1982 GS450L Rebuild/Mod

[GregNC]

Everything looks lined up fine to my knowledge. The top end has never been cracked open until now though. The previous owner switched from the stock airbox to cheap pods and never rejetted. I think it overheated and blew a hole through somehow. That's just me guessing though. I'll throw some pics of the cylinders up tomorrow so you guy can see what I'm working with. The side with the messed up piston has some very slight wear on it. I think the shavings from the hole are responsible for that. I'm thinking at this point I'll get two new piston kits from PartsShark (comes with all the top end gaskets) and throw them in. Then I think I'll just need to rig up a new exhaust and re-jet to match and I'll have a nice little bar hopper. What do you guys think? I'll have more pics to make better decisions with soon. Just wanted to see if I'm heading in the right direction

[bakirkwold]

Usually a hole in the piston means pre ignition. Maybe the pods and using a low octane fuel caused it.

[pete]

Cheap pods + no re-jet wins the prize I reckon... too lean = too hot = holes in piston... or at least that's what I believe

Bakirkwold definitely could be onto it too

If you've got scoring on the cylinder walls, I reckon go up a piston size so you can be guaranteed to have a nice clean bore. Not sure if that's affordable or not but would probably be worth it in the long run if you're going to be buying new pistons anyway...

[GregNC]

Pete, I was thinking the same thing. I've been having trouble locating the right oversized pistons though. Any thoughts? I ran through most of basscliffs site recommendations, no luck so far.

[pete]

Pete, I was thinking the same thing. I've been having trouble locating the right oversized pistons though. Any thoughts? I ran through most of basscliffs site recommendations, no luck so far.

Hmmmm I'm sure the 750 or 850 pistons are a direct swap but I may be wrong...

The 0.5mm oversize part number is 12111-44100-050 which actually continues right up until the '88 450L, but doesn't match up to any other models unfortunately, but I'm positive there are some that will work...

[GregNC]

I'll give a million fake dollars to whoever can help me find the gaskets I need to rebuild my top end. Found stock pistons and rings. These are the last parts I need to put this beast back together again. HELP GUYS!!!!

[pete]

I'll give a million fake dollars to whoever can help me find the gaskets I need to rebuild my top end. Found stock pistons and rings. These are the last parts I need to put this beast back together again. HELP GUYS!!!!

Genuine base gasket $6.95, O rings $2.94 each:

http://www.boulevardsuzuki.com/fiche_section_detail.asp?section=92391&category=Motorcycles&make=SUZUKI&year=1980&fveh=2097

Genuine head gasket, $66.03, half moons $3.55 each:

http://www.boulevardsuzuki.com/fiche_section_detail.asp?section=92390&category=Motorcycles&make=SUZUKI&year=1980&fveh=2097

Genuine valve cover gasket, $18.25, valve breather cover gasket, $6.10:

http://www.boulevardsuzuki.com/fiche_section_detail.asp?section=92389&category=Motorcycles&make=SUZUKI&year=1980&fveh=2097

Now about those 5 million fake dollars

But seriously, go genuine... if I had've known about Boulevard Suzuki back when I was rebuilding mine, I wouldn't have bothered with the Athena crap aftermarket set... I've already replaced the valve cover gasket with a genuine one because it wouldn't stop weeping and I'll be doing the same for the breather cover next service as I just discovered it's also weeping...

[GregNC]

Pete you are the man. What are these half moons though?

[pete]

Pete you are the man. What are these half moons though?

Hahaha sometimes

When you pop your valve cover off, you'll see two rubber plugs in each side of the head. These are the half moons. Over time they become brittle and crack and start leaking, and they're cheap enough to just replace when that happens. I put a little Threebond around the circular surface to make sure they sealed well also. Don't put sealer on the flat surface where the valve cover gasket goes though.

[GregNC]

Just ordered the new pistons, rings, and all the gaskets for the top end. So right now I'm touching up the frame and rebuilding carb #2 to finish the pair. This weekend I'm dropping the top end at the machinist to get honed and I'm hoping to run all the wiring back onto the bike and get the engine looking fresh again before the rebuild. Still a lot to do but now that I actually have a bit of money to play with and a few weeks off until my next job starts things are gonna roll along pretty quickly. Thanks for the help guys (looking at you pete). I'll post some new pics this weekend to show y'all whats going on.

[GregNC]

Look what I just got in the mail. New pistons. New gaskets. Fork gaiters. Time to scrub down the motor. Repaint and rebuild. More pics to come soon!

[pete]

Awesome Greg! Glad you got genuine gaskets too, they definitely make a difference. Looking forward to some real progress now

[GregNC]

Ok so the cylinder is at the shop getting honed. Right now I'm working on simplifying the wiring harness.

I'm taking the dummy box off completely and selling it (I'll post it up with the stock signals and brake light later). I want to completely eliminate the gear indicator wires from my harness,

I also want to go the route collo did and make my own plate for the Neutral,high beam, oil, turn signal lights. The wiring diagram I have is hard to follow. What's the easiest way to go about this guys?

[pete]

Ok so the cylinder is at the shop getting honed. Right now I'm working on simplifying the wiring harness.

I'm taking the dummy box off completely and selling it (I'll post it up with the stock signals and brake light later). I want to completely eliminate the gear indicator wires from my harness,

I also want to go the route collo did and make my own plate for the Neutral,high beam, oil, turn signal lights. The wiring diagram I have is hard to follow. What's the easiest way to go about this guys?

Not sure about the easiest way, but the neutral and oil pressure lights have switched grounds and the high beam and indicator lights have switched positive...

All you need is a 12v bulb or LED with a suitable resistor (probably 470 ohm but that varies sometimes) for each one. With bulbs you'll need a coloured cover as appropriate but with LED's you can get blue, red, and yellow ones.

If you scour eBay sellers in Hong Kong and China you can get LED's dirt cheap, and I'd suggest trying to get the flat top ones that have a 120 degree viewing angle.

[GregNC]

It's been a looooooong time since I've been back on the GS boards. The past almost year (geez) has been a whirlwind of jobs all over the place (I do special FX for films and TV) friends weddings, moving to a new place, life in general, blah blah blah. ANYWAYS...I'm back and very pleased to continue this thread and show you the progress (not as much as I would've liked) I've made on my 1982 GS450L.

To refresh your (and my) memory lets look back at this from the start.

I got her like this w 17,000 miles on her and a blown piston:





I stripped her down, cut the step seat support, and repainted the frame.





Then I had the cylinders honed and both pistons replaced along with all the top end gaskets. Sealed the motor back up and painted it black, leaving the breather caps and suzuki logos chrome and silver respectively.



Then I got busy and had no money to put into the bike for almost a year...damn you life. (continued next post)