bike. So smooth.....

[FLHGSRay]

A quick check with Bike Bandit shows $285? No way I'm doing that without at least trying a rebuild. The tank comes off tomorrow.

[portdave]

You can also get an OEM one for a 78 750 and it will work. I think it runs closer to 100 bucks. I have done this and Chuck and others have done it.

[chuck hahn]

First take the rear cover off and carefully unstick then diaphram from the body. Take a Qtip and carb spray and clean the seat area the oring hits. Then give the sporing a little stretch. Clean up the oring too and reassemble it. Lots of times its just a little scale breaking the seal if the bike has sat a good time. And the only difference ( other than being 1/3 the price ) from the 1000 petcock is that the 750 nipples face differently. Might need some new fuel line if the current ones wont reach but thats not a big deal.

[FLHGSRay]

Thanks for the input. I'll be removing the tank later this morning, but the local Suzuki shop is closed today. Here's an old thread where we discussed my tank/petcock issue a while back. We never did really figure out what setup I have. I'll post another pic of the petcock later.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?215046-1978-GS1000E-Fuel-Petcock-Conversion

[FLHGSRay]

From what I've found so far online, (Bike Bandit & Boulevard Suzuki), the parts for the shut-off on the petcock aren't available. A diaphragm and an o-ring. The diaphragm is probably ok, but the o-ring should be replaced. I'll have to try to match it up. But I noticed that an L model petcock is available. Will it mate up to my tank? My thinking is that the fuel port might work better on my (apparently) mis-matched tank. I really need a photo of an L petcock.

[FLHGSRay]

First take the rear cover off and carefully unstick then diaphram from the body. Take a Qtip and carb spray and clean the seat area the oring hits. Then give the spring a little stretch. Lots of times its just a little scale breaking the seal if the bike has sat a good time. And the only difference from the 1000 petcock is that the 750 nipples face differently.

This is definitely the case with mine. You can see the gunk on the o-ring seat. I ordered parts Tues, and a metric o-ring kit from McMaster Carr. But I'm still going have the fitment issue. I can't find a pic of the 750 unit to see if it will help the routing of the fuel line, except for this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/291918890979

I know this is aftermarket, but do the nipples match the 750 unit? Because it looks like it might solve the problem. My bolt spacing is 50mm.

[FLHGSRay]

Man, ya gotta love McMaster-Carr. Ordered o-ring kits Wed, they're delivered Thurs. Picking up the rest of the petcock parts next Wed.

[FLHGSRay]

I know that the later model aluminum swingarms are a bolt-on to my '79 1000. Will an '82 1100e swap in? Thanks. http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...arts-available

[bsharpish]

Should be a straight swap - same pivot bolt,same axle, same spacers

[busa1300]

Swing arm fits fine, but you might want to stretch out your passenger peg/exhaust mounting tubes on frame.
I had to stretch mine out side to side, as the aluminum arm is a bit wider and will probably just barely hit.
I just wanted to make sure I had a bit of clearance so my arm didn't rub with any side loading...

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?239707-78-GS1000-left-for-dead/page12