Another Aussie GS rebuild - GS1100G

[Good Times]

I just had an email from the powdercoater. The cheeky bugger used a different colour from what I had chosen. I thought they looked darker than I had chosen. He said he went with that colour because he felt it had a better texture and suited the bike better!

WHAAAAT!!!

I can't believe he did that without asking you first. What if you had said, "Hmmmm.....you know, I thought that a lower price would work better for you so I'm not paying you as much."

At least he told you.

I still say that it looks good, but I've never heard of such.

What am I talking about? I see people do crazy things every day.

[psyguy]

From side on it looks big but as you walk around the bike the engine would look ridiculously big compared to a smaller tank.

I've been thinking this might be the case, actually...

The fender does look good but I especially LOVE the powdercoater's secret enthusiasm and intiative on your project... NOT!

[JimmyR]

Phew - it's been almost a month since last updated this build thread. It's the little things that have been occupying me and they're not necessarily photogenic. I've installed Mikuni RS36 carbs and in doing so discovered that my valves aren't as well adjusted as I had thought. So I'm learning how to do it myself and they are almost there now. Once they are done I can get back to tuning the carbs and then finally deciding what to do with the tank.

I've decided that the tank should sit a tiny bit higher at the rear as a lot of Suzuki tanks seem to dip a bit at the back and I like the straight lines going from front to back through the tank and seat. So I will need to adjust my rear mounting tab and am thinking I might refinish the tank once that is done. I have a few ideas...

Oh, and I have changed the tail light because it was all looking a bit dull at the back end. I'll take a pic of the new tail light very soon.

[DannyMotor]

Careful not to go too high in the back. Theyre made to be downhill for fuel flow to the petcock. What about just raising the forks in the trees a half inch and see if that helps the look. It may not hurt the handling too much being such a slight rise.

[JimmyR]

Yeah I looked at that. The petcock is in the middle more or less on my bike. I'm raising it about a centimetre at most - surprising what a difference such a small amount makes. It also gives the petcock a but more room to avoid hitting the carbs. As stock both the stock and the Pingel taps would hit the carbs, so maybe the rubber of the tank pad at the back had shrunk anyway?

[DannyMotor]

No clue... I realize that trying to re-install my tank I'm either missing a spacer, or a bung of some sort, because i've got about an inch between the mounting tab and the frame.

[JimmyR]

dunno what it's like on a GS750, but the GS1100G has two rubber things at the front that slip onto the top-rube mounting lugs. The tank slides onto these rubber things and they are quite large - probably over an inch in diameter. Without them the tank would sit too low at the front. They fall off quite easily when you take the tank off, especially when they are hard and worn! So I have two new rubber "boots" there.

Under the rear of the tank is a big rubber pad. On mine it's about a centimetre thick but I have added about a centimetre of extra padding to raise the tank and now it looks just right. All the rubber bits seem to be readily available and not very expensive.

Anyway I just heard that my new gasket and shims are ready to collect so guess what I'll be doing tomorrow?

[DannyMotor]

The 750 has the exact same front pucks and rear pad... glad yoi got it sorted!!

[JimmyR]

Woohoo! Finally got the valves adjusted to my liking. It really seems to have had an effect. No backfiring, far fewer pops and splutters. So while I still need to do some carb tuning it runs a lot better now. I also need to get my throttle cables shortened. Apparently there's a place around here that can shorten these things. I have had to use throttle cables from a different bike because I'm not using the original grips/controls. The RS carbs really need a push pull throttle - right now I only have a pull and sometimes the revs don't want to come back down. But my cable is not only too long but the ball is too far along the cable so the push cable doesn't really engage.

I think I'm very close to getting this thing running just right. Yay!

[pete]

Good news Jimmy!

You may have to do some trial and error getting the right cable lengths from other bike models. I've seen a Youtube video of someone adjusting cable length and resoldering the ball on the end though, not sure if it's a good solution or not...

[JimmyR]

Well my cables are NOS cables for a '75 Suzuki GT750. They kinda have to be because my right hand controls are NOS '75 Suzuki GT750 controls! The GS1100G throttle cable I got doesn't fit the controls. I think if the place I;m going to has the tool for fixing the ball-end thing to the cable it'l be fine. I just have to measure carefully.

[pete]

Well my cables are NOS cables for a '75 Suzuki GT750. They kinda have to be because my right hand controls are NOS '75 Suzuki GT750 controls! The GS1100G throttle cable I got doesn't fit the controls. I think if the place I;m going to has the tool for fixing the ball-end thing to the cable it'l be fine. I just have to measure carefully.

Yeah ok, I see what you mean... you probably need a mutant cable... haha

Hopefully they can sort you out...

[JimmyR]

Did a bit more carb tuning today and feel I am definitely on the right track. It was good enough to have quite a long blast and with the glorious weather we have here right now it was fantastic. Did quite a few laps along the beach highway. It LOVES getting up around the 5-7000 rev range - wow! Just a bit more tweaking and I reckon I'm there. Man this is a fun bike to ride.

So once I have the carbs sorted I still have to get the tanked and front fender finished, fix the rear brake reservoir in place permanently, and a few other little things. Then just RIDE.

[pete]

Did a bit more carb tuning today and feel I am definitely on the right track. It was good enough to have quite a long blast and with the glorious weather we have here right now it was fantastic. Did quite a few laps along the beach highway. It LOVES getting up around the 5-7000 rev range - wow! Just a bit more tweaking and I reckon I'm there. Man this is a fun bike to ride.

So once I have the carbs sorted I still have to get the tanked and front fender finished, fix the rear brake reservoir in place permanently, and a few other little things. Then just RIDE.

Wooohoo! Glad to hear it Jimmy! Did you get your throttle cables sorted?

Going by what I've seen John do with his 1100 and sidecar, I reckon yours would definitely be a blast with all that lost weight!

[JimmyR]

No I haven't got the cables sorted yet, but it's nearly sorted. Maybe it's because the carbies are better sorted now but I'm not getting the carbs hanging open now even though I still only have one throttle cable. I'm pretty pumped because I feel like I'm almost there with the engine tuning. Man this bike is quick when you get up over 5000rpm. And what a sound! It's 30 years old and goes like the clappers.

I'm still buzzing after my ride today. It was a total blast. The seat is comfy, the riding position is pretty good considering I'm used to a Softail with my feet forward. I could see myself putting a lot of miles on this bike.