Another Aussie GS rebuild - GS1100G

[JimmyR]

I never used to be a huge fan of James Squire either. But some of the new beers are awesome. 150 Lashes is fab, 4 wives is really good, but I don't rate the Sundowner - very ordinary.

Lil Critters has just been sold to Lion Nathan BTW, so I hope the quality stays the same.

When I was a student we used to go to the Scaly Wanker in Freo a lot (Sail and Anchor) because it was one of the first places to sell Guinness on tap here. Then they became one of the first pub breweries - the one that sparked the whole boutique brewery thing in Australia. On a cold winter's night it was fab to go in there for a few pints and sit in front of the open fireplace. I never wanted to leave.

[pete]

Sounds like I'd best be tasting some James Squire then!

Little Creatures sold? Man that sucks and yeah I really hope they keep it the same! If I was the brilliant mind behind that brewery I'd hang onto it for dear life and make sure the name was never sullied... probably why I'm not a business man right?

And that sounds like my sort of pub! Don't get 'em round here like that any more though, at least not that I've found...

[JimmyR]

Did I ever mention that I'm doing up a bike? I am. It's a GS1100G Suzuki from 1982. And I'm getting very close to riding it again! I just FINALLY finished reshimming the valve clearances, got the head and head cover all torqued up as per the manual, dropped some oil on each valve bucket, etc etc etc - just waiting for the tank and fender now.

I've been filling the side panels on the tank where the logos go but apparently it's still showing through the powder undercoat. It's a bit strange because I fill it, sand it back until it's all smooth and nice and then when the undercoat goes on it seems to shrink back into the grooves. Weird. It seems to be the oven that does it, which is even stranger because the makers of the filler recommend baking it to help cure it. The filler was recommended to me by the powdercoaters because it's metal and resin based, meaning it can take a charge so can be powdercoated.

So the powdercoater guys asked me to bring in the filler and they said they would do it for me to make sure it works. They're pretty decent blokes. They seem to really be into bikes, which is a bit unusual. So hopefully very soon I will have a tank on my bike and I can get it running. Yay! Pics will follow, don't worry!

[pete]

Can't wait to see her back together Jimmy!

How did you end up sorting your valve clearances in the end?

[JimmyR]

Lots of to-ing and fro-ing between my place and the machine shop getting shims ground. In the end I didn't pay to get any shims ground so it was a lot cheaper than buying new shims. I am very close to 2mm on the shims but I now have good clearances on all of the valves and just can't wait to get riding again. The engine is all together again. Al there is left to install is the pipes and the tank.

Btw I got an offset fuel tap plate from Z1 so now my Pingel should stand clear of the carbies. And I got some pipe blue remover polish so I should have better looking pipes when they go back on. I'm hoping that all the carb tuning I have done will make starting the bike up again a piece of cake. Now that the pistons have new rings, the valves are all schmick and I don't have any oil issues I am hoping that it will run perfectly.

[pete]

Definitely sounding good Jimmy, can't wait! You must get video once she's back too

[JimmyR]

Not long now! I got the exhaust on today - which I hate doing. I have officially discovered that the two jobs I like least on my bike are shimming the valves and attaching the exhaust. The exhaust is such a PITA to install. I don't know why the guy who built it for me decided to use some weird extra wide flanges on the headers. Maybe they are supposed to be like that? I didn't have the stock exhaust or stock fittings so now it's a convoluted solution to a simple problem.

Anyway, I also tidied up the R/R wiring and the battery box, so now all I really need is my tank. I just can't wait to see it all back together. If I had some way of feeding fuel into the carbs I could at least start 'er up but I don't so need my tank back! Once I get the tank I will take a bunch of pics, don't you worry about THAT!

[nikosg]

cant wait!

[JimmyR]

Mate you and me both! I just went to see the powdercoater - maybe next mon/tues for the tank Arrrgh! But at least I now have the front fender. This may not be the end of the fender saga though, because I found a really cool stainless shorty that should fit with some persuasion. It will turn up in the next few weeks, but for the time being this is what the finish on the front looks like:



It's amazing what new shiny bolts can do - and don't worry, I have new disc retaining bolts on the way for the new discs!



Close up of the tidied up battery box with R/R attached at front:

[nikosg]

man those pods look super sexy. i want them on mine!!! but the f*cking K&N site doesn't list my model as compatible with any pods.... however i KNOW I've seen my bike on ebay with a pod setup.
Unfortunately my frame comes in really tight to the carbs and I'm not sure ill fit em

[JimmyR]

So swap the carbs too. :-) Actually Mikuni RS carbs are physically smaller than CV carbs. What model is your bike?

[nikosg]

check sig mate

[pete]

Awesome Jimmy! Love the powder on the guard, good stuff

Your attention to detail is spot on... so many little details on mine I look at and think I should've done that while it was apart... but then I wouldn't be riding it now right? Hahaha

[pete]

man those pods look super sexy. i want them on mine!!! but the f*cking K&N site doesn't list my model as compatible with any pods.... however i KNOW I've seen my bike on ebay with a pod setup.
Unfortunately my frame comes in really tight to the carbs and I'm not sure ill fit em

Mate it's easy... rip your airbox off, measure the outside diameter of the intakes on the carbs, measure what clearance you have, then go scour the K&N website... pretty sure they have all the spec's there somewhere.

[musicman]

Of all the builds, this one is still one of my favorites Looking great!