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Hey there fellow enthusiasts,
I'm excited to be finally diving into this project, it's been years in the works... and it's only just begun.
A lil' history for ya'll:
Back in 1992, when this picture was taken I was 11 years old. My Dad had recently purchased a new-to-him GS1000G. I recall him telling me about the bike, (him being a die-hard Harley fan and chopper builder), that he was blown away when riding the GS. Over a long 4th of July weekend was the first, and last time I was ever able to ride with him, squeezing on to him as we roared down the highways.
Well, years passed. He rode. In '94 he put the bike down while riding in poor conditions, intoxicated.. he spent nearly a month in the hospital, followed by many more weeks of physical therapy. Putting the bike down ended up making it a bit sleeker by removing the front windscreen, etc..
More years passed. He rode on after fixing the bike back up. Though this time, with a few mod's, ie: chopped exhaust pipes, removing the dented sections of mangled metal.
In 1999, he passed away
, leaving his bike parked in Grandpa's backyard. The condition it was left in was running, though needing a new fuel tank due to rust issues. In 2003, the bike was still there, and I was finally ready to claim my inheritance. I drove over to Boise and signed some papers.
The drive home was quite eventful... the trailer hub + spindle decided it was time to disintegrate. Rad. This now makes 2 for 2 on failed trailers when I go to pick up new-to-me moto's.
Lucky for me, some good ol' boys in Burns, OR were able to help on short notice, and towed me to their home-garage. While fixing the trailer, they also wanted to see if they could get the bike to start. They pulled the airbox cover off, sprayed some starter fluid in and hooked the bike up to power. Starter button engaged, and the bike ROAAARED to life...for a second. Too cool!!
I drove the rest of the way back home without any other incident. The next day, as I was oh-so-excited to work on things, I managed to immediately strip the oil filter cover nuts. To make matters more fun, my buddy had a dremel which we promptly used to hack the nuts off. Though, while cutting through the nut, I also managed to cut into the bolts/pegs that were in the engine case
. Ok, no problem I thought.. I went to the store and purchased a stud puller. While trying to extract the studs (with the wrong size tool), I managed to SNAP THE STUDS OFF IN THE ENGINE CASE. Good job Nick. Sorry, no photo's from this mayhem.
Well that shut me down. For the next 8 years I pushed the bike from one house to the next as I moved through the college years, always vowing to one day return this bike to it's previous glory. Back in the 2008 or so, I pushed the bike over to a machine shop and they were able to extract the stud for about $60. Ok, back in action! Or so I thought. Well, I got the stud removed and promptly received a tax return, enough that I went out and bought a 1978 KZ650SR with low miles, as I wasn't patient enough to wait out the restoration project. So the GS sat... again. For another 3 years.
I finally managed to get myself a decent garage space at my new pad, and so work commences AGAIN. I feel a renewed vigor to get this thing operational, and revitalized. I've also picked up a GS850G that I'm working on concurrently.
More photo's to come as the project unfolds, looking forward to sharing!
More soon,
Nick
I'm excited to be finally diving into this project, it's been years in the works... and it's only just begun.
A lil' history for ya'll:
Back in 1992, when this picture was taken I was 11 years old. My Dad had recently purchased a new-to-him GS1000G. I recall him telling me about the bike, (him being a die-hard Harley fan and chopper builder), that he was blown away when riding the GS. Over a long 4th of July weekend was the first, and last time I was ever able to ride with him, squeezing on to him as we roared down the highways.
Well, years passed. He rode. In '94 he put the bike down while riding in poor conditions, intoxicated.. he spent nearly a month in the hospital, followed by many more weeks of physical therapy. Putting the bike down ended up making it a bit sleeker by removing the front windscreen, etc..
More years passed. He rode on after fixing the bike back up. Though this time, with a few mod's, ie: chopped exhaust pipes, removing the dented sections of mangled metal.
In 1999, he passed away
, leaving his bike parked in Grandpa's backyard. The condition it was left in was running, though needing a new fuel tank due to rust issues. In 2003, the bike was still there, and I was finally ready to claim my inheritance. I drove over to Boise and signed some papers. The drive home was quite eventful... the trailer hub + spindle decided it was time to disintegrate. Rad. This now makes 2 for 2 on failed trailers when I go to pick up new-to-me moto's.
Lucky for me, some good ol' boys in Burns, OR were able to help on short notice, and towed me to their home-garage. While fixing the trailer, they also wanted to see if they could get the bike to start. They pulled the airbox cover off, sprayed some starter fluid in and hooked the bike up to power. Starter button engaged, and the bike ROAAARED to life...for a second. Too cool!!
I drove the rest of the way back home without any other incident. The next day, as I was oh-so-excited to work on things, I managed to immediately strip the oil filter cover nuts. To make matters more fun, my buddy had a dremel which we promptly used to hack the nuts off. Though, while cutting through the nut, I also managed to cut into the bolts/pegs that were in the engine case
. Ok, no problem I thought.. I went to the store and purchased a stud puller. While trying to extract the studs (with the wrong size tool), I managed to SNAP THE STUDS OFF IN THE ENGINE CASE. Good job Nick. Sorry, no photo's from this mayhem.Well that shut me down. For the next 8 years I pushed the bike from one house to the next as I moved through the college years, always vowing to one day return this bike to it's previous glory. Back in the 2008 or so, I pushed the bike over to a machine shop and they were able to extract the stud for about $60. Ok, back in action! Or so I thought. Well, I got the stud removed and promptly received a tax return, enough that I went out and bought a 1978 KZ650SR with low miles, as I wasn't patient enough to wait out the restoration project. So the GS sat... again. For another 3 years.
I finally managed to get myself a decent garage space at my new pad, and so work commences AGAIN. I feel a renewed vigor to get this thing operational, and revitalized. I've also picked up a GS850G that I'm working on concurrently.
More photo's to come as the project unfolds, looking forward to sharing!
More soon,
Nick
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